On 19th August, 2021 Microsoft announced a significant price increases for the following Microsoft 365 plans which will come into effect from 1st March 2022:
- Microsoft 365 E3 (from $32 to $36) = 13%
- Office 365 E5 (from $35 to $38) = 9%
- Office 365 E3 (from $20 to $23) = 15%
- Office 365 E1 (from $8 to $10) = 25%
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic (from $5 to $6) = 10%
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium (from $20 to $22) = 20%
UK Sterling price increases have not been announced yet but we expect them to be similar.
The full announcement can be found here with Microsoft citing that a decade of continuous innovation justifies the increases. However, Microsoft also introduced a 6.25% increase in March 2021 to the M365 E3 plan via CSPs only.
It is interesting to note that Microsoft has not announced a price increase for the M365 E5 SKU. Will there be a price increase to come for this? Quite possibly as Microsoft has been adding more applications to this SKU especially around Security and Compliance. But currently it appears Microsoft is trying to make the price difference between the M365 E3 and E5 plans smaller to help persuade customers to make the jump.
What can you do to try and mitigate against these price increases?
- If you are licensed via a CSP, it is possible to add a new SKU to provide a further 12-month price protection at the current price.
- With your next Enterprise Agreement renewal, consider the options and if stepping-up to the M365 E5 SKU is worthwhile. At The SAM Club we have helped our customers achieve a concession/discount which is split per annum based on the customer’s own roadmap and the products that the M365 E5 would replace.
- Using a SAM tool such as Smarter SaaS to review and optimise the Office 365 usage to determine if there are any potential cost savings. Please contact The SAM Club if you would like a free of charge Proof of Concept for Smarter SaaS to assess the benefits and how this could drive cost savings or enhance usage within your investment in Office 365.
- Review your Visio users’ requirements to see if they could use the new free lightweight version of the Visio web app to save on Visio licensing costs.
The price of Software continues to increase. It is vitally important to ensure your organisation has measures in place to review software usage and costs. At The SAM Club, we work with our customers to provide support and guidance with software licensing. Being independent and not a software reseller allows us to provide ideas and suggestions to help reduce your costs. If you would like to know more about how we can work together then please contact us for a chat at [email protected]
