D365 Tech: Licensing and Pricing for Dynamics 365

This topic seemed to cause more confusion than clarification, but it was a session that generated a lot of discussion! Here is what I gleaned from the Licensing and Pricing session I attended.

User types

There are two types of users that get licenses in Dynamics 365, light users and full users. I made the comparison to functional and enterprise users, but I am not convinced that they are the same!

Light users: Get access to Dynamics 365 for Team Members, Enterprise Edition. This means that they get access to all basic functionality. They can execute basic processes and use embedded business intelligence.

Full users: Get access to all Apps - Operations, Sales, Field Service, Customer Service, Project Service Automation, and PowerApps. These users have access to everything, then have to deal with the constraints of security beyond that point.

Pricing

Here is the Pricing that was shown to us:

Slide from D365 Tech conference showing Dynamics 365 pricing

This is per user/per month pricing. It can be variable as you can pay for what you are currently using. Here is a link to Microsoft's pricing page that can help you calculate and sort out your users and which types they would be: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/pricing

Pricing has not been established yet for the Cloud + Edge hybrid deployment or Local business data on-prem deployment options. Local business data pricing should be available by 4/1/2017.

The information we received about pricing as it relates to cloud + edge and local business data deployments.

Support

All licenses come with a subscription for basic Microsoft support. Companies can upgrade their support plan to Enhanced, Professional, or Premier support based on their needs. The infographic below provides some great info about the service offerings and differences between the plans.

The most complex slide I have seen this week...

Discounts

Microsoft is very motivated to get users over to Dynamics 365. Any customers who are AX or CRM customers as of 10/31/2016 are eligible for a 40% discount if they move to the Cloud deployment option. This can mean substantial savings (and it was alluded to the fact that you're basically getting the Sales app for free with this discount) but there is a catch. This is not a forever discount and it expires in 2019. At the time that it expires, the price jumps back up to the current market price for cloud licensing.

Discounts are good - Limited time offer!