Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans are licensed per user and, depending on which licence package you choose, provides your organisation and your people with Microsoft software and services products such as Office 365, Windows 10 Enterprise, and Enterprise Mobility + Security.  

Designed to provide end users with productivity, collaboration, mobility and business insights in a secure environment, Microsoft 365 delivers modern workplace technology for the way we work today. 

With the recent announcement from Microsoft that the cost of most M365 and O365 plans will increase from March 2022, choosing the right Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan that delivers the services you need without becoming over-provisioned, is vital. While Microsoft has made this decision as easy as possible, with so many different features, options and add-ons, identifying the right plan can be complex. 

In fact, you may even find that a Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan is not the most cost effective plan for your organisation. In some cases, even for companies with over 300 employees, a Microsoft 365 Business plan may be a better fit if not all users require access to the same software and services. 

Are you on the right Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan? Book a free 365 Licence Health Check to find out > 

5 tips for choosing a Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan 

Here are our tips for identifying the right Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan. If you would like an informal chat about your options, we’d be happy to share our advice. 

1: Assess your current IT environment 

What do you currently have that needs to integrate seamlessly in the Microsoft 365 cloud, or needs to be migrated? Identify all the devices your organisation has, the operating systems they run, the software, systems and data your users need and what’s business critical. 

2: What are the business drivers for Microsoft 365? 

A clear objective for moving to Microsoft 365 is the key to a successful migration. What do you want to achieve? Has does M365 support strategic objectives and business plans? What can’t you do now that M365 will facilitate? 

In the video below our CEO, James Butler, explains why having a purpose is so important for a successful 365 migration.

3: What do your people need? 

Not everyone in an organisation needs the full M365 stack. Over-provisioning is a common issue and reason why some enterprise organisations pay more than necessary. Identify what different departments and end users need to work effectively, and what technology will help them achieve their objectives. Mixing and matching different plans can often be more cost efficient and still ensures people have the right technology for their roles. 

4: Consider the pros and cons of different licensing programs 

Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans can be purchased through Microsoft licensing program channels. They are: 

1. Microsoft Volume Licensing (VL), 

2. Cloud Solution Provider program (CSP), and/or  

3. Web Direct (MOSP) programs.  

More details on ways to buy can be found here. You may also find this blog post about purchasing your Microsoft 365 licensing via a CSP useful > 

5: Compare plans and review against your requirements 

For an overview of all the different Microsoft 365 and Office 365 plans and ‘service families’ visit the Microsoft website. Here you can compare what services are available in each plan and explore them in more detail by clicking on the relevant links. 

For some organisations combining different plans is the most effective way to ensure sufficient licencing and optimise costs. Also, some services are available as a standalone plan, which can also be combined with a M365 or O365 family plan. For example, if your organisation has 600 employees but under 300 users require access to the Office 365 platform whilst the remaining just need an email account, you could combine a 365 Business plan with a standalone Exchange Online plan to provide sufficient licensing. 

Get ROI from your Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan 

Once you’ve identified the right plan for your organisation and migrated to Microsoft 365, you’ll want to maximise your technology investment and ensure it is living up to expectations.  

Running regular usage reports can help you see whether your organisation is leveraging the usage rights you have and identify opportunities to increase technology adoption. If you are already on a Microsoft 365 plan and would like to explore this further, take advantage of our free Microsoft 365 licence health check here. 

Microsoft 365 pricing is going up for many licence SKUs from March 2022. Jared Spataro, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365, shared this announcement in a blog post on 19 August highlighting the innovations the company has delivered over the last decade.

While there is much to shout about in terms of the services and features available through these commercial products, what everyone really wants to know is how much IT budget Microsoft licensing will now consume.

At the time of writing, Microsoft has only announced figures for its US market, however the changes are global with some local market adjustments. We will update this blog post when we have confirmation on costs for UK customers, but here is what we currently know:

365 pricing plans affected by the price rise

Customers on education and frontline worker plans can breathe a sigh of relief, these plans are not affected. Nor are consumer products at this time. The 365 pricing changes that will go into effect in six months on 1st March 2022 are:

• Microsoft 365: Business Basic, Business Premium and E3
• Office 365: E1, E3 and E5

The big question – how much?

We estimate that 365 pricing will rise by between 10% and 20% in 2022 across these core SKUs.

Our understanding is that Nonprofits will continue to benefit from 365 Business Basic for free and receive discounts on other products, albeit at the new price point.

What else is changing?

If you purchase your Microsoft licensing via a Cloud Service Provider (CSP) there are a few additional changes that you need to know about. They are:

Fixed terms and less flexibility

Microsoft is also removing some of the flexibility you may currently enjoy. From March 2022 subscription terms will be rigorously enforced, so you won’t be able to scale your licences down until your subscription renewal date.

If you have a monthly subscription term you will be largely unaffected as you can adjust your licensing month by month. However, you can expect to see the largest increase in price for consuming 365 in this way.

Customers who have an annual subscription term, even when paying on a monthly basis, will benefit from a lower cost per user but won’t be able to reduce the quantity of licences during the term. Of course, you will be allowed to increase the number of licences, but you will have to remain at that level for the duration of your subscription term.

This puts the onus on you and your CSP to ensure you are on the right plan for your needs and factor in any future changes to the business that might impact your licensing. If your CSP is not proactively managing your licence optimisation we recommend that you review your current licensing now, make sure you’re not over-provisioned and explore more cost effective plans if possible. This will go some way to reduce the impact of the price rise in 2022.

We offer a free Microsoft Licence Health Check to review your current usage and make recommendations. Further details can be found here >

Monthly, annual & 3 year terms

Microsoft is introducing a 3 year term, alongside its current monthly and annual subscription terms. This could be beneficial if you are confident that your business won’t need to dramatically reduce licences in the next 12 – 36 months. The longer the subscription term, the lower the cost per user.

We expect that you will be able to pay monthly, annually or upfront, depending on how you want to spread the cost of your Microsoft licensing. Customers currently on an annual subscription plan will continue to be able to pay monthly or annually.

CSPs can offer discounts on the RRP

One of the advantages of purchasing your 365 licensing via a CSP is that we can often offer discounts on the RRP. This won’t change with the price rise, we will still offer discounts depending on your licence requirements and any other services you have from us.

Beat the price rise

Renewing your 365 subscriptions now rather than waiting for next year could be a good way of saving money and beating the price rise for some organisations. Those companies that want to get reduce licensing costs with an annual or 3 year term can renew in the next few weeks or months (from mid-October 2021) with their CSP and lock their 365 pricing in at the current rates for the duration of their term.

We would recommend that you start with a licensing review to ensure you’re on the right plan/s before renewing your current subscriptions, and align your licensing with any strategic plans taking effect in the period covered by your chosen subscription term.

What can you do now about 365 pricing?

Here’s our advice for preparing for the price rise:

1. Don’t panic, yet! At the time of writing you’ve got 6 months before 365 pricing increases,
2. Review your current Microsoft plans and usage. Our free 365 Licence Health Check is a good starting point >
3. Speak to your CSP about how they can help you optimise costs further,
4. Move plans or scale down licences in October, if you can, to reduce costs before the price rise,
5. If you currently purchase your 365 plans directly from Microsoft, explore whether a CSP can offer discounts on the RRP with a 364 licensing management and optimisation service.

As more information and confirmation on 365 pricing for UK and EU customers becomes available, we will be updating our blog and social media. Keep checking in for further news or get in touch to discuss your organisation’s licensing in more detail.

This week’s Microsoft licensing announcement is the first time Microsoft has increased licence costs for M365 and O365 plans in 10 years.

Effectively this will mean that, from 1^st March 2022, M365 and O365 plans will increase between 10% and 20% per user per year. Microsoft 365 E5 will remain at the current price. Azure licensing is also untouched.

These price hikes add up significantly when you have high volumes of users. Enterprise organisations with 10,000 users could be faced with finding over £260,000 per year to maintain the same level of Microsoft services.

Already IT teams are under pressure to save money and make their IT budgets go further. This news from Microsoft will not be welcome.

Microsoft licensing – are you over-provisioned?

With demand for cloud services rocketing because of the pandemic, spending on Microsoft 365, O365 and Azure AD has seen substantial growth. But Microsoft licensing is complex and often it’s not clear exactly what you’re buying.

Our free Microsoft licence health check helps you identify cost optimisation opportunities and ensures you’re on the right plan. Book here >

In the scramble to deploy remote and hybrid work strategies, some organisations are now finding they’re over-provisioned or under-utilising the services they have available. As Microsoft licensing is already consumes a huge chunk of annual IT budget in many organisations, ensuring you’re on the right plan and not over licensed is a top priority.

How to optimise your Microsoft 365 and Azure AD licensing

If you suspect that you’re wasting money on licences you don’t need, the following steps will help:

Step 1: Remove or reassign licences assigned to users that have left your organisation

When we perform a Microsoft licence health check it often surprises our customers how many users still have licences assigned to them, even though they’ve left the company. Many organisations don’t have robust software asset management (SAM) processes in place, or simply a process where HR informs IT when someone is due to leave.

Ask your HR department for a report on all employees who have left your organisation since you last reviewed your licence pool, then export a report from the Admin Portal for all licensed users. Cross reference the two reports to identify licensed users that have left the organisation and either remove those licences completely or reassign to new recruits. 

While you’re at it, set up a process with HR to ensure you’re notified of leavers and new starters so you can better manage your licence pool.

Step 2: Review your Microsoft licence pool

Best practice is to keep a licence pool to manage the ebb and flow of leavers and new starters, or spikes in demand such as when contractors need licences for specific projects. However, a high percentage of licences in your pool can mean a lot of unnecessary cost. 

By understanding your organisation’s licence usage by department, location or business function, over a period of time, you will get a better idea of how big your licence pool needs to be. 

Step 3: Identify unused licenses assigned to current users

We often find users within an organisation that have been assigned a licence for a specific project and 12 months after the project has closed, they still have the licence. A licence usage report will help you analyse what has been assigned but is not in use. 

Similarly, there may be users who have been assigned a full E5 or E3 licence who have no need for all the services included. We see this particularly in manufacturing and retail where many users ‘on the shop floor’ only need email. An Office F1 license bundled with an Exchange Online Plan, could be much more cost effective.

Having identified unused licences, you can now work with different areas of your organisation to understand their usage requirements and potentially remove or reassign licences to users in other areas of the business.

Step 4: Increase technology adoption to get better ROI

Effective Microsoft licence management is not just about slashing costs. It’s also about ensuring you’re getting a positive return on your technology investment. Licence usage reports can help you identify users or areas of the business where cloud services are not being fully adopted and who is not getting the productivity and collaboration benefits of the 365 stack.

Having identified those users or groups you can then target them with a user adoption campaign or training programme. A Day in a Life workshop that highlights the products and services they have available, and how they can transform their working day, is a great way to increase adoption. Another key area to consider is the End User Support services you provide. High quality service desk support has a positive impact on technology adoption.  

Step 5: Review your different Microsoft plans

If your organisation has multiple Microsoft licensing plans you may be paying more than once for the same licences. As well as enterprise plans, Microsoft also allows end users to purchase different plans, which again can mean your organisation pays twice for Microsoft licensing. For example, end users can now purchase the Microsoft Power Platform: Power BI, Power Apps and Power Automate.

Even if you’re not over-provisioned when business users purchase plans directly, it is still problematic. There may be compliance issues, after all it’s effectively shadow IT, and you lose control over costs and licence management.

Another way to reduce your Microsoft licensing costs is to purchase your licensing via a Cloud Service Provider (CSP). They can often offer discounts on the RRP, and they will provide you with licensing management services to drive further cost savings.

More on the benefits of working with a CSP can be found in this blog post >

Beat the price rise

Depending on your current subscription term/s, it may be advantageous to renew sooner rather than later and beat the 2022 price rise. Microsoft offer monthly and annual subscription terms, and has also announced a new 3 year term. While longer terms are not as flexible as a monthly subscription where you can adjust your licence pool month by month, if you’ve optimised your current licensing and don’t expect to need to scale down in the next 12 months, an annual term will be more cost effective. If you would like to discuss these options, please get in touch.

With six months to go before Microsoft effects its price hike, now’s the time to optimise your Microsoft licensing and ensure you’re only paying for what you need. To help you get started, take advantage of our free Microsoft Licence Health Check to find out what you’re currently using. We’ll also make recommendations to save money, and hopefully lessen the impact of this unwelcome news.