How to avoid a steep price increase on your Microsoft licensing: Minimising costs and maximising value when moving to the NCE

In order to meet the ever-changing needs of modern businesses, Microsoft recently announced they were evolving the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) Program in order to make purchasing and renewing Microsoft licences more efficient, more flexible and less complex.  

In 2019, Microsoft released the New Commerce Experience (NCE) for Microsoft Azure and NCE is now expanding to include four more Microsoft products beginning in March 2022. 

What is New Commerce Experience (NCE)? 

NCE is an evolution of the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) Program which enables organisations to purchase the right licences for them in easier ways. NCE is a seat based-licence model that allows you to purchase monthly, annual and multi-year subscriptions for your Microsoft products. 

Note: Educational or NFP (Not for Profit) Organisations or licenses are not changed at this time. 

What does NCE offer? 

New subscription terms and easier subscription management 

There are three new subscription terms on offer with NCE: 

  • Monthly
  • Annual (Paid Monthly or Upfront)
  • 3 year subscription (Paid Monthly, Annual or Upfront) – Only available from March
Subscription  Details  Pro’s  Con’s 
1 Month Subscription  Enables you to change the number of licenses at the end of each month  Flexibility (can change seat count at the end of each month easily)  Cost – 20% more with the new NCE premium 

12 Month Subscription 

(24 month subscription similar) 

 Enables change to the number of licenses at the end of the year only, but price locks your subscription for 1 year, meaning inflation will not affect you for 12 months  Discount on cost as no price premium. No inflation/increase in price is possible for 12 months as price is locked  Locked into a certain number of licenses for a year, can’t reduce license count. 
36 Month Subscription  Enables you to price lock your subscription for 3 years, meaning price inflation will not affect you for 36 months  Discount on cost as no price premium. No inflation/increase in price is possible for 36 months as price is locked  Locked into 3 year subscription, with no cancellation/downgrade or license count changes until end of 3 year cycle 

 

The latter two can be used in tandem with the monthly term, at a 20% price premium. This is an ideal solution for businesses who may need flexibility due to seasonal or business-volume fluctuations. 

As well as this, Microsoft have also streamlined transition into New Commerce Experience and made the adoption of new products easier with trial conversions. 

Microsoft’s new price increases 

Although not part of NCE, but directly affecting it, Microsoft also announced price increases to specific products – most of which have had static pricing for almost 10 years, as well as the functionality increasing significantly over that period. 

The products are: 

  • Windows 10 E3/E5 
  • Office 365 
  • EMS E3/E5 
  • Microsoft 365 
  • Windows 365 
  • Dynamics 365 
  • Power Platform 
  • Azure consumption services 

The price increases will begin in March 2022 but you can opt for a promotional offer now to lock in a lower price.  

Key dates and promotional offers

Promotions/Discounts 

Monthly Discount:
This discount equates monthly cost to annual cost. Promotion runs until June 30th 2022. 

Annual Discount:
5% discount on annual offer. Promotion runs until March 31st 2022. 

Key Dates 

March 15th 2022 (Originally 1st March 2022, but Microsoft has changed this): Microsoft Price Increase (approx. 15%) 

March 10th 2022: New subscriptions MUST be purchased under NCE 

July 1st 2022: Legacy subscriptions MUST be renewed under NCE 

July 1st 2023: All customers will have transitioned to the NCE after 1 year from the renewal date 

What happens if you don’t do anything? 

If you need your Microsoft licenses and platform to continue beyond your current contract term, you must migrate to NCE.

If you no longer require your Microsoft licenses and platform, these will cease once your current contract term expires if you have no replacement NCE contract agreed.

You can speak with one of our Microsoft License experts and they’ll help you design the best licensing mix for your organisation; simply complete the form on our dedicated New Commerce Experience page.

How TSG can help you lock in better pricing for your licences 

Something to bear in mind when moving to NCE, is that you need to ensure you have a reliable Cloud Solution Provider, such as TSG, as you’ll be locked in for the term of your subscriptions. 

So why do we suggest you choose us? 

  • We offer training from our Microsoft Specialists who will help you get more value out of your licence. In fact, customers who have transitioned to NCE already have not only taken advantage of the promotions but have had our experts review their hardware and applications estate, allowing them to save costs by using included functionality in the Microsoft licences to (for example) remove on premise hardware, cancel 3rd party subscriptions to apps which are included in M365/D365. This is where the true savings are; our experts can help you get the most of our your licence and help you to remove 3rd party applications that your licence can already do for you.  
  • A dedicated Customer Success Manager who will support your journey every step of the way 
  • TSG will help monitor user adoption and usage 
  • We are a Microsoft Gold Partner with 10+ competencies – so we know what we’re doing when it comes to all things Microsoft 
  • We have a self-service customer portal coming soon that will enable you to choose the right products for you when you’re ready 

Watch our training webinar & get in touch

To learn more about NCE and how TSG can support you, you can watch our NCE training webinar and to get in touch with one of our experts, visit our NCE page. 

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