Microsoft is making some major changes to its education licensing, and schools could be facing some difficult decisions about costs, storage and the future of their Microsoft 365 environments.
This week, Matt and Jack unpack Microsoft’s new education licensing lineup, including A0, A2, A3, A5 and A7. They discuss the removal of Student Use Benefits, changes to storage allowances, the arrival of Copilot and what these developments could mean for school budgets and cloud-first strategies.
They also compare Microsoft’s approach with Google Workspace for Education and consider whether these changes might encourage schools to rethink their technology choices.
Away from licensing, the pair discuss the impact of a major cybersecurity incident affecting Bristol schools, the importance of resilience and incident preparedness, and why education technology leaders still need to get their hands dirty.
And, of course, there’s the usual chaos. Jack’s struggling to Intune a laptop, a £5 IKEA water leak sensor has attracted some extraordinary LinkedIn advice, and the pair delve into the world of questionable podcast pitches, AI-generated comments and social media nonsense.
Useful links
Microsoft 365 Licensing Maps: https://m365maps.com
Secure Schools: https://www.secureschools.com
For Secure Schools enquiries and the EdTech People partner discount, contact mail@edtechpeople.co.uk.
A quick note: Microsoft’s licensing changes are still developing. Pricing, entitlements and implementation details discussed in this episode reflect information available to the hosts at the time of recording. Always confirm the latest position with Microsoft or your licensing partner before making decisions.
Find EdTech People on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and let us know what you think about Microsoft’s changes.
Thanks for listening!