Microsoft is increasing the price of the Office 365 by almost 15 percent for enterprise customers , primarily for those who don’t have an active Software Assurance (SA) plan. This should come as a surprising news, but a majority of existing customers who bought Office 365 directly from Microsoft or through its Open licensing program will not see an increase in the price. Even the Office 365 EA customers will not see the price hike for the duration of their agreement.
“The vast majority of our customers will not see an increase in the cost of Office 365. All existing Office 365 EA customers are guaranteed prices will not change for the duration of their agreement. New Office 365 EA customers who don’t have a previous investment in our products will see an increase to align our pricing to our other channels,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.
The new prices will take effect from August 1st, and it seems the customers without a Software Assurance plan will be hit the hardest with this price hike.
Starting August, Microsoft will also offer discount on Office 365 E1, E3 and E4 subscriptions, and they will be priced at $8, $20 and $22 per user per month respectively. It seems Microsoft is trying to boost its revenue from the Office 365 suite, which is said to be the fastest growing business in the company’s history, reportedly generating $2.5 billion annual revenue.
