Date:
3 Feb 2025
Author:
PREO AG
Microsoft Licencing
Microsoft Announces Another Round of Price Increases for Various M365 Products
After a significant rise of an average of 11% across Europe in spring 2023, the software giant from Redmond is set to implement the next round of price increases for various Microsoft 365 products starting in April 2025. The announcement of higher dollar prices is very likely to also impact Euro prices. In this blog post, we provide an initial overview and show how companies or public administrations can sustainably reduce their licence costs without compromising on quality or audit security by integrating pre-owned Microsoft licences after conducting a licence inventory.
Microsoft Products Are Getting More Expensive – What Companies Should Prepare For
Microsoft has announced several different price changes for spring 2025. Companies and public administrations should especially prepare for higher licence costs for the following business products:
Microsoft 365 Business Plans
The prices for certain Microsoft 365 Business plans are set to rise by an average of 5–10%, especially for versions with additional security and management features, such as Microsoft 365 Business Premium. The exact price changes, however, depend on the respective region.
Teams Phone Standard
The price for the Teams Phone Standard subscription will increase by 25%, from $8 to $10 per user per month, starting on 1 April 2025. This change will affect all business customers who use Microsoft Teams for business telephony.
Business Intelligence Platform Power BI
Power BI enables companies and users to collect, analyse, and coherently visualise data from various sources. Prices for Power BI Pro will increase by 40%, from $10 to $14 per user per month, and for Power BI Premium by 20%, from $20 to $24 per user per month.
Dynamics 365
Microsoft Dynamics 365 licences, often used by companies for CRM and ERP solutions, are also facing price hikes. The exact details vary depending on the licence type, with increases of about 5–10% expected.
PREO Tip:
Companies and public administrations should take this opportunity to conduct a detailed licence inventory. This allows optimisation of existing software assets and the evaluation of cost-effective licensing alternatives, such as integrating pre-owned Microsoft licences. PREO's licensing experts are happy to provide personal advice and calculate potential savings for your organisation based on your current licence inventory.
Flexible but More Expensive – A 5% Premium for Monthly Payments
From December 2024, Microsoft will offer business customers with annual subscriptions the option of monthly instalments, adding flexibility but at a 5% premium. This new payment option applies globally and to most products, including:
- Microsoft 365, including various Copilot versions
- Office 365
- Windows 365
- Dynamics 365
- Enterprise Mobility and Security (EMS)
Good to Know: Business customers can avoid this surcharge by continuing to choose the annual upfront payment option. The switch in payment methods does not alter the existing subscription terms, which remain unchanged.
Licence Inventory – Save Up to 70% with Pre-Owned Software
Continuously rising licence costs for popular software solutions like Microsoft 365 are becoming an increasing financial burden, especially for larger companies and public administrations. A cautionary example can be seen in the German government's Microsoft costs, which rose over 250% annually between 2017 and 2023, reaching approximately €200 million. Other providers are also implementing substantial price increases. These circumstances are driving IT decision-makers to seek cost-effective alternatives to mitigate rising expenses. Manufacturer-announced price hikes are an ideal trigger to review and adjust the current licence inventory.
Not every workstation requires a cloud-based functionality suite, including collaboration tools like MS Teams or the AI assistant Copilot. For stationary work environments with high volumes of repetitive tasks, the functionalities of existing on-premise versions are often sufficient. After a licence inventory, cost-effective licensing options can often be identified, with the secondary software market providing a compelling alternative.
For widely used standard software such as MS Office, Windows Server (including Server CALs), or Windows operating systems, pre-owned software offers cost advantages of up to 70% compared to current cloud licences. Additionally, such licences are audit-secure and maintain their quality as software does not wear out or age. Moreover, perpetual licences can be resold when no longer needed, generating additional revenue.
Case Study: LMT Group – Hybrid Software Solution Reduces Licensing Costs by Six Figures
A comprehensive license inventory was the foundation for implementing a hybrid software architecture at the globally active LMT Group, a leading company in the field of specialist mechanical engineering. Microsoft licenses needed to be procured for a total of 2,200 seats across 10 international IT locations. The hybrid software solution combined an Office 365 E1 plan with pre-owned licenses for Office 2016 and Windows 2016 Server CAL. This provided the functionality of an E3 plan but without Office ProPlus. As a result, the company achieved savings in the upper six-figure range without any loss of productivity. The investment paid for itself within the second year.
Interested? Download the full case study free of charge here.
PREO – Experienced and Trusted B2B Provider of Pre-Owned Software
PREO offers businesses, organisations, and public administrations a wide selection of pre-owned volume licenses for widely used standard software from leading manufacturers such as Microsoft and Adobe. Whatever the requirement, with PREO, customers enjoy all the advantages and benefit from:
- Significant savings of up to 70% on ongoing licensing costs compared to new versions.
- 100% legally compliant and audit-proof license acquisition with maximum transparency at every stage of the process, including full documentation via the PREO license portal, “Easy Compliance.”
- Personalised advice on all matters related to license transactions or the integration of pre-owned software licenses into classic network infrastructures or hybrid cloud models.
- Established capacity for software license management in large IT infrastructure projects with thousands of workstations across multiple international locations.
- Increased sustainability in IT by promoting a circular economy and reducing the corporate carbon footprint. On the topic of sustainability: PREO is the only pre-owned software vendor listed with a current scorecard by EcoVadis, the world’s largest provider of sustainability ratings.
- Expertise from numerous reference projects that PREO has successfully implemented for renowned companies across various industries and sectors.
