As we approach the end of our 19th year in business, we have a few changes to note that will be taking place. First, we would like to announce that Todd Amato will be taking the reins as Helpdesk Manager for Colden Company. Todd has over twenty years’ experience in information technology, including nearly four years at Colden Company learning our processes. Todd exemplifies our commitment to customer service that we work hard to emphasize here at Colden Company. Todd will oversee the helpdesk activities from day to day and be an escalation point and advocate for our customers. We would like to congratulate him on the promotion and know you will all have great experiences going forward.
Now, onto not such good news from Microsoft. Microsoft is raising their monthly subscription costs effective March 1 for some of the Microsoft 365 licenses. These include:
Microsoft 365 Business Basic will increase from $5/mo to $6/mo
Microsoft 365 Business Premium will increase from $20/mo to $22/mo
Microsoft Office 365 E1 will increase from $8/mo to $10/mo
Microsoft Office 365 E3 will increase from $20/mo to $23/mo
Microsoft Office 365 E5 will increase from $35/mo to $38/mo
Microsoft 365 E3 will increase from $32/mo to $36/mo
Microsoft 365 Business Standard will not see an increase. Microsoft is also changing the way subscriptions are purchased. The New Commerce Experience as Microsoft calls it will affect agreement terminations and possibly add additional costs. All existing Colden Company customers will be contacted about that change in the near future to determine the best course of action for your business.
Here at Colden, in 2021 we adjusted the cost of our workstation patch management service downward to be more affordable, while the rest of the industry were raising prices fairly substantially. In 2022, we are maintaining our labor rates at the same level but due to vendor price increases we are increasing the cost of two products. The first is our managed anti-virus solution which will go from $1.95/month per computer to $2.50; still an excellent value. (If your business has 10 computers as an example, the monthly increase will work out to be $5.50) Our cloud backup solution for Microsoft 365 will also very marginally increase. This is a tiered product, meaning the price varies depending on the number of licenses. The increase ranges from 20 cents per month per account to 50 cents depending on your tier. Again, a very small increase. These changes will go into effect on April 1, 2022.
If you have question about any of the above, please feel free to reach out to us. We can be reached via email at info@coldencompany.com or by phone at (888) 600-4560.