This summer, Microsoft will align the prices of its volume-licences (which generally refers to licences for its business software) to the Euro. This aims to harmonise pricing across the European region.
At the moment, because of currency fluctuations the cost of licences varies depending on the currency you buy them in. Because the British Pound is currently weak against the Euro and has been for a while, UK customers are (arguably) getting Microsoft software cheaper than their Eurozone neighbours.
There’s a lot of speculation about how much Microsoft volume licence prices could rise for UK customers. Estimates range from a small amount to over 35%. Either way, if you’re in an organisation that's considering purchasing new or additional licences for products such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM or Microsoft Dynamics NAV, it’s might be worth buying them in the next couple of months, before the prices goes up.
No matter how you look at it, Microsoft’s licencing model for its business software is not simple. There are various different types of licence and agreements for its products and services which can confuse even the most savvy business person or buyer. Because of this, the price changes may not apply to all products. There are also likely to be exceptions, for example for organisations or individuals in academia.
Full details of the changes and how much licences are likely to rise (or possibly fall in some EU countries) will be available in June this year. So if you’re not sure whether these changes will affect you, or by how much, contact your Microsoft Business Partner in June.
And don’t forget, June is also a deadline for two major offers on Microsoft Dynamics products. There’s the cash back offer on Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online for organisations with 30 users or more. For UK organisations this ends June 30th 2012. There’s also the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 'Give Me Five' Offer. Also ending in June, this enables UK businesses to buy five licences of Microsoft Dynamics NAV for just £1800! Both these offers are genuinely outstanding and, if you’re able to take advantage of them, are a great chance to save a substantial amount while at the same time avoiding any price rises caused by harmonisation.
