Microsoft recently announced changes to their Microsoft 365 subscriptions. The price for several SKUs is increasing. It has been 10 years since Microsoft increased the price of Microsoft 365, so this increase is not unexpected. While it started as
just email, the feature set has dramatically increased over the last 10 years. Microsoft 365 is now a full line of business application that can run your entire business. The security needs of businesses have changed entirely for businesses over that same 10 years and Microsoft has kept up. These are the SKUs that are increasing:rn
rn - Microsoft 365 Business Basic (from $5 to $6 per user)
rn - Office 365 E1 (from $8 to $10)
rn - Microsoft 365 Business Premium (from $20 to $22)
rn - Office 365 E3 (from $20 to $23)
rn - Microsoft 365 E3 (from $32 to $36)
rn - Office 365 E5 (from $35 to $38)
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rnMicrosoft also made changes to Microsoft 365 Business Premium that will have a positive impact on many of our clients. That SKU now includes Defender for EndPoint, an additional security package that was previously sold separately for $9 per user. Microsoft is also adding audio conferencing to all licenses. This allows your meeting participants to dial into your online meetings using a phone number. Previously this was sold separately for $4 per user. In short, Microsoft has increased the cost of the license by $2 but also added $13 worth of new product and features to it. As the first price increase in 10 years, that’s not a bad deal.rn
Licensing terms change
rnMicrosoft is also changing the terms of the license. Similar to other major software providers, licenses are now annual commitments even though they can be billed monthly. If you'd like to maintain the flexibility of month-to-month commitments, Microsoft is charging 20% more for those subscriptions.rnrnIf you have any questions about these changes, or the newly available features, please
reach out to our Help Desk, our your vCIO.
