Starting in March, Microsoft rolled out two significant changes to their cloud per-seat licensing, like Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365. There was a considerable price increase that took place in March on selected services, and there now is a new subscription model, New Commerce Experience (NCE), with three vastly different payment and cancellation terms.
The main takeaway is how crucial it is to plan well to ensure you have the most cost-effective and beneficial plan for licensing in 2022. We have now received the final word about the program features. We encourage you to evaluate your Microsoft License options and make decisions soon to ensure you have the best plans for your organization over the next year.
These are your three options for license subscriptions:
1) If month-to-month payments and variable license counts are helpful to you, then licenses with no annual commitments are the correct choice. There’s a catch, though. For the “right” to cancel licenses with no annual commitment, there is a 20% additional charge per license per month. You may cancel a license effective on the first of the next month.
2) If you have little movement in your license counts, an NCE yearly subscription might work better. These licenses are paid monthly, and you can enjoy a 20% savings over the month-to-month cost. If, during your contract period, a user is no longer with your organization, you can use the license for another employee. You are responsible, however, for the cost of the license each month, whether you are using it or not, until your annual contract is up for renewal. At that time, we will “true-up” your companies’ license count.
There is a 72-hour window to change your mind after a new license has been purchased, after which, you must pay for your newly purchased license for the balance of the 12 months. Licenses purchased during the annual period will be prorated to the agreement anniversary date.
3) For the very few companies that pay for their licenses annually, they will stay in the “annual license paid annually” group and enjoy the 20% savings over month-to-month costs.
No matter which route you take, all new subscriptions will be placed in the NCE and must be classified as either annual paid monthly, annual paid annually, or month-to-month with the 20% surcharge.
Contact us for more information about your subscription options.