How might your customers be impacted by Teams licensing changes? Make sure you’re in the know!

On 1 April 2024, licensing models for Microsoft’s most used collaboration tool – Teams – changed for customers outside the EEA and Switzerland. The change brings licensing in line with the approach that’s been used inside the EEA and Switzerland since October 1st 2023. In this article, we’ll help you get to grips with what’s new and understand how your customers will be affected, and how to support them.

April 30, 2024

Teams licensing changes you need to know about

WHAT’S CHANGED AND WHO WILL BE AFFECTED?

“Customers already subscribed have two options.”

How Teams licensing has changed for users outside of the EEA and Switzerland following 1st October

Since April 1st 2024, net new customers subscribing to Enterprise Microsoft 365 or Enterprise Office 365 plans will not have Teams included in their license. Instead, they’ll need to add Teams under a separate license if they want to use it.

The Office 365 E1, E3, and E5, and Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 suites with Teams included have now been discontinued for sale to net new customers. Businesses that want to move to Microsoft now have the option of choosing from Office 365 (No Teams) E1, E3, and E5, or Microsoft 365 (No Teams) E3 and E5. Should they want to offer Teams to their end users, they can now add the new Teams Enterprise license as a separate SKU.

Additionally, all Frontline and Business plans now have two variations, giving customers the option to include Teams in their subscription or exclude it and pay less per seat.

Microsoft has made this change to make licensing consistent with the EEA and Switzerland, and to make things simpler for customers.

How your customers will be affected, and how to support them through the change

Customers already subscribed to one of the affected suites may need a little help understanding what the change means for them, and what to do next. They have two options.

OPTION 1

Customers already subscribed can carry on using their existing plans. They will be able to renew, upgrade, and add seats as normal without being affected. In short, if they want to, they can continue using their subscription as they do already – even after their renewal date – and ignore this change completely.

OPTION 2

On their contract renewal date, your customers can choose to move to a new suite that doesn’t include Teams. If they choose this option but want to continue using Teams, they’ll have to purchase two SKUs: Microsoft Teams Enterprise, and either Microsoft Office (no Teams), Microsoft 365 (no Teams), or the no Teams version of Business or Frontline.

Any customers with an existing quote dated before April 1st 2023 for Office 365 E1, E3, and E5, and Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 suites with Teams included will be able to access the legacy suites if they order before 30th June 2024.

Any other customers not yet using a Microsoft Subscription, but who are interested in migrating to an Enterprise suite, will not be able to subscribe to the legacy suites. This is because Microsoft has ended the sale of net-new subscriptions to these suites.

Instead, these customers can choose from the ‘No Teams’ versions of any Microsoft Enterprise suite – whether Office 365 or Microsoft 365 – and add Teams Enterprise as a second SKU if they want to use Teams. Or, they can opt for either the Teams or No Teams version of a plan in the Business or Frontline suites.

If you’d like a hand figuring out how to talk to your customers about this change, Microsoft has created a 20-minute Partner Digital Training Module for outside the EEA and Switzerland that might help. You can access it here.

New Teams licensing: Your frequently asked questions (FAQs) answered

The questions we’ve been asked most are included here. But, if you have a question that isn’t here, download the FAQ and partner guidance deck for worldwide (outside the EEA and Switzerland) to understand the changes.

Is there a date for when all existing customers will have to be on the “no Teams” suites?
No. For more information on what options are available to existing customers, refer to the responses above. Check the downloadable FAQ guide for pricing for new customers.

What impact will these changes have on licensing requirements for Microsoft Copilot?
None. Customers do not have to buy Microsoft Teams to be eligible to purchase Copilot. However, in order to use certain Copilot features and workloads, customers will need to ensure they have Teams either as part of a suite or as a standalone.

Which customers are considered “existing” and therefore will continue to be able to subscribe to Microsoft 365 E3/E5 or Office 365 E1/E3/E5 suites that include Teams?
“Existing customers” are customers with an active license for any Microsoft 365/Office 365 suite with Teams prior to the end-of-sale date for Enterprise suites with Teams in that customer’s region.*

If a customer did not have an active license but had an active future pricing table, quote, public tender, or framework agreement that included a Microsoft 365/Office 365 suite with Teams as of the end of sale date for that customer’s region*, the customer may purchase new licenses for the included SKU(s) and then be considered an existing customer.

Wrap up: supporting customers through licensing changes

While this is a significant change, the biggest takeaway is that your existing customers using an affected suite (and those with an in-date quote that pre-dates April 1st 2024!) will not be impacted. If they want to change to a No Teams version when they renew, they can. But if not, they can continue with their existing plan and keep everything the same when it’s time to renew.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more from the Modern Workplace team, get in touch at Microsoft@westcoastcloud.co.uk

How might your customers be impacted by Teams licensing changes? Make sure you’re in the know!

Teams licensing changes you need to know about

WHAT’S CHANGED AND WHO WILL BE AFFECTED?

How your customers will be affected, and how to support them through the change

OPTION 1

OPTION 2

New Teams licensing: Your frequently asked questions (FAQs) answered

Wrap up: supporting customers through licensing changes

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