Microsoft Pricing Changes: Costs and Savings on the Horizon

September 17, 2025

Microsoft has announced significant changes to their online services pricing structure, effective from 1st November 2025.
These changes will standardise pricing across all Enterprise Agreement (EA), Enterprise Subscription Agreement (ESA), and Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA) customers, removing programmatic discounts for Level B-D customers (organisations with 2,400+ Enterprise plans).

What's Changing?

The pricing consistency update affects:

  • Online Services only - this doesn't impact on-premise software or Azure services
  • Level B-D customers who previously benefited from programmatic discounts
  • Renewals from 1st November 2025 onwards, including agreements expiring on 31st October 2025
  • Price protection remains in place for existing agreements until their expiration date

Notably, education customers are excluded from these changes, and any new products added before 1st November will receive price protection until the renewal date.



How We Continue to Support You

Despite Microsoft's pricing standardisation, Altiatech remains committed to providing significant value and cost savings for our clients. Here's how we continue to deliver:

Continued Microsoft Licensing Discounts

Through our strategic partnerships and commercial expertise, we maintain our ability to offer competitive pricing on Microsoft licensing. Our relationships with Microsoft and our position as a Partner enable us to secure favourable terms that we pass on to our customers.

Azure Spend Optimisation

Beyond licensing, we continue to provide substantial discounts and cost optimisation opportunities for Azure consumption. Our FinOps expertise and commercial relationships ensure you maximise value from your cloud investments.

Strategic Guidance

Our experienced team provides:

  • Impact assessments to understand how the changes affect your specific circumstances
  • Commercial strategy advice on optimal contract structures (EA/ESA/MPSA/CSP options)
  • Timing recommendations to maximise price protection opportunities
  • Technical optimisation to reduce overall software and cloud spend

Proactive Planning

We help you:

  • Lock in advantageous pricing where possible
  • Eliminate waste through our Quantum 365 deployment
  • Review joiner/mover/leaver policies to prevent overspend
  • Identify opportunities for consolidation and optimisation


Why Choose Altiatech?

With decades of experience in IT asset management and Microsoft partnerships, we understand the complexities of enterprise licensing. Our approach combines:

  • Deep Microsoft expertise as a Partner with established commercial relationships
  • Proven track record of delivering cost savings for organisations across public and private sectors
  • Comprehensive support from initial assessment through to ongoing optimisation
  • Strategic insight to help you navigate licensing complexities and maximise value


Take Action Today

Don't let Microsoft's pricing changes catch you unprepared. Our team is ready to conduct a comprehensive assessment of your current position and develop a tailored strategy to minimise the impact whilst maximising your technology investment.

Ready to secure your Microsoft licensing future? Contact Altiatech today for a consultation with our Microsoft licensing specialists.

Get in touch:


Let us help you navigate these changes and continue to deliver exceptional value from your Microsoft investments.

Ready to move from ideas to delivery?


Whether you’re planning a cloud change, security uplift, cost governance initiative or a digital delivery programme, we can help you shape the scope and the right route to market.


Email: innovate@altiatech.com or call 0330 332 5842 (Mon–Fri, 9am–5:30pm).


Main contact page: https://www.altiatech.com/contact

A grid of dark gray squares, each with a person icon, featuring one bright blue square in the center.

Break-glass accounts and emergency access: the Entra ID control most organisations get wrong

By Simon Poole • April 1, 2026
Explains how to configure break glass accounts in Microsoft Entra ID correctly, reducing risk and ensuring secure emergency access when standard controls fail.
A person holds a blue external hard drive connected by a cable to a laptop displaying a login screen.

Identity is the new perimeter: Entra ID hardening and privileged access in real-world terms

By Simon Poole • March 18, 2026
A practical guide to Microsoft Entra ID hardening and privileged access, with steps to reduce identity risk, strengthen controls, and improve security posture.
A hand clicks a computer mouse, connecting two digital bank icons with a glowing globe showing various currency symbols.

Open banking is scaling across the UAE and wider GCC. Are your API security and consent controls keeping up?

By Simon Poole • March 13, 2026
Explores how open banking is scaling across the UAE and GCC and why strong API security and consent controls are essential for compliance, trust, and resilience.
Person holding a phone with a lock icon, using a laptop; digital security concept.

Geopolitical tensions and cyber risk: a practical guide to reducing exposure fast

By Simon Poole • March 11, 2026
A practical guide to reducing cyber risk exposure fast as geopolitical tensions rise, with clear steps to strengthen resilience, controls, and response.
A person points to an AI interface with glowing circuits, overlaid on a blue background.

PPN 017 and AI procurement: What UK public sector buyers will ask suppliers in 2026

By Simon Poole • March 4, 2026
Explains how PPN 017 will shape AI procurement in the UK public sector and the questions buyers are likely to ask suppliers about governance, risk, and compliance.
Person using a calculator with a tablet on a wooden table.

FinOps + BillOps explained: Turning cloud costs into predictable, accountable budgets

By Wafik Rozeik • February 25, 2026
Examines AI-augmented attacks targeting FortiGate devices at scale, what the risks mean for organisations, and the immediate steps to strengthen security.
Digital, pixelated person with red data streams, facing forward. Cyberpunk, data glitch effect.

AI-augmented attacks on FortiGate devices at scale: what it means and what to do now

By Simon Poole • February 24, 2026
Examines AI-augmented attacks targeting FortiGate devices at scale, what the risks mean for organisations, and the immediate steps to strengthen security.
Person typing on laptop, cloud computing displayed on the screen, on a wooden table.

AI spend is different: Why anomaly management is the new FinOps superpower

By Wafik Rozeik • February 23, 2026
Explains why AI spend behaves differently and how anomaly management is becoming essential in FinOps to control costs, reduce risk, and improve cloud visibility.
Hand holding a phone displaying the Microsoft Copilot logo with the Microsoft logo blurred in the background.

Copilot in 2026: A practical governance checklist using Microsoft’s Copilot Control System

By Simon Poole • February 18, 2026
A practical governance checklist for Microsoft Copilot in 2026, using the Copilot Control System to manage risk, security, compliance, and oversight.
Route to market diagram: Bank to delivery platform, with steps like product mgmt and customer support.

TS4: what it means for buyers – and how customers procure Altiatech services

By Simon Poole • February 12, 2026
Explains what the Technology Services 4 (TS4) framework means for public sector buyers and how to procure Altiatech services through compliant routes.