For small I.T. owners and developers who are Microsoft Partners, the Microsoft Action Pack subscription has been a huge blessing financially. For one low annual cost, Microsoft provides us access to almost all iof their current product offerings, from Windows 8 to Windows Server 2012, from Office 2013 to Visual Studio.
Microsoft recently announced changes to the Action Pack subscription model, effective February 24, 2014.
The change that many will focus on is the price increase, going from $329US to $475US, which is a 30% increase. I agree that that’s a big hike. But before you decide to just walk away from this, here are my thoughts:
- The $475 fee is still an inexpensive and easy way to have access to Microsoft’s full line of products – all for the comparable cost of a single Windows Server license. That’s less than $40 a month!
- If you are new to the Action Pack program, you may not be aware, but this is only the second price adjustment that Microsoft has made since I first signed up for an Action Pack subscription 12 years ago. The Action Pack subscription fee remained flat at $299 for the years 2003-2010. For years 2011-2013, the price went up to $329.
If you sign up or renew your subscription before February 24th, you can do so at the current $329, thus giving you savings for your first year.