Office 365 (now known as Microsoft 365) has the licensing option for Month to Month compared to Annual Pricing.  Depending on your business, annual pricing may work better or if you have many MACDs (Moves, Adds, Changes, Deletes) a Month-to-Month pricing scale might be a better option.  The good news, this Microsoft’s subscription-based productivity suite that includes familiar applications such as Word (documents), Excel (spreadsheets) PowerPoint (presentations), Outlook (email & calendar), Teams (communication & collaboration) and OneDrive (cloud storage) can be implemented quickly.

Here’s a simplified breakdown of Office 365 (Microsoft 365) costs for the most popular plans:

Office 365 Business Plans:

  1. Basic
    • Web versions only
    • Email & Teams
    • Good for basic remote work
  2. Office 365 Standard
    • Desktop + web apps
    • Email & Teams
    • Most popular for businesses
    • Complete office suite
  3. Office 365 Premium
    • Everything in Standard
    • Extra security features
    • Best for regulated industries

A Microsoft CSP (Cloud Solution Provider) is a program that allows authorized partners to sell Microsoft cloud services and provide direct support to customers. I’m happy to provide an overview of the advantages of using a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partner. Here are some of the key benefits:

  1. Flexibility and Control: CSP partners offer more flexibility and control over cloud services compared to going directly through Microsoft. They can customize solutions, bundle products, and provide specialized support.
  2. Simplified Billing and Procurement: CSP partners handle the entire billing process, allowing you to consolidate all your Microsoft cloud services onto a single monthly invoice. This simplifies budgeting and procurement.
  3. Personalized Support: CSP partners provide dedicated support and account management, making it easier to get assistance and resolve issues quickly. They have a deeper understanding of your specific needs.
  4. Bundled Services and Solutions: CSP partners can bundle Microsoft cloud products with their own value-added services, offering a more comprehensive and integrated solution.
  5. Increased Cost Savings: CSP partners may be able to negotiate better pricing and discounts with Microsoft on your behalf, leading to potential cost savings.
  6. Specialized Expertise: Many CSP partners have deep expertise in Microsoft technologies and can provide guidance on optimizing your cloud deployments.
  7. Streamlined Administration: CSP partners can handle administrative tasks like user provisioning, license management, and usage reporting on your behalf.

The choice of a CSP partner ultimately depends on your specific business needs, the level of support and services required, and how well the partner’s offerings align with your goals.

Here are the key advantages of working with a Microsoft CSP as a Customers:

1.  Office 365 Flexible Billing with a CSP

  • Monthly billing options instead of annual commitments. This is very advantageous if you have employees coming and going out of the business.  You might look to offer licensing temporarily to contractors or vendors for short project and prefer they use your corporate accounts for Governance.  This monthly billing option would all you a Pay-as-you-go model to consume licensing and the costs only when you need it.  Very similar to normal compute models.
  • Local currency billing
  • Customized payment terms
  • Can adjust licenses monthly (up or down) as mentioned above in the flexible billing.

2. Office 365 Support Benefits with a CSP

  • Local, direct support (often 24/7)
  • Faster response times to discuss your needs which could include additional or customized licensing for a set of users. Does everyone need an E1 license compared to an E5?
  • Personalized technical assistance
  • Help with implementation and migration which is very critical especially if your organization is under 1,000 employees.

 3. Cost Advantages

  • Often better pricing than direct Microsoft (we’ll cover pricing further in the article)
  • Bundle discounts possible
  • No minimum license requirements
  • Cost optimization recommendations
  • Consolidated billing for all services
  • Help identifying cost-saving opportunities

4. License Management

  • Easy license adjustments to move up/down and Pay-as-you-go.
  • Simplified procurement process through a dashboard
  • Centralized license management – allows IT and Fiance to see real-time costs.
  • Proactive license optimization advice
  • Helps with compliance

5. Added Value Services

  • Technical consulting on services. Do general mailboxes require Teams?
  • Cloud migration assistance. Move your existing licenses to a CSP
  • Security assessments
  • Training and enablement
  • Custom solution development
  • Integration services
  • Regular business reviews

6. Strategic Benefits

  • Technology roadmap planning
  • Industry-specific expertise
  • Project management
  • Change management support
  • Best practice guidance
  • Regular business reviews

 

Microsoft NCE (New Commerce Experience) is Microsoft’s newer licensing model introduced to standardize how customers purchase and manage their subscriptions. This is a great option for enterprise to take advantage of this enhanced program, here’s how it works in a comprehensive breakdown:

Key Features of NCE:

  1. Subscription Terms
    • Monthly term (with premium pricing, ~20% higher, however it offers flexibility if you can’t predict a few months out. Once you know your )
    • Annual term (standard pricing)
    • 36-month term (for specific products)
  2. Major Changes from Legacy Model
    • No mid-term cancellations – this is huge!
    • No license reduction during term
    • Price protection for term length
  3. Key Rules
    • License counts can only be increased, not decreased during term
    • Cancellations must be made within 72 hours of purchase
    • Automatic renewal unless cancelled
    • Seat-based subscriptions must be on same term length
  4. Available Products
    • Microsoft 365
    • Dynamics 365
    • Power Platform
    • Windows 365
    • Other Microsoft cloud services
  5. Impact on Pricing & Commitment
    • Monthly subscriptions cost ~20% more than annual
    • Annual commitments provide price protection
    • No proration for reduction in seats
    • Upfront billing for entire term

Important Considerations:

  1. Migration Requirements
    • Legacy subscriptions must transition to NCE
    • Specific timeline for transitions
    • Different options for migration
  2. Benefits
    • Price protection during term
    • implified purchasing
    • Consistent global pricing
    • Better subscription management

If you are interested in the flexibility and support using the Macronet Services relationships in a CSP model for Microsoft Office 365, please contact us!