Channel needs to rush Microsoft orders before price hikes

Microsoft has confirmed that its channel partners will only have two more weeks to sell packages before it jacks up the price of its licences.

According to a blog post from its partner Softcat  , Microsoft is increasing prices for its User Client Access Licences from December 1.

The price hikes are set to be, on average, about 15 percent and new product releases which will happen on the same day will be huge.

The price of SharePoint 2013 will be set 37 percent higher than its predecessor, SharePoint 2010.

Microsoft Lync Server 2013 will move from having Standard and Enterprise editions to having just the one version.

This will mean that the new version could cost up to five times more than a Lync 2010 standard licence.

The Visio product range will reportedly be simplified in 2013, with Visio Pro replacing predecessor Visio Premium. The Standard edition is set for a price increase of 20 percent, while the cost of the Pro licence will be five percent higher.

The price of both the Standard and Pro desktop editions of Microsoft Project 2013 are expected to rise by about five percent.

Both Visio and Project applications are to be added to Office 365, which will increase the price of the cloud suite by up to eight percent.
According to Softcat blog’s author, commercial director Dave Simpson resellers to get their customers to move fast to avoid being stung.
He said that the changes will be important depending on the customer’s current licensing position and it is still possible to buy any of the affected software this month at their current lower prices.