Microsoft plans price hike to 365 subscription plans

Widen your wallet for Windows, because Microsoft is planning to hike up the prices for their 365 subscription plans, by as much as 25%. 

Several Microsoft 365 and Office 365 subscription plans will be affected by the change, which will come into effect on the 1st of March, 2022. 

Almost all enterprise and business 365 plans will see increases. Microsoft has listed the new prices as: 

• Office 365 E1, up from $2 to $10 per month, per user.
• Office 365 E3, up from $3 to $23 per month, per user.
• Office 365 E5, up from $3 to $38 per month, per user.
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic, up from $1 to $6 per month, per user.
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium, up from $2 to $22 per month, per user.
• Microsoft 365 E3, up from $4 to $36 per month, per user.

The F-series plan for frontline workers, and Microsoft's most comprehensive subscription plan, Microsoft 365 E5 remain untouched. For E5, this remains at a price point of $57 per user per month. 

Before these price hikes come into effect users, especially business leaders, have some time to think. Is the increased cost worth it? And, if you decide it isn't, why? 

Is it because Microsoft 365 isn't providing features and functionality which can boost your organisation's productivity and organisation? or is it because your business hasn't explored them fully yet? 

If you respond with a definitive yes on the first answer, renewing may not be in your best interest. But we suspect more organisations out there identify with the second.

Many of Microsoft's major additions to 365, like Teams, have been made household names by the pandemic.

Despite this, many users think the functionality for Teams begins and ends with video calling, which couldn't be more untrue. The software has a whole host of features that can greatly boost business productivity. 

This pattern continues with Office 365 software including Sharepoint and Outlook, which boast additional features many users are unaware of. We recently published a tip on how to navigate Outlook more efficiently with this in mind. 

With plenty of time before the subscription hike, business leaders should put aside time to explore the complete functionality of 365 and consider to what extent it can help improve productivity, organisation and communication across their organisation.

Photo by Johny vino on Unsplash