Microsoft 365 and SPLA price changes: What you need to know

Microsoft has announced its first price increase for its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 services in a decade. These price increases will go into effect on March 1st, 2022. This is the first “substantive pricing update” for Office 365 since it launched ten years ago, according to Microsoft. There have been some small price changes over the years, however for more information on the gradual changes please read Microsoft’s blog article.

In a similar situation to the Microsoft 365 price rises, the Microsoft Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA) services will also have its first price rise for a while, which will take place the January 1st, 2022.

To help understand Microsoft’s justification for the increase:

• Since 2017, Microsoft have added 24 apps to the Microsoft 365 suites—Microsoft Teams, Power Apps, Power BI, Power Automate, Stream, Planner, Visio, OneDrive, Yammer, and Whiteboard.
• Since 2011, Microsoft have released over 1,400 new features and capabilities in three key areas: Communication and collaboration, Security and compliance, and AI and automation.
  • The introduction of information protection and governance capabilities across Office 365. With the accelerating volume, sophistication, and scale of cyberattacks, security and compliance are a priority for every organization. Microsoft have added new attack surface reduction capabilities to help organizations defend against ransomware and other threats, as well as capabilities such as Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for email and documents, Sensitivity Labels, Content Search, eDiscovery and Litigation Hold.
  • The development of built-in mobile device management (MDM) and other management tools like Microsoft Endpoint Manager help admins support remote and hybrid workforces.
  • AI and machine learning has been infused into Microsoft 365 to increase user productivity and collaboration.
  • Microsoft Teams is the new front end across work, life, and learning for more than 250 million monthly active users. Releasing over 300 new capabilities and product integrations, empowering people and organizations for hybrid work through deep integrations and collaboration.
• SPLA changes reflect the new capabilities available in Windows Server 2022 which will enable more hybrid and migration scenarios.
• Microsoft have just announced that they will add unlimited dial-in capabilities for Microsoft Teams meetings across their enterprise, business, frontline, and government suites over the next few months. Even as cloud connectivity increases, we know that people join Teams meetings while they are on the go or struggling with a bad internet connection. Currently included with Microsoft 365 E5 and Office 365 E5, Microsoft have come to see dial-in as an important part of the complete Teams experience. 

New Pricing

Please note that all pricing changes are per month per user:

Additional Price Changes

Unlimited $0 Audio Conferencing dial-in will be available for these SKUs on March 2022:

How does this affect you?

While these price changes are unavoidable, as a Microsoft Gold Partner, we can give you the clarity you need to make the best decisions regarding your licensing. We are here to help you transition your IT to modern tools easily. Contact your Client Relations Manager, call us on 1300 705 062, or via email at support@abtechnologies.com.au.

Article used with permission from The Technology Press.