On April 1, 2024, Microsoft announced changes to the licensing of Microsoft Teams for commercial tenants in the US. The company is introducing new Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites that do not include Teams, as well as a new standalone Teams offering. This change is intended to reduce customer confusion and streamline decision making by providing globally consistent licensing.

Enterprise Customers

Microsoft will end the sale of the existing SKUs that include Teams as part of the bundle, but will allow existing customers to use, renew, upgrade, and add licenses to their current plans. They will also allow customers with existing Teams bundled SKUs to purchase previously offered subscriptions that continue to bundle Teams.

This change will affect the net-new sales of the bundled SKUs, meaning that if there is a new commercial tenant spun up or there is a new customer that does not already have bundled SKUs wishes to purchase Teams, they will not be able to purchase the previously offered Microsoft 365 E3/E5 and Office 365 E1/E3/E5 Enterprise SKUs with Teams.

Net-new customers will need to purchase the new lineup suites without Teams, named the same as the existing suites plus "(no Teams)." These "no Teams" suites will be available in the following offers: Microsoft 365 E3/E5, Office 365 E1/E3/E5, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Business Standard, Business Basic, Microsoft 365 F1/F3, and Office 365 F3. A new standalone Teams SKU for Enterprise, called Microsoft Teams Enterprise, will also be available.

Microsoft 365 Business and Frontline Customers

The new lineup of Microsoft 365 Business and Frontline suites will coexist with the current versions that include Teams. Customers have the option to select from the existing Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium, F1, Office 365 F3, and Microsoft 365 F3 suites with Teams, or the new versions of these suites that do not include Teams.

To Summarize:

• Microsoft has introduced new suites without Teams, which are named the same as the existing suites plus "(no Teams)." The "no Teams" suites will be in the following offers:

• Microsoft 365 E3/E5, Office 365 E1/E3/E5
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Business Standard, Business Basic
• Microsoft 365 F1/F3, Office 365 F3

• Introduce a new standalone Teams SKU for Enterprise: Microsoft Teams Enterprise
• End the sale of net-new subscriptions to all existing Enterprise SKUs with Teams(Office 365 E1/E3/E5 and Microsoft 365 E3/E5)
• Continue to offer existing SMB and Frontline suites with Teams(Business Basic/Standard/Premium, MF1, MF3, OF31) alongside the new versions without Teams

More information can be found at the following Microsoft links:

• Important Notice: Changes to Microsoft 365, Office 365, and Microsoft Teams licensing. - Microsoft Community Hub
• Realigning global licensing for Microsoft 365

As a Microsoft CSP Direct Provider, Spyglass MTG can assist with license recommendation and sales. If you are looking to switch from an existing CSP, we can also go over options for transferring your existing Teams bundled subscriptions to be sure you will still be able to keep the benefit of those bundled SKUs.

We are here to help, and if you have any questions, please contact me at ktillier@spyglassmtg.com.