2 Microsoft 365 changes

Having waded through the Microsoft newsletter from our understanding Microsoft have made a double change both of which could affect the cost to you.
1. The terms of the 365 licencing.
2. A general price increase.

Previously your 365 subscriptions could be cancelled and a pro rata credit applied under the new agreement with an annual commitment this is no longer possible. If you wish to keep with current pricing you have to move to an annual commitment meaning we can not cancel a licence before the end of the term and it will automatically renew with a limited window of opportunity to cancel.

In parallel to the changing of term there are some price changes. Remaining on the existing agreement, or moving to a monthly commitment you face a 20% price increase, and coming down the road is a further 20% increase for some 365 products, meaning some clients will face a stinging 44% price increase.

For most clients we have tried to mitigate both increase for 12 months by moving licences to a 12 month fixed price, this means less flexibility, as you can are unable to cancel subscriptions in that period. But what it also means is you avoid an initial 20% price increase and as we understand postpones the second increase of 20% for about 6 months. Unfortunately as the initial term expires in 2023 we believe there will be a 20% increase applied that we will not be able to avoid.

The question might be should I buy a perpetual licence, unfortunately for most clients this is not an option as we are using the backend Exchange (email) and SharePoint (file) services.