How Microsoft’s 2023 NCE Prices Will Affect Your Business
Lucidica Team
Microsoft has announced that starting from April 1, 2023, it will be increasing the prices of all its products and services by 9%. This new pricing structure will apply to all Microsoft Cloud products and services. Microsoft’s goal is to bring regional prices closer to the USD and move to a more common pricing model in the industry.
What is the New Commerce Experience (NCE)?
The New Commerce Experience (NCE) is a new platform introduced by Microsoft in January 2022. The platform is meant to make it easier for customers and partners to work together. The goal is to cut down on complexity and save money on renewal commitments.
Under the NCE platform, Microsoft has introduced new subscription options, such as the NCE Monthly Subscription and the NCE 12-month Subscription. These new subscription options provide greater flexibility for customers, allowing them to choose between a convenient monthly option or an annual commitment with monthly billing.
NCE Monthly Subscription:
Under the new Microsoft NCE pricing structure, customers can choose from two subscription options. The first is the NCE Monthly Subscription, which provides a convenient monthly option for Microsoft services without a long-term commitment. The NCE Monthly Subscription allows customers to adjust their seat count and plans every month as needed. Licenses can be decreased or canceled within 72 hours (about 3 days) of purchase or at the end of each monthly term.
NCE 12-Month Commitment:
The second type of subscription is the NCE 12-month Subscription, which gives customers the choice of committing to Microsoft services for a year or paying for them each month. With this option, customers are locked in for the whole term, which saves them money and protects them from any price increases that might happen. It is important to note that seat counts can be increased during the 12-month subscription but not reduced.
An Example of How Your Licenses Might Be Affected:
With the new pricing structure, popular products such as Microsoft 365 Business, Microsoft 365 Enterprise, and Dynamics licensing will be affected. If you are on a month-to-month basis, thinking of getting new licenses, or your products are expiring after April 1st, you will be impacted by the price increase.
Shown below is an illustration of how the price increase will impact Microsoft Business Premium and Microsoft Enterprise 3:
Monthly Commitment
| License Type | Current Monthly Commitment Price | Price After April 1st | Annual Total After April 1st |
| Microsoft Business Premium | £19.92 | £21.71 | £260.55 |
| Microsoft 365 E3 | £38.04 | £41.46 | £497.56 |
12-Month Commitment
| License Type | Current 12-Month Commitment Price | Price After April 1st | Annual Total After April 1st |
| Microsoft Business Premium | £16.60 | £18.09 | £217.13 |
| Microsoft 365 E3 | £31.70 | £34.55 | £414.64 |
As demonstrated above, the difference between the monthly and annual commitments is substantial in terms of the annual investment. Once the new price structure goes into effect, firms that move to a 12-month commitment will see savings of up to 16%.
How does the payment schedule work?
Contract lengths of one month or one year are now available for newly purchased subscriptions. In this way, companies can pick and choose from the three options to create a custom solution. Organizations can select the 12-month contract payment schedule that best fits their needs, whether that is upfront, monthly, or yearly.
Lucidica is a Microsoft Partner and a London-based IT Support Company that can assist businesses in managing these changes, availing discounts, and licensing alternatives. Our knowledge, licensing optimisation assessment services, and NCE program updates are available to current and prospective clients.
If you are unsure how this might affect your business, you can call us at 020 7042 6310, or email us at [email protected].
