Changes to Microsoft 365 licenses for nonprofits

Following the changes to commercial licenses, which took effect on 1 March 2022, Microsoft have also announced pricing changes for nonprofit licenses:

Price changes
An update to the pricing of nonprofit licenses for Microsoft 365 will take place on 1 September 2022. Exact figures in GBP (£) are not yet available, we expect these around 1 August 2022. Going by the USD ($) pricing, we are likely to see a ~10% increase across all licenses.

Microsoft say that this is the first substantive pricing update since Office 365 (now Microsoft 365) was released back in June 2011, and since initial release they have added 24 new apps – including Microsoft Teams – and over 1,400 features.

For example

License type   Current pricing   New pricing
Business Basic   £0.00 pcm   £0.00 pcm
Business Standard   £2.30 pcm   £2.53 pcm
Business Premium   £3.80 pcm   £4.18 pcm

All prices are per user and subject to VAT.

Grants available
Microsoft also say that they are committed to providing nonprofits with grants and discounts (of up to 75%) across as many Microsoft 365 products as possible. Registered nonprofits may be eligible for up to 10 licenses of Microsoft 365 Business Premium, 300 licenses of Microsoft 365 Business Basic, and 2,000 licenses of Office 365 E1 via an Enterprise Agreement.

We will post a further update with more information later in the year once Microsoft’s official GBP (£) pricing is available.

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We are one of the first UK web hosting providers powered by renewable energy

We are one of the first UK web hosting providers powered by renewable energy

Fully renewable energy web hosting

We are one of the first UK web hosting providers to be powered by 100% renewable energy; not just carbon offsetting. This means a direct relationship between our datacentres and the power they use – to ensure it is from renewable sources including solar, wind, and hydro.

Your websites and web apps are hosted on the latest and extremely energy-efficient Dell servers using SSDs which require less power than standard SATA disks used by other hosting providers. Not only is this hardware energy-efficient, but also the low power consumption means faster processing speeds and lightning-fast access to your data across our web hosting platform.

This step to provide entirely green hosting for our web hosting platform is just one we are undertaking in a programme for carbon neutrality for our entire energy usage. We are working on the steps for our other hosting platforms (including data and backup services) to be powered by renewable energy as well.

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End of support for Office 2013

End of support for Office 2013

Microsoft have announced that Office 2013 will reach the end of support on 11 April 2023.

After this date, Microsoft won’t provide any new security updates or fixes for Office 2013, and therefore it may be vulnerable to security risks and impact your ability to meet compliance obligations. Office 2013 may also have performance or reliability issues.

Microsoft previously retired Office 2013 from connectivity with Microsoft 365 services back in October 2020. This version of Office is not blocked but there is no guarantee of compatibility or support.

Microsoft encourage users to upgrade to a newer version of Office, such as Office 2021 or Microsoft 365 – in order to receive regular security updates and all the latest features.

As Microsoft Partners we can provide both Office 2021 (long-term licences) and Microsoft 365 (annual subscriptions) at discounted pricing, which both include the latest Office software. Please contact us to upgrade from Office 2013.

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Google Analytics is making its biggest change in over a decade

Google Analytics is making its biggest change in over a decade

Universal Analytics will be replaced by Google Analytics 4 in Summer 2023.

On 1 July 2023, the previous standard Google Universal Analytics will cease to exist and will be replaced by the new Google Analytics 4.

Until this date, users can continue to collect new data in Universal Analytics properties. After this point, users will be able to access previously processed data in the Universal Analytics property for circa six months to 1st October, but new data will not be collected. Therefore, it is strongly encouraged to export historical reports before the cut off point on 1st July.

This represents the most significant change to the Google Analytics platform since 2012, when Universal Analytics was introduced. Retiring this default property type will impact most users of the platform. It is also the most widely supported and integrated property type. Whereas the newer Analytics 4 property type currently comes with fewer reports and fewer useful views; these have to be configured by users.

Google Analytics 4 differs from its predecessor in that it operates across platforms, doesn’t rely on cookies, and uses an event-based data model for measurement. It also does not store IP addresses, which can help organisations adhere to privacy regulations, such as the GDPR.

    To check which version of Google Analytics you are using, look at the ID of a property.

  • Universal Analytics starts with UA- and ends with a number (UA-XXXXXXXXX-1).
  • Analytics 4 only has numbers (XXXXXXXXX).

For further information or support, please contact us.

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36Zero new website

36Zero new website

We are pleased to present the new website for 36Zero.

36Zero use inventive solutions to create connected workplaces and thereby healthier, safer workers. 36Zero strives to improve efficiency, safety, and well-being for all construction site workers. 36Zero provide four solutions as part of their integrated platform. Budy360 monitors heart rate, location and emergencies. Data360 assesses worker health, site-wide improvements and safety. App360 gives health scores, real-time safety records and operational tools. Health360 provides occupational health services to all employees.

Their new website features animated, interactive isometric scenes to display 36Zero’s solutions. These custom assets, scenes, and animations were made specifically for 36Zero, to add a unique aspect to the website.

We also created narrative style animations which cycle through pinned images as the user scrolls a page, somewhat similar to Apple’s website featured products. And there is a custom progress indicator, to reflect a user’s progress reading through a page and its content.

Forms have been built for the ease of both 36Zero (for data collection/analysis) and their clients (for getting in touch/requesting demos). These are integrated into the site as well as with comms tools for instant notifications. As with all our sites, the 36Zero site features fully responsive design, a full CMS, and integrated Google Analytics.

A Google Ads campaign is also running in parallel with the launch of the new site, to drive traffic and help raise brand awareness.

This site was designed, developed, and built with our partner, Metric, who are also responsible for the excellent rebranding of 36Zero from fuseAware.

You can find the site at 36zero.io.

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End of the road for Internet Explorer

End of the road for Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer will be fully retired and go out of support on 15 June 2022.

Microsoft previously announced that support for Internet Explorer ended in August 2021 for Microsoft 365 online services. In June this year, the Internet Explorer browser will be retired entirely.

Microsoft are encouraging users to move over to Microsoft Edge. You can download Microsoft Edge here if it’s not already on your machine(s).

Microsoft Edge has Internet Explorer mode (IE mode) built in, which can be used to access legacy Internet Explorer-based websites and applications using Microsoft Edge until at least 2029.

For organisations which use custom websites and/or applications which rely on Internet Explorer, we recommend moving to using Microsoft Edge in IE mode before 22 June. Such organisations may also wish to look at updating or replacing these with solutions using modern browser compatibility. This is obviously a much greater challenge for some organisations than others – depending on various factors such as size of user base, functionalities, deployment complexity, etc.

For the web in general, this will mean that compatibility with the Internet Explorer browser will no longer be required. This should make web development more streamlined, as special fixes and testing for Internet Explorer only will no longer be necessary.

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Changes to Microsoft licenses for nonprofits

Following the changes to Microsoft 365 licenses for businesses on 1 March 2022, Microsoft has also announced some changes for nonprofits.

From 4 April 2022, Microsoft is moving to a cloud-first grant programme for nonprofits, meaning that Microsoft will no longer offer donated (free or heavily discounted) Office software licenses. Microsoft will require that nonprofits use Microsoft 365 to gain access to Office software.

The Office 365 E1 license is now only available to new nonprofit organisations with over 250 team members, which qualify for an Enterprise Agreement. Organisations under 250 users should use the Business range of licenses, which are available as follows:

  • Microsoft 365 Business Premium – free for up to 10 users, and discounted above that number. Includes Microsoft online services and apps, Office desktop applications, and device management with advanced security.
  • Microsoft 365 Business Basic – free for up to 300 users, and discounted above that amount. Includes Microsoft online services and apps.

Please contact us for any Microsoft 365 nonprofit donated and/or discounted licenses you require. We can help you qualify for these, as well as setup your organisation or add to your existing tenant.

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Your social media wall

Your social media wall

Social media is increasingly crucial for raising brand awareness, marketing services, and selling products to your existing audience as well as gaining new customers.

We offer a social media wall solution, which can integrate with any website. The feeds update automatically every 15–60 mins, and are compatible with all major social platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, and even TikTok.

See a demo
View a demo of Direction Forward’s social media feeds including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn at directionforward.com/social.

Read more information
See our Social Media Wall service page.

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Macros from the internet will be blocked by default in Office

Macros from the internet will be blocked by default in Office

Microsoft is changing the default behaviour of Office so macros are blocked by default, to improve security.

To increase preventative protection, Microsoft will be blocking all macros in files from the internet, starting in early April. When users open a file from the internet that contains macros, the following message will be displayed:

Macros (which use the Visual Basic Application, aka VBA, in Office applications) power many business automations, and are the precursor to more modern solutions like Power Automate. However, macros aren’t required for everyday use such as reading or editing documents.

As macros are relatively common, part of the globally used Office suite, and are relatively easy to write, they’ve become a simple way for attackers to deliver malicious hacks. Attackers can send a damaging macro hidden within a business orientated file to users, who inadvertently run the malware when opening the file. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) sees macros as a significant threat, see their guidance here.

This change is being rolled out in early April 2022 for the Preview channel of Office, and will impact Office on Windows devices on the following applications: Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, and Word. This will become default on other channels and for Office LTSC, Office 2021, Office 2019, Office 2016 and Office 2013 at a future date Microsoft have yet to confirm.

Microsoft allow organisations using Microsoft 365 to enable the ‘Block macros from running in Office files from the Internet’ policy ahead of schedule and to change how users are notified about macros. If you would like to enable this policy now, please contact us.

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