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March 2022 – Microsoft 365 Commitment / Price Changes

If you haven’t already heard, Office 365 and Microsoft 365 prices are going up for the first time ever. That means you will soon be paying a few quid more for each of their packages.

Below is some information which may help answer some of your questions.

When will the new prices go into effect?
1 March 2022.

Which packages are affected?
Microsoft 365 Business Basic
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Office 365 E1
Office 365 E3
Office 365 E5
Microsoft 365 E3

Will these new prices apply to education customers or consumers?
No.

Why have Microsoft made this decision?
Microsoft say the new prices reflect the rise in remote working, which these products are helping to facilitate.

Will we be able to reduce the number of licenses we have?
No. You can cancel outright at the end of the month. But if you buy 25 licences, after 72 hours, you can only ever go as low as 25 during the month.

What if a customer wants to downgrade their package?
If you purchase an E3 package, for example, you have to stick with that package for the entire term of the agreement, whether that’s a month or a year.

How will this work for multi-year agreements for clients who regularly need to make a lot of changes?
Microsoft recommends in this case to go monthly. But monthly is more expensive. Annual / Multi-year will only work for customers who know their start point, and know they’ll never go under that point.

How will the change affect long-term plans?
For multi-year and annual plans, we can still monthly bill. And, if you want to make changes, you will only be able to do that once a month.

Can I still mix and match licences?
Yes. This hasn’t changed. You can still have some E3, some standard, some premium – in short, whatever combination that works for you.

What is the new pricing?
The price is currently in dollars and there is no price for the UK market yet.

Will monthly still exist?
Yes, but in a different way. Rather than being able to flex up one day and take down on another, now you will only be able to make changes once a month, rather than the old-style day rate.