Microsoft are continuously trying to improve, and with development comes change. So, it’s not a massive shock to hear Microsoft are making some large adjustments to the way Managed Service Providers (MSP) buy and provide Microsoft licenses.

Microsoft are introducing this new programme as ‘The New Commerce Experience’, and its objective is to bring everybody in line, whether they purchase directly from Microsoft, or through a partner.

So, what’s changing? 

• 3 new subscription options: Microsoft will be introducing 3 subscription options for you to choose from; 1-month, 12-month and 36-month contracts.
• Pricing: Microsoft have not yet confirmed the prices for each contract; however, they have announced that monthly subscriptions will be priced 20% higher than the monthly cost of annual or 3-year contracts.
• License number: Currently, you can decrease the number of licenses you have if staff leave, however Microsoft are changing this. Now, once you have agreed a subscription term and number of licenses, you can’t decrease them until your subscription term is over. Fortunately, you can transfer them to new staff.
• Mix and match subscription options: Luckily, Microsoft are allowing companies to have a mix of different contract types, so you could have half of your employees on monthly contracts, and half on 12-month contracts. This is great for businesses with seasonal staff or if you have expected staffing changes.
• 72-hour cancellation policy: Orders may now only be cancelled within the first 72 hours of purchase, and this applies to every new, add-on, or renewal transaction.

What do you need to do? 

From March 2022, these changes will be in play and with that in mind, it would be a good idea to talk to your IT provider about this, if you haven’t already.

Find out how your IT provider is planning to handle these changes and minimise the impact for your business.

At Rydal, our mission is to make life easy for our clients, that’s why we’re carrying out an extensive audit so that we can inform our customers of the best option to take. We’ll deal with this change for our customers, so it minimises the impact on their business, both financially and operationally.

We like to make life easy for our clients, if you feel like you need some friendly, impartial advice. If so, please give us a call on 01733 511116 if you wish to discuss this further.