Microsoft customers warned to brace for December price hike

Softcat blog outlines big cost increases following launch of new versions of SharePoint, Lync and other business applications

Microsoft customers face another race against time to snap up certain of the vendor's software products before another tranche of price hikes kick in at the start of next month, according to a blog post from partner Softcat.

Three weeks ago the software giant caused consternation in the channel with the news that the price of User Client Access Licences is set for a 15 per cent spike on 1 December. Several new product releases on the same day will see customers having to reach further into their pocket to maintain their existing licence estate.

The price of SharePoint 2013 will be set 37 per cent higher than its predecessor, SharePoint 2010, according to Softcat. Microsoft Lync Server 2013 will move from having Standard and Enterprise editions to having just the one version, and the new release could cost up to a whopping five times more than a Lync 2010 standard licence.

The product range of diagramming application Visio will reportedly be simplified for its 2013 incarnation, with Visio Pro replacing predecessor Visio Premium. The Standard edition is set for a price increase of 20 per cent, while the cost of the Pro licence will represent a five per cent hike.

The price of both the Standard and Pro desktop editions of Microsoft Project 2013 are expected to rise by about five per cent, although the blog points out that the cost of upgrading to the Pro edition will be cut by five per cent for a limited time. The latest iteration of the server version of the software is set for a 15 per cent price bump.

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 per cent. The Softcat blog's author, commercial director Dave Simpson, encouraged end users to act quickly to avoid being stung.

"These [changes] may be of importance to you depending on your current licensing position so we would recommend you contact us to discuss your specific situation," he wrote. "The key point to note is that it is still possible to buy any of the affected software this month at their current lower prices."