‘Partner feedback was instrumental in guiding our decision to make EOS (end-of-sale) scheduling for billing changes available ahead of schedule,’ Microsoft said in an online post.
Microsoft is crediting “partner feedback” for a decision to move up the release of a billing frequency change scheduling tool for solution providers who will navigate major subscription decisions with customers before April 1.
April 1 marks the start of a previously announced 5 percent premium on various annual subscriptions paid monthly and the one-year mark since Microsoft discontinued enterprise suite subscriptions including Teams to appease European regulators, with some customers needing to make a decision on a Teams plan as their renewals come up.
The billing frequency change tool was originally scheduled to roll out on the same day as the pricing changes–giving solution providers little time to prepare to move customers if they needed to change plans–but now the tool is set for a “sandbox” release on Friday and a wider release March 10.
“Partner feedback was instrumental in guiding our decision to make EOS (end-of-sale) scheduling for billing changes available ahead of schedule,” Microsoft said in an online post.
[RELATED: Certain Microsoft Subscriptions Face 5 Percent Premium; Teams Phone, Power BI Price Increases Set]
CRN has reached out to Microsoft for comment.
The tool will allow for customers on EOS and EOS with conversion offers to schedule billing frequency changes for annual terms or triennial terms before their renewal date.
Another purchasing tool change coming to Partner Center and through application programming interfaces (APIs) on April 1 that could help solution providers is the ability to configure license quantity, term and billing frequency for New Commerce Experience (NCE) license-based trial renewals. The default will be renewing the license as an annual subscription billed monthly with 25 seats, according to Microsoft.
Starting April 1, all new and renewing monthly billing plans for annual and triennial subscriptions will increase by 5 percent compared to if the customer paid annually or triennially. Customers renewing subscriptions on May 1, for example, will see the price change the next monthly billing cycle.
A separate price change taking effect April 1 is Microsoft raising the price of Teams Phone by 25 percent, from $8 to $10 per user, per month for annual commitment, annual billing.
The price of Power BI Pro will grow 40 percent from $10 to $14 per user, per month for that same billing plan. The price of Power BI Premium Per Use will grow 20 percent from $20 per user, per month to $24 per user, per month for that plan.
Customers who buy Teams Phone or Power BI through Microsoft 365 E5 or Office 365 E5 annual term subscriptions with annual billing will not see a price change, according to Microsoft. Annual commitments, monthly billing for Teams Phone, Power BI Pro and Power BI Premium Per Use will still have the 5 percent premium, according to Microsoft.
Separately, on April 1, 2024, Microsoft introduced packages of Office 365 and Microsoft 365 that don’t include Teams plus a standalone Teams offer in the U.S. and worldwide. Microsoft had stopped selling these packages with Teams in Europe in 2023 to appease local regulators concerned the packages were anti-competitive.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Microsoft has offered to make a greater difference in price between standalone Teams and the packages to avoid a European Union antitrust fine. It was not immediately clear if such a price change would come to the U.S. and elsewhere.
