Microsoft slashes US price by 20 percent for enterprise, academic licences.
Telstra said it would review prices for Office 365 which it sold exclusively through Telstra T Suite after Microsoft cut the US price of some licences by up to 20 percent. “Telstra is reviewing the price changes and will look to adjust its own Office 365 pricing soon,” Telstra’s Rod Bruem, corporate affairs manager, said.
“We’ve had great feedback from customers on the value of the Microsoft Office 365 range, Telstra’s 24/7 support and the quality of the services provided from over 1,000 accredited partners.”
Microsoft announced the changes in a blog post yesterday. “As we rapidly add customers, the cost to run Office 365 becomes more efficient,” Kirk Koenigsbauer from the Microsoft Office division wrote. “We’re able pass on savings to make it even more affordable for customers of all sizes to move to Office 365.”
The E1 and E4 plans were cut by 20 percent while the E2 plan dropped by 13 percent and the E3 fell 17 percent. If the same cuts were applied to Australian licences the prices would be as follows (original price in brackets):
E1 $12.56 ($15.70)
E2 $21.83 ($25.10)
E3 $33.28 ($40.10)
Telstra doesn’t publicise the price for E4.
Veteran Microsoft commentator Mary Jo Foley posted a table on ZDNet showing the old and new prices in the US.
Most enterprise plans for Office 365 were cut by 20 percent. Microsoft also extended its offer of a free education licence (called A2) from students to faculty and staff. A2 included the core capabilities of Exchange, SharePoint, and Lync and the Office Web Applications, although the education versions of SharePoint and Lync hadn’t yet launched, although Microsoft promised they would be ready by southern winter.