Don’t Wait for the Invoice: Securing Pre-Increase Rates for Your Microsoft Tenant

The Problem

The goalposts are moving, the game is changing, and if you’re not proactive in addressing it, you could easily end up being too late to save your organization time, flexibility, and frustration.

Microsoft is making broad, sweeping, inter-related changes, and getting caught on the wrong side of them is going to result in billions of dollars in incremental spend increases, all without ever changing their headcount or usage. What are those changes?

• A continued push to displace customers from Enterprise Agreements to subscription-based CSP licensing
• Increasing user minimums
• Evaporating Discount structure
• Decreasing Support
• Price increases in the CSP program: 5-15% cost increase going into effect on July 1, 2026

The Solution

Depending on your current contract, there are a few paths forward.  If you are an Enterprise Agreement customer up for renewal in the next couple months, there’s no better time to evaluate transitioning to a CSP and locking-in an annual subscription BEFORE the pricing changes take effect.  If you’re currently with a CSP and up for renewal prior to July 1st, or if you are currently on month-to-month pricing, NOW is the time to lock-in your pricing for a new annual contract before the costs increase. 

If you’re under contract for the foreseeable future and unable to change prior to the cost increase?  Even though you may not be able to avoid the impending cost increase, there is still a big advantage in evaluating the CSP providing your licensing to ensure the best alignment with your organization and your long-term goals.  Working with the right CSP allows optimization of your current Microsoft spend to align with business needs, provides more flexibility in license consumption over time, and it offers best-in-class support capabilities directly from the same provider who is already managing your Microsoft tenant.

Current Spend Lock-In

• Lock in pre-increase pricing: Secure today’s rates before July 1, avoiding automatic cost increases at renewal time
• Term flexibility with price protection: Structure agreements to hold pricing steady while maintaining flexibility where needed
• Avoid ‘default renewal’ penalties: Prevent passive rollovers into higher pricing simply due to timing

License Optimization

• Right-size licensing in real time: Align licenses to actual usage, not historical assignments
• Eliminate waste: Identify and remove unused, duplicated, or misaligned licenses
• Align SKUs to user roles: Ensure users are on the right plans (E1 vs E3 vs Business Premium, etc), not over- or under-licensed

Built-In Support

• Direct access to Microsoft specialists: Faster resolution and deeper expertise than standard support channels – be a name, not a number
• Ongoing licensing guidance: Help navigating changes, renewals, and evolving Microsoft programs
• Proactive environment oversight: Not just fixing issues, but helping prevent them and optimize over time

Use Cases:

• Upcoming Renewal (Next 30–90 Days): Lock in current pricing before increases hit
• Annual “Set-It-and-Renew” Customers: Avoid automatic cost increases with no review
• Growing or Changing Workforce: Adjust licensing to match current headcount and roles
• Rising Microsoft Costs Without Clear Visibility: Identify where spend is increasing and why
• Limited or Reactive Support Experience: Improve day-to-day support while optimizing licensing