Microsoft updated business prices on Microsoft 365 and Office 365 business.
Recently, Microsoft raised prices by as much as 20 per cent for various business 365 bundles. The increase affects commercial customers and is the first since Microsoft rolled out the service a decade ago, so the price was there since 2011. Microsoft says the company has added two dozen apps to the suite since it launched, and that the updated pricing reflects the increased value we have delivered to our customers over the past 10 years.
Why did Microsoft increase M365 pricing?
Microsoft made a strong case for its price increase pointing out that Office 365 was first released in 2011 and 24 apps and 1,400+ new features have been added since — without any substantial price increases. The most noticeable of these additions include
Microsoft Teams was added to the M365 suite at no additional cost in November 2016. Teams have been the cornerstone of many work-from-home strategies during the pandemic. It’s the only solution that weaves together meetings, calls, chats, other collaboration tools, and the ability to automate business processes.
Security features have been critical for enterprises in an increasingly complex cybersecurity landscape. Capabilities like data loss prevention for email and documents, sensitivity labels, and message encryption to help keep important data within the organisation have been added. Compliance additions to help organisations reduce risk and respond to increasing regulatory requirements include Content Search, eDiscovery, and core Litigation Hold.
Innovation Growing innovation includes the advancement of artificial intelligence. Microsoft has added AI-powered real-time translation, captions, and transcription to make collaboration and communication more accessible.