19 April 2022

April monthly news

March has been and gone. Spring is officially here. The sun is shining through the clouds.

Speaking of clouds, we’ve got a whole load of cloud-related news below for you to check out.

We’ll be back soon with more news and dates for your diary, so keep an eye out. As always, don’t hesitate to get in touch with any questions.

Allowing for the last-minute

We’ve all had to make last-minute cancellations.

Microsoft have announced the implementation of a new cancellation-window duration for commercial seat-based offers in CSP commerce. Starting on 18 March, any new subscription will allow seven calendar days for cancellations and seat reductions instead of the previous 72-hour window.

Find out more

Teams Audio Conferencing select dial-out is here

The much-anticipated Microsoft Teams Audio Conferencing select dial-out SKU is now live in NCE. All you need to do is select the £0 “Microsoft Teams Audio Conferencing select dial-out” option from the pricelist to include it.

This SKU will soon be renamed as “Microsoft Teams Audio Conferencing with dial-out to USA/CAN” from the 1 of May 2022. We’ll have more info in next month’s update.

More info

Your own Microsoft bodyguard

With more attack surfaces and less secure devices, hybrid working has brought new and growing security risks for small- and medium-sized businesses. In response, Microsoft have announced the launch of Microsoft Defender for Business for Microsoft 365 Business Premium customers.

If you ask us, a ‘Microsoft Defender’ sounds like a bit like a superhero, and it’s not far off.

Get protected

Help your customers get ready

Microsoft are increasing the prices of five of their 365 non-profit SKUs on 1 September, for new and existing non-profit customers. These price increases will apply globally, with local market adjustments for certain regions, but won’t affect any offers available as a grant.

September is a while away, but it’s never too early to warn your customers.

Prepare your customers

The monthly discount hasn’t gone
 yet

Back in January, Microsoft launched promotional discounts on most CSP new commerce seat-based product SKUs. Though the annual promo has come to an end, the monthly discount remains until the end of June.

Make the most of discounts

Introducing the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program

On 12 April, our SureStep team hosted a webinar that provided an understanding of the launch of the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program. Sam Stead, Faye Langford and Tom Marwood discussed the key changes that are coming with the move to the new programme, and the impact it will have.

If you missed it, don’t worry – we recorded the whole thing. You can watch it by clicking below.

Watch the recording

Dynamics price changes and webinar

Dynamics SPA and DPL on-premises offers have changed this month, so it’s a good idea to take a look and see how they could affect you. You can find out more – as well as a few new offers to help your customers make the switch to cloud – at next month’s partner webinar on 3 May at 5pm.

Register here

 

10 day subscription extension

If you want to renew your customers’ Legacy Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) subscriptions on the legacy platform, you now have an extra 10 days to do so. The cut-off date has now been extended until 11 July.

After this date, these legacy subscriptions won’t automatically renew and must be repurchased.

More info

Got a topic for us to cover next month?

Need a bit of extra support from your Westcoast Cloud team? Reach out to your Westcoast Cloud contact, or email us on marketing@westcoastcloud.co.uk