Microsoft is making a fairly major overhaul to its Microsoft 365 CSP licensing programme, with some of the changes starting as soon as this month.
The CSP (Cloud Solution Provider) programme was created in 2015 to allow service providers like us at Resolve, to handle license billing and administration for Microsoft 365 for our customers.
The changes by Microsoft aim to simplify billing and primarily affect the relationship between the IT partner and Microsoft, but some of the changes will have a direct impact on the customers purchasing the licensing, i.e. you! The billing structure changes are being termed the Microsoft New Commerce Experience, which includes the following…
We haven’t got all of the specifics from Microsoft yet, however, we can share the headlines with you now:
Microsoft New Commerce Experience
- There is a pricing increase on Microsoft 365 Business Basic and Premium, Office 365 E1 and E3, across all channels on 1st March 2022. We haven’t had the UK pricing yet, but it looks to be approximately 20%. It’ll be possible to purchase a longer term on these licenses upfront, to delay the pricing increase. We’ll follow up with more detail on this shortly. For now though, please note that this pricing increase affects all Microsoft 365 customers, not just those who purchase through a CSP partner. The official note from Microsoft on this is here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2021/08/19/new-pricing-for-microsoft-365/
- Microsoft 365 subscriptions are now annual in term length, paid for monthly. This means that any new subscription agreement taken out, will need to run for a minimum term of 12-months. Any licenses added mid-way through a term will be ‘co-termed’ with the subscription end date
- Licenses cancelled mid-way through a 12-month term will no longer be credited.
The changes are designed to make the billing of licensing significantly easier. For customers who want to retain flexibility, monthly subscriptions will continue to be available but at a premium cost. Unfortunately we don’t have exact details on this yet either, but once we do, our customers, social followers and website fans will be the first to know.
As with all things IT, stay tuned for further updates from the Resolve team with specifics on Microsoft’s New Commerce Experience and pricing changes on the way!
