The New Commerce Experience and Microsoft 365 Upcoming Price Increase
Microsoft launched Office 365 over a decade ago. Since then, Microsoft has worked hard to meet the evolving needs of modern businesses. And they have a lot of key changes coming up soon.
Earlier this year Microsoft announced the first substantive price increase that will go into effect on March 1, 2022. There will be no changes to pricing for education and consumer products at this time, only to some of the commercial pricing for Microsoft 365:
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic from $5 to $6
- Microsoft 365 Premium from $20 to $22
- Office 365 E1 from $8 to $10
- Office 365 E3 from $20 to $23
- Office 365 E5 from $35 to $38
- Microsoft 365 E3 from $32 to $36
Alongside the price increase, Microsoft is moving away from the fractured channel strategy over to a much more streamlined seat-based cloud offer for Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Windows 365 that is called a New Commerce Experience (NCE). The rollout for the latest NCE offerings will start in January 2022, bringing new opportunities, features, and benefits to better deliver and support businesses needs through a single platform.
There are a few important Key Highlights of the NCE you should be aware of:
- Improved subscription management capabilities.
- Consistent cancellation policies for seat-based offer terms in new commerce (limited to the first 72 hours of the term with prorated refund).
- Annual term offers and multi-year agreements with discounts and competitive pricing.
- Prices Premiums for short-term subscriptions for those who need seat-count flexibility.
What is the timeline for NCE?
The seamless transition to the new experience will happen once your subscription is up for renewal:
Before March 1st 2022, it is possible to renew the subscription under the “legacy” subscription.
After March 2022, you will be able to place orders for NCE user-based program only.
After February 2023, all remaining subscriptions on the legacy experience must be moved to New Commerce Experience.
Modern business is constantly evolving. These significant changes to the Microsoft 365 licensing program will enable Microsoft and Partners to effectively meet the customers` needs. By creating a more unified cloud environment, the New Commerce Experience opens a wealth of possibilities for creating new customer-centric solutions. A lot is going on with the NCE today and navigating the Microsoft ecosystem can be tough. IT Partner can help you understand the upcoming changes and guide you through this journey.
Contact us to discuss these announcements and your existing Microsoft licensing in detail.
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2021-12-21