Microsoft has determined to unbundle Groups from Workplace at a world stage, in accordance with a brand new Reuters report right now. The transfer comes round half a yr after the corporate did the very same factor for EU markets, at the moment desirous to avert a potential antitrust wonderful from the EU.
Now that is going international, so Groups will not be bundled with Microsoft 365 and Workplace 365, which it has been part of since 2017. A Microsoft spokesperson mentioned:
To make sure readability for our prospects, we’re extending the steps we took final yr to unbundle Groups from M365 and O365 within the European Financial Space and Switzerland to prospects globally. Doing so additionally addresses suggestions from the European Fee by offering multinational firms extra flexibility once they need to standardize their buying throughout geographies.
Thus, beginning right now, Microsoft is providing Groups as a standalone product, priced at $5.25 per consumer per 30 days – however remember that Enterprise-level pricing varies loads primarily based on nation, forex, and different elements. Costs for Workplace with out Groups at the moment are between $7.75 to $54.75, relying on the precise bundle you go for.
Present prospects can select to proceed with their present licensing deal, renew, replace, or swap to the brand new gives in the event that they need to.
Microsoft’s rivals have lengthy claimed such bundling of services provides the corporate an unfair benefit, so we’ll see if they will compete higher now.