The bill is arriving. And for many Swiss public sector organizations, it will be significantly higher than expected.
Microsoft is restructuring its Enterprise Agreement pricing — and the Swiss public sector sits directly in the line of fire. Two changes are hitting at once: a structural overhaul of discount levels and a direct price increase. Together, they could push costs up by as much as 25% for some organizations. Here is what is happening, why it matters, and what you can do about it now.
The Root Cause: The End of Level D
For years, public sector organizations benefited from a quiet privilege inside the Enterprise Agreement: Level D - the most favourable pricing tier available. This discount was not negotiated case by case. It was a structural entitlement for public bodies, built into how Microsoft priced government customers.
That era is over.
As of November 2025, Microsoft has harmonized all Online Services pricing to Level A, the standard commercial rate. No exceptions, no grandfathering. Public sector organizations that previously held Level D will automatically lose that discount advantage effective 1. November 2026.
The old discount tiers remain in place only for on-premise products. Cloud services, including Microsoft 365, are fully affected.
The DVS Framework Agreement: Protected, But Not From Price
Swiss public bodies operating under the Digital Administration Switzerland (DVS) framework agreement are not exempt. The DVS agreement enables organizations with more than 250 qualified users to sign Enterprise Enrolment (EA) and Enterprise Subscription Enrolment (EAS) contracts and it provides important legal protections: Swiss jurisdiction, data protection provisions, and contractual stability.
What it does not protect against is commercial price adjustments.
The DVS framework agreement remains legally valid. But Microsoft's pricing changes apply regardless. Legal certainty and cost certainty are two different things, and only one of them just changed.
The Price Increase: July 1, 2026
On top of losing Level D, Microsoft has announced a direct price revision for Microsoft 365, effective 1 July 2026, explicitly including the Swiss market.
Nonprofits and public sector organizations are not shielded. Their prices are calculated as a fixed percentage of commercial list prices, which means any increase in list prices flows through automatically.
The numbers tell the story clearly:
| Plan | Nov 2025 · harmonization | Feb 2026 · EUR decrease | Jul 2026 · increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 E5 | +12.8% | −7.4% | +5.0% |
| Microsoft 365 E3 | +13.6% | −7.4% | +8.0% |
| Microsoft 365 F3 | +17.1% | −7.3% | +25.0% |
The Feb 2026 EUR adjustment was a currency correction, not a relief. The Jul 2026 increase is additive on top. For organizations already absorbing the loss of Level D, this second hit compounds the effect significantly.
What This Means in Practice
An organization renewing its EA after July 2026 faces a double impact: the loss of Level D pricing and a direct list price increase. Depending on the M365 plan and volume, the total cost delta can be substantial, and for many organizations, this change will arrive at renewal with little warning and little time to react.
Four Actions to Take Now
The window to act is open, but it will not stay open forever.
1. Know your renewal date. Everything else depends on this. If your EA renewal is in the next 6–18 months, the clock is ticking.
2. Audit what you actually use, not what you bought. Over-licensing is common and expensive. Before your next renewal, understand which licenses are genuinely in use. The question is not what you bought, it is what you use.
3. Optimize before the price increase hits. Reducing over-licensing before renewal locks in savings at the current price point. After July 2026, every unnecessary license costs more.
4. Look at what is already included in your plan. Features like Microsoft Defender, Intune, and Security Copilot are bundled into higher-tier M365 plans. If your organization is paying for third-party security or device management tools separately, there may be consolidation opportunities that offset part of the price increase.
Longer term: Establish an M365 FinOps practice. Licensing optimization is not a one-time project, it is an ongoing discipline. Organizations that actively manage their Microsoft spend are consistently better positioned at renewal.
The bottom line:Microsoft's 2026 changes are not routine price adjustments. They represent a structural shift in how the public sector is priced. The organizations that will navigate this best are the ones that start preparing now, not at renewal.