Public Sector Spared Microsoft Licensing Price Hikes

UK public sector organisations will not be subject to steep volume licensing price increases after the Government Procurement Service and Microsoft agreed a new three-year agreement.

Government organisations will be spared from increases of 33.4 percent under Microsoft’s new pricing structure, which is due to come into effect on 1 July, whilst others may benefit from recent developments.

It had been believed licences would increase by an average of 29 percent as the tech giant sought to adopt a more consistent approach across Europe, but rises will now be capped at 25.9 percent, depending on the licence type and current exchange rates.

Public service

The new Public Sector Agreement (PSA) 2012 will run from 1 May until 2012 to 30 April 2015 and will maintain the current pricing available under the existing framework, with four pre-agreed price increases.

Prices will rise by a nominal one percent in July and will increase in accordance with inflation as dictated by the Office of National Statistics’ consumer price index each April until the conclusion of the agreement.

The new agreement contains the same contractual concessions given to the government as the previous framework, such as transferability across UK public sector organisations, as well as widening the eligibility criteria to cover social enterprises.

“Microsoft has a strong track record of working with UK public services and a 10-year relationship of delivering innovative technology through similar pan-government agreements,” said Microsoft. “PSA12 further confirms the desire of Microsoft and the Cabinet Office to maintain consistency and continuity, building on this long-term approach and providing best value for the public purse.”

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