Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Microsoft 365 costs are too much

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 31 posts

Re: Microsoft 365 costs are too much

#11

Post by simfree »

HarshaaVardhan wrote: post #3
theothertimcook wrote: post #2

It’s a steaming pile of shit too. FWIW you may be able to remove copilot from your subscription but it is still a shitshow. Google workspaces isn’t much cheaper, if you’re brave you could try ZOHO’s groupware at a significant discount but I’m sure that comes with caveats. I still can get my head around why Mozilla doesn’t dip its toe in here.

Tell me about it. I just can't get over why it is this costly. None of the features except excel or word seems to be of any use to the user. Hoards and hoards of unnecessary security features have been piled up

MXRoute plus Nextcloud is a viable groupware alternative, generally at a much lower cost per user.

One of the bonus features being your email is much less likely to disappear within Outlook.com's mailservers. Not sure what is going sideways there, but those mailservers are not reliable and mail traces are ineffective in finding lost emails that have proof of delivery to the MX record listed outlook.com mailserver.

Re: Microsoft 365 costs are too much

#12

Post by simfree »

jiggawatts wrote: post #8
scarface_74 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2006/12/09/simplicity/#:~:tex... > It seems to make a lot of sense: 80% of the people use 20% of the features. So you convince yourself that you only need to implement 20% of the features, and you can still sell 80% as many copies. “Unfortunately, it’s never the same 20%. Everybody uses a different set of features

> hoards of unnecessary security features I've witnessed first hand how incredibly necessary those security features really are. For example, installing mail server software on either Windows or Linux is trivial. Actually operating a mail domain of any import securely in the face of determined attackers, dumbass insiders that will click anything , and constantly changing anti-SPAM technologies and standards is a full…

Outsource mailservers to competent vendors like MXRoute at near zero cost. Stop focusing on the components that are pennies per user to outsource.

Re: Microsoft 365 costs are too much

#13

Post by simfree »

scarface_74 wrote: post #7
theothertimcook wrote: post #2

It’s a steaming pile of shit too. FWIW you may be able to remove copilot from your subscription but it is still a shitshow. Google workspaces isn’t much cheaper, if you’re brave you could try ZOHO’s groupware at a significant discount but I’m sure that comes with caveats. I still can get my head around why Mozilla doesn’t dip its toe in here.

Looking at the business pricing, Copilot is an optional add on.

Microsoft force upgraded most clients to Copilot included licenses.

Nothing says Microsoft won't further change their arbitrary pricing and bundling structure.

Re: Microsoft 365 costs are too much

#14

Post by alunchbox »

dangus wrote: post #10

News to me that it’s expensive. 365 business basic includes custom domain email, teams, and the basic office apps for about $6 a month. Each of your employees costs thousands per month and you’re worried about a You could use LibreOffice for productivity. Might make some of your employees think you’re a cheapskate though. If you’re a Mac shop you could use Pages/Keynote/Numbers and then keep your meetings under 40 mi…

Legit is there any reasonable cost alternative solutions, because I'd use that in a heart beat.

That still have enterprise/business level support?

Re: Microsoft 365 costs are too much

#15

Post by tadhjqtu »

I just noticed your other submission at HN, talking about some product similar to Microsoft 365:

> I’m Harsh, CEO of DOPE (Dept of Office Productivity Efficiency). Big fan of Elon and DOGE. We’re currently applying for YC25.

LOL. Nice. Looking forward to your LauchHN soon.

Re: Microsoft 365 costs are too much

#17

Post by jiggawatts »

simfree wrote: post #12
jiggawatts wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> hoards of unnecessary security features I've witnessed first hand how incredibly necessary those security features really are. For example, installing mail server software on either Windows or Linux is trivial. Actually operating a mail domain of any import securely in the face of determined attackers, dumbass insiders that will click anything , and constantly changing anti-SPAM technologies and standards is a full…

Outsource mailservers to competent vendors like MXRoute at near zero cost. Stop focusing on the components that are pennies per user to outsource.

You cheerfully ignored the “other employees clicking random phishing links” issue that is non-trivial to solve by simply outsourcing SMTP server hosting.

Re: Microsoft 365 costs are too much

#18

Post by appreciatorBus »

brudgers wrote: post #4

I’ve started cutting the fat by regularly auditing our licenses, matching team roles to the right plan, and even considering one-off purchase alternatives where it makes sense. Is this the most urgent and important thing you can work on right now? How much additional revenue would cover the costs you are cutting? Good luck.

I don’t think he’s actually doing that:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43050446

Re: Microsoft 365 costs are too much

#19

Post by conception »

This seems the opposite of what Microsoft offers, which is a buffet of lower quality items. Why use Okta when you have Entra? Why use Zoom or Slack when you have Teams? Avanan or Bit defender? The best reason in most cases is the Microsoft offering isn’t that great. But it’s cheap and generally all inclusive.

Re: Microsoft 365 costs are too much

#20

Post by brudgers »

appreciatorBus wrote: post #18
brudgers wrote: post #4

I’ve started cutting the fat by regularly auditing our licenses, matching team roles to the right plan, and even considering one-off purchase alternatives where it makes sense. Is this the most urgent and important thing you can work on right now? How much additional revenue would cover the costs you are cutting? Good luck.

I don’t think he’s actually doing that: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43050446

That’s ok.

The author was not my target audience.

On the face of it, changing their mind seemed improbable.

Post reply on HN