Microsoft recently announced a worldwide price increase for its microsoft 365 license product line. As a reseller partner of Microsoft 365/Office 365, GreenLoop is here to help our clients navigate these changes and continue to get maximum value for your Microsoft licensing.
Upcoming Price Increase:
Effective March 1, 2022 [grace period extended through March 14th], the following M365 products will see a price increase. (GreenLoop’s automated invoices will reflect the updated pricing on your March invoice, which will go out in early April):
- Enterprise: Office 365 E1: $10 (from $8), Office 365 E3: $23 ($20), Office 365 E5: $38 ($35), Microsoft 365 E3: $36 ($32).
- SMB: Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $6 (from $5), Microsoft 365 Business Premium: $22 ($20).
- Microsoft is NOT changing pricing for Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft Business Standard, or the Frontline SKUs.
Upcoming Program Changes:
- Monthly commitment subscriptions that can increase or decrease as needed each month are still available but will be subject to a 20% additional fee on top of the price increases mentioned above.
- Annual commitment subscriptions will not be subject to the 20% fee. However, once committed, you are locked in to a minimum number of seats for the full year, after a brief grace period. These can still be paid monthly, but GreenLoop’s commitment with Microsoft (and therefore your commitment with us) is for a full 1-year term, and cannot be cancelled or transferred.
- Any annual subscriptions that are committed with GreenLoop before the March 1 deadline will not be subject to the March 1 price increase or the 20% additional fee, for the first year.* At subsequent renewals the current pricing at that time will be applied.
GreenLoop’s Recommendations:
We are recommending that most clients adhere to the following licensing model:
- A base quantity of annual-commitment licenses. This will cover most of your users, and will not be subject to the 20% penalty. Plan to keep this count basically static for the annual term.
- A fluctuating quantity of month-to-month licenses, to cover employee adds/drops, as well as access and retention requirements post-termination.
- The mix of annual to monthly commitment licenses may vary depending on your needs: overall number of seats and turnover are factors to consider.
- At each annual renewal, GreenLoop can assist with a true-up process where we confirm your base/annual and fluctuating/monthly counts are aligned with your business needs.
- We strongly recommend that clients plan for microsoft 365 license plans to make their annual commitments before March 1; by doing so, you’ll avoid cost increases on those licenses for the first year.*
Nonprofits: none of the changes above affect our non-profit clients.
We understand that these pricing changes may result in significant changes in how you add and remove 365 licensing based on your current needs. GreenLoop is here to help! We encourage you to reach out to your Account Manager to discuss your options.
*Note: GreenLoop must be notified by close-of-business on February 25, 2022 in order to ensure we will be able to process these requests in time.
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