Microsoft has pushed back its price increases through a “grace period” that will let CSP partners transact deals at February prices.
The vendor had planned to hike prices from yesterday but will instead let partners push through business under old costs until 5 pm PT on 14 March. All deals after this will be made at the higher prices.
The grace period applies to six SKUs (all post-14 March prices are noted below)
- Microsoft 365 Basic: from $5 to $6 per user per month
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium: $20 to $22
- Office 365 E1: $8 to $10
- Office 365 E3: $20 to $23
- Office 365 E5: $35 to $38
- Microsoft 365 E3: $32 to $36
One Microsoft partner told UC Today that Microsoft’s systems slowed on 28 February as partners tried to rush through deals at the cheaper pricing, resulting in Microsoft introducing the grace period.
“The grace period provides partners with additional lead time for adapting business processes and placing orders for these six Modern Work products, and we anticipate Microsoft partners will not use this grace period to pull forward demand for these offers,” Microsoft said.
Microsoft announced the price rises last August and justified them as a “reflection” of the increased value provided by the Microsoft 365 portfolio.
A further hike of 20 percent for subscriptions billed monthly, rather than annually, will still come into force in June.
The changes are part of a Microsoft initiative to align its CSP model with Enterprise Agreements.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has said that the release of updated pricing lists for CSPs has been delayed until 1 April.
