as previously blogged Follow up to Microsofts Euro Pricing Change Microsoft announced a while back that on the 1st May they would let partners and distributors know the impact of their decision to bring the UK into line with the Euro. True to their word they sent out emails saying that on 1st July the following price increases would be likely to take effect on their licensing programs (exact changes are subject to exchange rate fluctuation between now and June 1st):
Microsoft SPLA – 33.4%
Microsoft OPEN – 7.5%
Microsoft Open Value Subscription – 33.4%
Microsoft SELECT – 24.6%
Microsoft EA / EAS – 26.7%
Microsoft ISV Royalty – 33.4%
There will be no pricing increase for Academic programs in relation to this announcement however there may be a variance on a monthly basis based on other factors.
I initially forecast a licensing increase of between 20 – 35%, dropping it to 20 – 27% based on the exchange rate at that time. Well I’m sorry to say I was right the first time despite a lot of people saying it would only be single figures. I also only slightly under estimated Open Licensing at 6%.
To be fair to Microsoft, they have announced a commitment to an ongoing policy applied to maintain alignment across all 5 none Euro EU/EFTA currencies but they have failed to provide any specifics on how and when they will do that.
What does this mean to the partner or customer?
As a reseller of Microsoft Licences I would position yourself now to encourage those customers who are speaking to you about licensing to expedite their purchasing process ensuring that they are in a position to buy before 1st July. Anyone in a licensing program before then will be locked in at the current prices until the end of their agreement with Microsoft.
Licensing is region specific, even when the costs go up in the UK you won’t be able to look elsewhere to purchase as they will not be valid for the customer. I recently had a call from a customer in England who wanted to purchase an Open license for his servers in South Africa, unfortunately my advice to him was to buy from a South African Microsoft Partner.
Customers should always purchase through Microsoft Partners who use an Authorised Microsoft Distributor, this not only gives you fully legal licensing but a speedy service and full support from Microsoft regarding your purchase. You may find Microsoft licensing much cheaper from some internet websites, if you can buy it much cheaper from them than a Microsoft Partner the chances of that license being legal is very slim indeed. After 1st July 2012 you will see a dramatic increase in all licenses purchased on the above licensing programs. (OEM and Full Packaged Product are also not affected).
NCI do sell Licensing online AND purchase from a Microsoft Authorised Distributor, to check out the current prices visit our online shop
So now it seems Microsoft have made the EU fair and equal to all, all that is except the other major developed countries in the world. Canada, US, Australia and many more countries still have disparity yet no announcements have been made to equalise them with Europe. Being a small UK business myself I don’t get global price lists so I can only report on what my fellow business friends around the world tell me. Canada is more expensive than the US, as is Australia. Now that the EU is in line together it wouldn’t surprise me that the EU was more expensive than the US too – is that fair?. The number one question that Microsoft needs to answer is when is the Euro going to be adjusted in line with the U.S Dollar? When are we going to have one fair global price?.
With most if not all of the software in these programs being downloads only there are no shipping costs and manufacture costs are the same no matter where in the world the software is made. You can’t blame taxes, taxes are added on top of whatever Microsoft and the distributors charge. I am wondering why Microsoft felt the need to make just one portion of the world equal and didn’t start on their own doorstep.