Microsoft hikes Office 365 EA prices

Vendor claims to be "maximising customer value"

Microsoft has confirmed it is upping the price of new Office 365 Enterprise Agreements (EA) but insisted the move shows it is maximising value to customers.

Microsoft has guaranteed pricing for all existing Office 365 customers for the duration of their current contracts, but for new EA customers with no previous investment in Microsoft products, prices are on the up.

Microsoft did not divulge by how much the prices will rise, but it is understood to be around the 15 per cent mark. The changes will come in next month and were first revealed on resellers' August price lists.

The software giant claimed the price jump was in aid of better "aligning its pricing to our other channels".

It insisted the move reflects the increasing value Office 365 brings to customers and said the "vast majority" of customers will not be affected.

"We are always evaluating our pricing to maximize the value to our customers as we continue to add more features and benefits to Office 365," it said in a statement.

"For example, in the past few months we launched both Office for iPad and announced an increase to our OneDrive storage from 25GB to 1TB."