What is Microsoft NCE?
New Commerce Experience (NCE) is Microsoft’s new licensing platform for purchasing Microsoft 365 licenses. In other words, it’s their new subscription model for their cloud services.
For the past decade, users could purchase Microsoft 365 on a pay-as-you-go basis, which allowed flexibility in adding, removing, upgrading, or downgrading licenses without penalties. Despite the continuous addition of features like Teams and Yammer, the pricing for Microsoft 365 licenses remained relatively stable. Now, with NCE, Microsoft is aiming to streamline licensing complexities and cut costs, while providing the flexibility to accommodate various client purchasing scenarios.
NCE introduces commitment-based annual and multi-year pricing as the default subscription model. Additionally, users have the option of a monthly (non-committed) subscription, but with a 20% premium fee. The following are the new term options available for licensing.
NCE Term & Licensing Options
Term Options
- Annual commitment, billed monthly
- Annual commitment, billed annually
- Month-to-month commitment (20% premium fee charged)
Annual Commitment: Moving to an annual subscription will protect your current pricing for 12 months, if converted before your renewal date. For most businesses, moving to an annual commitment will help them save money on subscription costs. Annual commitments can be paid monthly or annually and will keep the same seat count as you had before, unless you choose to add additional seats. *It’s important to note that you can only increase your seat count, not decrease.
Monthly Commitment: If you would prefer monthly commitments, you will have to pay a 20% premium fee on the annual term price.
Licensing Options
How do you determine the right licensing for your organization? Only pay for what you need. Our goal is to ensure that each of your users is on the appropriate licensing plan tailored to their specific requirements. We’ll review your licensing to ensure that you are not overpaying or underutilizing any features, help determine the necessity of renewals, ensure timely payments, and make sure that you are not paying more for quantities than you need. If your organization is confused by all that is needed to get licensing right, we are here to help.
NCE Migration Timeline for Public Sector
A decision on licensing must be made by your renewal date in 2024. Failure to do so will result in Microsoft automatically converting any remaining legacy subscriptions to annual commitments.
To provide you with a clearer understanding, if your annual renewal falls in March, Microsoft will automatically transition you to NCE in March 2024, sticking you to an annual commitment with identical billing plans and seat counts, unless action is taken before.
Digicorp's Timeline for Implementation
If all this confuses you, rest assured, we are here to help! Below is our three-step plan to help with the NCE migration.
Step 1: Discovery Meeting: Our experts will review your current setup to ensure it aligns with your organization’s needs for the next 12 months. We will then explore the different licensing and term options tailored to your specific industry.
Step 2: Licensing Proposal: After an initial discovery meeting, we will present you with a 12-month proposal, displaying your options for payment terms (whether you want month-to-month or annual).
Step 3: Ongoing Support: Our commitment extends beyond your licensing decision. We want to ensure the licensing solution you get meets the individual needs of every user in your company.
Why Partner with Digicorp?
We offer an unparalleled US-based customer service experience when issues arise. By partnering with Digicorp, an MS Silver Partner Indirect Reseller, we provide you with the following benefits:
- Initial or ongoing expert consulting and guidance with appropriate license types & quantities that fit your organization’s specific needs in a cost-effective fashion.
- Yearly audit of license types, quantities, and Microsoft-based changes to ensure your plan fits the demands for the upcoming year.
- Access to our 20+ highly skilled and experienced engineers.
Get in Touch
Interested in learning more? Fill out the form below and one of our representatives will be in touch with you shortly to (1) figure out your renewal date and (2) figure out the subscription terms that work for you.
