The price of your email is increasing. Last August, Microsoft announced that they would be making changes to their Microsoft 365 commercial pricing structure sometime in early 2022.
After several delays and redirections, it appears as though the price increases will finally be taking place at the beginning of April, 2022.
According to corporate vice president Jared Spataro, the change marks “the first substantive pricing update since we launched Office 365 a decade ago.”
Although the price increases are different for different Microsoft 365 products and bundles, generally speaking, the new pricing reflects an approximate 20% increase.
Microsoft feels that the increases are justified, in part, due to the continuous expansion and updating of applications and features that have occurred since the product’s inception. Beyond basic email capabilities, these additions have included Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Whiteboard, Teams, Visio, and many others. In fact, the company has added over 24 apps and released over 1,400 new features and capabilities since the initial launch.
These pricing changes will impact most (but not all) commercial business subscriptions and do not apply to the company’s consumer or education products.
For most businesses, Microsoft 365 is only available through a third-party service provider. If you’re not sure how this price increase will affect your organization, contact your IT provider.