Major changes at Microsoft

Major (price) changes at Microsoft: New prices, products and licenses

In July, it was announced that major changes at Microsoft would accompany the new products in autumn 2018. The details of these changes have now been released: On-premises products are getting more expensive, support times are being reduced, licensings are about to change.

What’s new at Microsoft?

Products: From November, the following Office 2019 servers will be available:

• Exchange Server 2019
• SharePoint Server 2019
• Skype for Business Server 2019
• Project Server 2019

Price increases from October 2018:

• Microsoft Office: approx. 10%
• Microsoft Server (Exchange, SharePoint, Skype for Business): approx. 10%
• Access licenses (CALs): approx. 10%
• Server products (Windows Server 2019 Standard Edition, CAL Suites): approx. 10%
• Windows 10 Enterprise: approx. 10%
• Remote Desktop Services (RDS) Device CAL to User CAL: approx. 30%
• Increase in government prices: approx. 15% compared to the current Open-D conditions (except educational institutions for which Education or Academic conditions apply)

Other changes:

• Renaming and changing licenses for Windows 10 Enterprise E3 (for more information, see HERE)
• Discontinuation of Windows 10 Enterprise E5 device licensing
• Abolition of discount scales in the volume license programs Open License, Open Value, EA, MSPA and Select Plus
• Changing online services at the lowest commercial price for EA/EAS, MPSA, Select Plus and Open programs
• Abolition of Open-C licenses

The alternative: Used Software

As mentioned, the changes at Microsoft also affect Office 2019: On-premises office software is 10 percent more expensive than its predecessor and the support has been limited to seven years.
Measures that seem to be aimed at pushing users into the Cloud. 

“Anyone who has security concerns or other reasons to stay away from the Cloud should use the previous version, Office 2016,” says Björn Orth. His company, VENDOSOFT GmbH, trades new and used Microsoft and Adobe licenses. According to Orth, the same applies to operating systems, servers, and server access licenses.

Unlike the latest software versions and cloud models, Microsoft has no influence on the development of the secondary market. This means that prices and conditions for used software remain stable or develop in line with the customer’s requirements: continuously down according to the version.

Here’s an example sticking with Microsoft Office: Office 2016 Pro Plus is available from VENDOSOFT for a one-off purchase price of 198 euros (plus VAT). That’s a saving of over 40 percent compared to the new version of Office 2019.

Interested companies can find affordable “used” Microsoft and Adobe software at

 VENDOSOFT-SHOP