Wide-scale Microsoft Price Increases - 1st October 2018

Monday 3rd September 2018

Microsoft have announced wide-scale changes to their key on-premise products and licensing programs that will result in Price Increases on 1st October.

Here is a list of the changes and our recommendations to minimise additional cost to your business. If you would like us to look at your licensing agreements and future strategy – we’d be happy to help. We are Microsoft’s #1 UK partner with 100+ Microsoft Licensing specialists.

Download our Guide to Microsoft Price Changes October 2018


Key changes & recommendations


Price Increase of 10% for Perpetual Office and related on-premise Office Server (Exchange, Skype for Business and SharePoint Server)

Bytes recommend: Office 2019 is to be released as click-to-run only. Now is a good time to consider moving to Office 365 or Microsoft 365. Dual use rights will allow for the continued use of on-premises server software until you are ready to move to the cloud.

Price Increase 10% for Core CAL and Enterprise CAL Suite

Bytes recommend: Consider moving to cloud based licensing. EMS and Office 365 bought together give the same rights as the Core or Enterprise CAL Suite. If you’ve been looking at increased security, now is the time to make the move.

Price Increase 16% to 25% on Windows 10 Enterprise when licensed per device (no change to Per User)

Bytes recommend: Customers should consider moving to a Per User licensing model which offers greater flexibility and improved compliance for users with multiple devices.

Price Increase 10% on Windows Server (Standard & Datacenter)

Bytes recommend: Get more value from your Windows Server licenses with Software Assurance by taking advantage of Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server which allows the use of the software both on-premises and in Azure concurrently (Datacenter only). An alternative to Software Assurance are the new Server Subscriptions for Azure which are available for 1 or 3 year terms.

Removal of Enterprise Agreement Level A resulting in price increases of approx. 4% for companies with 250-2,499 Users

Bytes recommend: Organisations with renewals between now and July 2019 should engage Bytes to understand the impact. Options to reduce the impact will include an early renewal commitment and/or moving to cloud.

Removal of Open License Level C resulting in price increases of approx. 2-10% for companies with up to 500 Users

Bytes recommend: Organisations with renewals between now and July 2019 should engage Bytes to understand the impact. Options to reduce the impact will include an early renewal commitment and/or moving to cloud.

Download Changes to PDF


What to do now

Striking the right balance between cloud and on-premise licensing is key. In addition to having 100+ Microsoft Certified Professionals (MCPs) with expert licensing knowledge, our Cloud team can advise on the best Microsoft Cloud solutions for your business. Find out how our Commercial Advisory Service can reduce your licensing costs or book a Microsoft Cloud workshop to discover how Office 365 and Microsoft 365 can modernise your organisation.


We’d love to hear from you, simply contact us on 01372 418 500 or email [email protected] to discover your best options.


The Bytes Team


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