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Last Fall, Microsoft announced changes to its commercial pricing for Microsoft 365 that will comes into effect this spring. It is the first substantive pricing update since the launch of Office 365 a decade ago.
No one likes to see prices rise unless you get more for your dollar. Since the initial release Microsoft has added 24 applications to the suites—Microsoft Teams, Power Apps, Power BI, Power Automate, Stream, Planner, Visio, OneDrive, Yammer, and Whiteboard — as well as releasing over 1,400 new features and capabilities (see below).
The question is whether you need all Microsoft 365 provides, particularly if your licenses exceed your IT budget.
Changes to your license fees will vary depending on number of users and your use of other Microsoft services. Please speak with your Flagship Account Managers to inquire about how the pricing update could impact your business. They can help you:
The following is a brief overview of the new features and capabilities in three key areas—communications and collaboration, security and compliance, and AI and automation.
Microsoft Teams was launched in 2017 as an integrated solution where you can meet, chat, call, collaborate, and automate business processes—with the power of the Office apps—all within the flow of work. It currently serves as the front end across work, life, and learning for more than 250 million monthly active users. In 2020, Microsoft released over 300 new capabilities including Together mode, background effects, large gallery view, raise hand, live reactions, breakout rooms, live captions with speaker attribution, and Fluid components.
As we worked through the pandemic through 2020 to today, Microsoft Teams has empowered businesses for hybrid work through deep integrations with Power Platform, Whiteboard, Lists, Planner, Shifts, Forms, and SharePoint. Companies like Adobe, Atlassian, Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow, and Workday have built apps that deeply integrate with Teams, bringing business processes and functions directly into the flow of work.
Microsoft has also brought real-time and asynchronous collaboration in their desktop app, like. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint desktop apps. There is now a growing set of capabilities like @mentions, assign tasks, modern comments, and auto-save that has streamlined the collaboration experience.
The cybersecurity landscape is more complex than ever. With the accelerating volume, scale, and sophistication of cyberattacks, security and compliance are a priority for every organization. Microsoft 365 now includes new attack surface reduction capabilities to help organizations defend against ransomware and other threats. Other features include added capabilities, such as data loss prevention (DLP) for email and documents, sensitivity labels, and message encryption to help keep important data within the organization.
Added compliance capabilities, such as Content Search, eDiscovery, and core Litigation Hold, help organizations reduce risk and respond to increasing regulatory requirements. Built-in mobile device management (MDM) and other management tools like Microsoft Endpoint Manager help admins support remote and hybrid workforces.
Over the past decade, Microsoft has infused AI capabilities across productivity and collaboration applications to help everyone achieve more. Across Microsoft 365, AI-powered innovations help users to be better writers, designers, and presenters. Cloud-powered AI now automatically creates maps, charts, and tables in Excel. Outlook now automatically sorts email and removes clutter. And AI-powered real-time translation, captions, and transcription make collaboration and communication more accessible and engaging for everyone.
Microsoft added unlimited dial-in capabilities for Microsoft Teams meetings across enterprise, business, frontline, and government suites. Even as cloud connectivity increases, we know that people join Teams meetings while they are on the go or struggling with a bad internet connection. Currently included with Microsoft 365 E5 and Office 365 E5, dial-in has become an important part of the complete Teams experience. Unlimited dial-in provides peace of mind that users will be able to join their Microsoft Teams meeting from virtually any device regardless of location.
To speak with a Flagship Account Manager about how the pricing update could impact your business, call us or complete the form below.