Beginning on 1st July 2012, prices charged will be aligned to Euro pricing at the prevailing exchange rate. Due to sustained currency differences, some EU/EFTA countries will see changes to non-euro pricing as Microsoft attempt to establish greater price consistency across Europe. Based on prevailing currency rates, Microsoft anticipate price adjustments for the British Pound on 1st July 2012, across all volume licensing programmes. The exact extent of any price changes in July will be determined by future exchange rates between the British Pound and Euro, Softcat expects to be advised by Microsoft on 1st June 2012.

The Important Bit

Based on current exchange rates between the British Pound and Euro, and assuming rates do not change dramatically, we anticipate price increases on all volume licensing SKUS, except for Academic VL Programmes from 1st July 2012. Any changes will impact new volume licensing agreements and existing transactional agreements (such as Open and Select, Select Plus). Organisations with an existing Enterprise Agreement and Enterprise Subscription will retain their contract pricing for the term of the active agreement.

Exact price rises will be available from 1st June onwards however we will have some visibility in May as to what these are likely to be.

What To Do

For customers that acquire licensing through Open, Select and Select Plus agreements that are planning any purchases for ongoing projects you may wish to explore what options are available to help mitigate these changes prior to 1st July.

Customers with existing Enterprise Agreements or Enterprise Subscription Agreements (ESA) have pricing set for existing products at the point of signing for the term of the agreement. This means that on 1st July this pricing will not be affected. If you wish to add additional technologies to these agreements, in order to offer price protection you may wish to consider adding them prior to 1st July 2012 to mitigate the effect of the unified pricing. Existing EA or ESA customers may also wish to look at the timings of their agreements, which Microsoft will consider on a case by case basis.

Customers looking to enter EA or ESA agreements are advised to understand the impact of these changes as soon as possible and contact Softcat to discuss your position.

The changes that have been announced are likely to impact most corporate and government Microsoft volume licensing customers to some degree – we recommend reviewing your position acting as soon as is practical.

Please contact your Softcat account manager to discuss how this change may impact you.