As a valued client we wanted to be sure you were aware of upcoming changes to Office 365 and Microsoft 365 pricing and terms.

Microsoft has announced a substantial change to is pricing and terms for Office 365 and Microsoft 365 beginning in the first quarter of 2022. This change in terms will affect commercial and business users of Microsoft’s software. No changes to pricing for education or non-profit clients are expected.

Price Increases

Firstly, Microsoft’s updated pricing will go into effect on March 1st, 2022 as follows: 

Please note that as of March 1st 2022, your billing will be automatically updated to reflect the new pricing. These price increases are directly implemented at the sole discretion of Microsoft and nology simply passes these through to our customers. We do not set or manage pricing for Office or Microsoft 365.

Annual Terms

In addition to the price increases reflected above as of March 1st 2022, Microsoft is implementing Microsoft NCE (New Commerce Experience) and updating the Microsoft Agreement for clients.

The main takeaway relevant to our customers is that Microsoft will be moving all customers into annual agreements unless they specifically opt-out.

• In general under the NCE (New Commerce Experience), all clients wishing to remain at current pricing will be required to enter into an annual commitment on all their current licenses. This means that if you have, for example, 100 x Microsoft Business Basic licenses and you have 3 employees leave, you will not be able to reduce your license count until your annual renewal term each March. The licenses will sit in an unused pool for you to use in the future as needed. Licenses can be removed or downsized at each renewal term.
• Additions of products after the start of your initial term in March, or any subsequent terms, may be subject to their own separate annual agreement and may not run conterminously with the original agreement.
• Each initial or subsequent term will auto renew annually.
• Microsoft agreement terms under NCE will not automatically align with your nology contract term and the terms may be staggered.
• Your MSA (Master Service Agreement) with nology will be updated in the next 30 days to reflect these changes, additional requirements, and termination penalties that may apply specially to Microsoft licensing. Please monitor your email for a notice of the updated MSA terms that will apply to you and read it carefully.

Should you want to opt-out of annual commitments under the NCE and continue with month-to-month flexibility with your Office and Microsoft 365 licenses, you will be required to fill out the opt-out form here prior to Feb 15th 2022 and your organization will face pricing that's 20 percent higher. (Eg. Business Basic $6/Month annual vs. $7.20/Month month-to-month).

Please remember, these are requirements, term changes, and pricing increases directly implemented by Microsoft.

Should you have questions or concerns please contact your account manager or email accounts@nologynetworks.com for more information.

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