Microsoft’s New Commerce Experience
Microsoft has announced a change in the way subscriptions are procured for Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform. This includes its licensing model, and the way that they are billed.
Previously monthly billed accounts will now pay a 20% premium for opting for a flexible, monthly subscription.
To avoid paying this premium, you must commit to an annual subscription which can be paid monthly or annually upfront.
From 1st March, Microsoft is increasing the price of their 6 most popular products.
Pricing changes
From the 1st of March 2022, Microsoft is raising the pricing of six of their most popular products in the market.
This may affect your business and costs at various times of the year, based on if you are currently utilising these services and when the renewal date is.
Microsoft has increased both product availability and service upgrades over the last 5 years since their last price rise to warrant the change.
The main 6 products affected by the change are:
Microsoft 365 Business Basic – 20%
Microsoft 365 Business Premium– 10%
Office 365 E1 – 25%
Office 365 E3 – 15%
Office 365 E5 – 8.5%
Microsoft 365 E3 – 12.5%
Please do contact a member of Zenzero as soon as possible if you have any of the above licenses and we will help guide you in choosing the right subscription options for your business.
Subscription changes
Adding and removing of licenses
Microsoft will allow additional licenses to be increased during any time of the subscriptions, but reductions in license numbers can only take place during the 72 hours after the initial order or renewal date.
Therefore, if you were to increase your license number by 5 and decide that you no longer want those additional licenses, you will need to instruct us (Zenzero - as your Microsoft partner) within 72 hours of the new subscription, or renewal otherwise you will pay for the extra 5 licenses for the remainder of the term.
We recommend working with your Account Manager to include planning for future changes and increases in your business throughout the year to ensure that you have the right number of licenses. Your Account Manager may be able to suggest different licensing models or terms (such as a combination of monthly and annual licenses that can be increased/reduced as needed) to offer flexibility, maximise efficiency and reduce licensing costs in businesses with fluctuating staff numbers or have periods of peak time within your business or industry.
Monthly and annual term pricing
Monthly subscriptions in the NCE will be priced at 20% more than annual or 36 months subscriptions, which means that there are considerable cost savings to having an annual subscription to Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 or the Power Platform.
If you rely on any of these programs but are on a monthly subscription license, please arrange a call with your Account Manager or a member of the Zenzero sales team to ensure that you are getting the best price to reflect your usage.
Microsoft allows subscriptions to be changed from monthly to annual at any point during the term so it may be beneficial for your business to subscribe to monthly billing with the option to switch to annual billing and obtain the 20% discount once your business is confident in its need.
What is not changing
You can continue to purchase license-based services in the traditional way
Invoices will still arrive on your selected date
There is no need to sign a new agreement for NCE*
Purchasing will be the same for non-Microsoft software subscriptions, perpetual software, Azure plan etc.
*NB. Where annual commitments are selected, you will be asked to accept a quotation outlining the minimum number of licenses and associated costs for that period.
UPDATE: The cancellation windows on NCE has been extended from 72 hours to 7 days
If you would like to know more or discuss your Microsoft licensing accounts in more detail, please call us on 0333 3209 900 or email us at hello@zenzero.co.uk