For the first time in 10 years: Office and Microsoft 365 are getting more expensive

For the first time since Office 365 launched a decade ago, Microsoft adjusted the pricing of the offering. One reason for this is the constant expansion and the more extensive functionality of the individual products.

In the last ten years, Office 365 has been installed for over 300 million workstations for a fee. Microsoft reinvested the money that was raised in this way, among other things, in the Microsoft 365 cloud solution, which was added in 2017. Office 365 started in 2011 with the applications Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Lync, Exchange, Project and Infopath. Since then, the offer has been supplemented by 24 additional functions.

“The price adjustment reflects the increased functional value of our cloud solution since the market launch. We have steadily expanded our offering for organizations in three key areas in particular: in communication and collaboration, in security and compliance, and in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, ”said Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365, explaining the new Pricing. Prices will be adjusted worldwide on March 1, 2022. Depending on which Microsoft products companies use, the new prices vary between one to four US dollars per user more than before. Educational institutions and private end users are initially excluded from the price increase.

In addition, Spataro announced that the offer will also be expanded in the future to include new functions, including new options for audio conferences. In the aforementioned audio conferences, the existing suites for companies, service, production and authorities are to be supplemented by a telephone component. This means that employees without internet access can dial into team meetings via telephone and can thus also take part in meetings while on the go. The feature is to be published in over 70 countries in a subscription model.

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