Microsoft Updates: Key changes and impacts for your organisation

Over the past two weeks, Microsoft has rolled out a series of updates, price changes, promotions, and new product announcements. At Ultima, we’ve consolidated these updates to help you understand their potential impact on your organisation. Below, we’ve summarized the most significant updates and provided insights to assist your planning. Feel free to reach out with any questions or requests for further details.

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Key Updates from Microsoft

1. Microsoft Customer Agreement for Enterprise (MCA-E) Recommendation

Update: Microsoft is recommending MCA-E as the preferred licensing model for enterprise customers. For small and medium customers (SMCs), either CSP or MCA-E is advised. Starting January 1, 2025, some cloud-only Enterprise Agreements (EA) will no longer be eligible for renewal.

Insight: This marks a major strategic shift by Microsoft, as they have not previously declined EA renewals. While CSP offers new opportunities, this move highlights the company’s future direction. We’ll explore the implications and long-term effects in our next webinar.

2. Enterprise Incentives for Value-Added Services

Update: Enterprise incentives will now emphasize outcome-based opportunities, allowing partners to earn rewards by delivering value-added services.

Insight: Microsoft is no longer rewarding partners for simple EA renewals, which pushes a shift toward CSP services.

3. Maximum Resale Price (MRP) Formula Changes

Update: Effective July 2025, Microsoft will revise the MRP calculation formula in channel partner agreements to support volume licensing.

Insight: This update primarily impacts public sector customers.

4. New Monthly Billing Plan for Microsoft 365 Copilot

Update: Beginning December 2024, a monthly billing plan for Microsoft 365 Copilot will be available, priced 5% higher than the annual billing option.

Insight: To avoid this increase, consider locking in pricing with an annual subscription before the changes take effect.

5. 15% Discount on Microsoft 365 E5 Annual Subscriptions

Update: Partners can access a 15% discount on new Microsoft 365 E5 annual subscriptions for customers, available until June 2025.

Insight: This is the first of several CSP incentives expected in 2025.

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Additional Updates

Price Increases for Power BI and Teams Phone

Microsoft has announced pricing changes for the following products, effective April 1, 2025:

–Teams Phone Standard

–Power BI Pro

–Power BI Premium Per User
The updated pricing reflects a 40% increase compared to current list prices.

Monthly Billing for Microsoft 365 Copilot

Based on customer feedback, Microsoft will introduce a monthly invoicing option for Microsoft 365 Copilot from December 1, 2024, with a 5% price uplift compared to annual billing.

What’s Next?

Join us for our upcoming licensing webinar, where we’ll delve into these changes in greater detail, discussing their implications and strategies to optimize your Microsoft investments.