Microsoft reveals price increases with twice-yearly pricing updates

You may or may not be aware that Microsoft has recently revealed that they will be bringing into operation twice-yearly updates to their pricing to have them on a similar alignment to Microsoft Cloud products globally. 

Why is Microsoft changing their pricing structure? 

The reason behind this is the fact that currencies all over the world have been impacted in different ways by the macroeconomic environment as well as been impacted by the overall exchange rate against the US dollar. It is important to note that Microsoft has deferred making these pricing adjustments based on currency fluctuations, however as of April 1st 2023, Microsoft is restructuring Cloud pricing globally. 

So, what products are going to be impacted by these incoming pricing updates? 

It is important to note that all Microsoft Cloud products including Azure, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 will be impacted with the only exception being Azure products that are purchased under a Microsoft Customer Agreement as these prices are already shown in dollars. 

So, when will these price increases happen and by how much? 

As mentioned above, from April 1st 2023, GBP pricing across all of Microsoft’s Cloud services will increase by 9%. 

For those that pay in different currencies the price increases are as follows: 

• Danish Krone pricing will increase by 11% 
• Euro pricing will increase by 11% 
• Norwegian Krone pricing will increase by 11% 
• Swedish Krona pricing will increase by 15% 

After this pricing change, how often will they be changed going forwards? 

After the initial adjustment is made on April 1st 2023, Microsoft will continue to do it every 6 months going forwards with the next one after that being on October 1st 2023 to make sure that GBP pricing doesn’t go too far away from the US dollar again. 

At this stage, it is not clear whether or not price rates will increase or decrease. 

I am an existing customer of Microsoft, how will this latest pricing update impact on my business? 

For those Microsoft customers paying on a monthly basis, the pricing updates will come into force on the first monthly renewal after April 1st 2023. If you are on an annual agreement, the pricing update will come into force when you next renew your licensing after April 1st 2023. 

For those Microsoft customers that aren’t currently on Microsoft’s New Commerce Experience, the pricing updates will come into operation on your next annual licence renewal after April 1st 2023. 

So, what can my business do to reduce the impact of the incoming price increase? 

If you are a business that is looking to purchase new product licenses, you might be able to switch to either an annual or 3-year subscription before April 1st 2023.  

Better still, if you choose to go down this route, you will also gain an extra 20% saving when compared to monthly subscriptions as well as this you will be saving an extra 9% on an annual subscription and potentially up to 27% on a 3-year subscription.  

Having a long-term subscription agreement in place will keep the prices locked in for either a year or 3 years depending on which subscription you choose. 

Next Steps? 

If you are a current customer of Advantage’s with a renewal coming up shortly or would like to discuss your licensing options going forwards then we would strongly recommend that you get in touch with your Account Manager or failing that give our team a call. 

If you aren’t a customer of Advantage’s but would like to discuss moving your licensing to Advantage then please get in touch with us today where one of our team can you help with this. 

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