Microsoft 365/ Office 365 Plans Price Increase
Microsoft has updated the prices for its Microsoft 365 productivity cloud for the first time since it launched Office 365 a decade ago. In addition to the current monthly and annual plans, Microsoft is also introducing new 3-year plans. Substantial improvements have been made in the aspects of communications and collaboration, security and compliance, and AI and automation, in addition to the audio-conferencing capabilities. Over the years, Microsoft has added 24 apps including, Microsoft Teams, Power Apps, Power BI, Power Automate, Stream, Planner, Visio, OneDrive, Yammer, and Whiteboard, and over 1,400 new features.
Advanced Communication and Collaboration Capabilities
Microsoft Teams has become the preferred platform for communication and collaboration across organizations. With innovative features such as Together mode, background effects, large gallery view, Raise Hand button, live reactions, breakout rooms, live captions with speaker attribution, Fluid components, and over 300 new capabilities that were added in 2020 alone, Teams has evolved into an integrated solution for meeting, chatting, calling, collaborating, and automating business processes. Deep integrations with other Microsoft products, such as Power Platform, Whiteboard, Lists, Planner, Shifts, Forms, and SharePoint, along with apps from partner companies, such as Adobe, Atlassian, Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow, and Workday, facilitate in real-time and asynchronous collaboration. The platform also benefits from unlimited dial-in capabilities so that users can join Microsoft Teams meetings from virtually any device.
Powerful Security and Compliance Capabilities
Microsoft 365 is designed to help organizations navigate through the complexity of the modern cybersecurity landscape. The new attack surface reduction capabilities built into the suite are effective in defending against ransomware and other threats. The data loss prevention (DLP) capabilities for protecting email and documents, sensitivity labels, and message encryption, help in securing organizational data. Powerful compliance capabilities, such as Content Search, eDiscovery, and core Litigation Hold, help in reducing risk and responding to regulatory requirements.
Cutting-Edge Artificial Intelligence and Automation Capabilities
AI-powered tools have been added to productivity and collaboration applications in Microsoft 365 that can aid writers, designers, and presenters. Maps, charts, and tables can be added to Excel automatically with artificial intelligence. Real-time translation, captions, and transcription have also been enabled by cloud-powered AI capabilities. Emails are sorted by the powerful AI engine built into Outlook for a clutter-free experience.
Apps4Rent will continue to offer Office 365/ Microsoft 365 plans at the same rates as Microsoft. The change in prices is reflective of the changes made by Microsoft on its official channels and will be applicable from March 1, 2022. Below are the old and revised prices per user per month based on annual commitments.
|
Product |
Old Price
|
New Price
|
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic |
$5 |
$6 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Premium |
$20 |
$22 |
| Office 365 E1 |
$8 |
$10 |
| Office 365 E3 |
$20 |
$23 |
| Office 365 E5 |
$35 |
$38 |
| Microsoft 365 E3 |
$32 |
$36 |
