Microsoft release some more details about Extended Security Updates for Windows 10. Organisations can already purchase them through an Enterprise Agreement, and they’ll be available through CSP from 1 September, 2025. However, the biggest news is for consumers – we know that they’ll be available for consumers for the first time and that they’ll cost $30 for the year, but the latest article reveals that if you’re using Windows Backup to sync your settings to the cloud you’ll get ESUs at no charge. Alternatively, if you’ve got Microsoft Rewards points you can pay for the ESUs with 1,000 of them. Whichever way you choose, you’re covered for up to ten devices. Find the relevant article here: https://bit.ly/46FfB0M.
Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide
There’s an updated (July 2025) Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide with just a couple of minor changes. Firstly, there’s confirmation added on page 27 that the Expense Mobile Role only requires a Team Members licence. Secondly, the Copilot Studio Paid Offers section that formed Appendix G has been removed and now just appears in the Copilot Studio Licensing Guide. Help yourself to this updated guide here: https://bit.ly/44tjkvQ.
SharePoint Server licensing guidance document
There’s an updated (July 2025) SharePoint Server licensing guidance document from Microsoft. There aren’t many changes from the previous version – just some small updates for SharePoint Server SE, and the removal of all the (somewhat useful) diagrams. Find this updated guide here: http://bit.ly/44kAQ6F.
GA of Exchange Server SE and Skype for Business Server SE editions
Microsoft announce the general availability of the Subscription Editions of Exchange Server and Skype for Business Server, which are the successors to the 2019 editions From a licensing perspective they follow the same rules as for SharePoint Server SE: you need active SA to use the product – or buy the subscription licences – and if the SA lapses, then you retain rights to the 2019 version of the product.
Find the Exchange Server announcement here: https://bit.ly/4noQ0PI, and the Skype for Business Server one here: http://bit.ly/44cZqGC.
Exchange rate price adjustments
Microsoft announce that there will be no price adjustments in September 2025 resulting from exchange rate changes.
Find the announcement here: http://bit.ly/3I7pdHL.
CAL Suite price increases delayed
Microsoft announce that the price increases for the Core CAL Suite (15%) and Enterprise CAL Suite (20%) will now take effect on 1 August, 2025 instead of 1 July, 2025 as originally announced.
Find this adjusted announcement here: http://bit.ly/4eeXcK0.
Power Platform Licensing Guide
There’s an updated (June 2025) Power Platform Licensing Guide with one big change – all the Copilot Studio licensing content has been taken out to form a brand new Copilot Studio Licensing Guide.
Find the slimmed down Power Platform Licensing Guide here: https://bit.ly/4kGJGRs, and its new friend here: https://bit.ly/43Sg5xG.
Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide
There’s an updated (June 2025) Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide with a few changes of note.
Firstly, there are further refinements to the tables of security roles and a “menu item” – the thing you give access to via a security role – is renamed to a “securable object”.
Secondly, there are some edits to the requirements for licensing external users which aligns with the Product Terms. Note that the tables and footnotes on pages 43 and 44 haven’t really survived the editing of the last three months and now take a bit of effort to work through the errors and make sense of them.
Finally, there’s a new section for “Coplot Studio Offers in Paid Public Preview” which is light on detail but refers you to the new Copilot Studio Licensing Guide which gives a smidgen more information.
Find the latest guide here: https://bit.ly/3HEG6sI.
Windows Server virtualization licensing guidance document
There’s an updated (May 2025) Windows Server virtualization licensing document from Microsoft. There aren’t major changes from the previous version – the most significant one is the removal of all the (quite useful) diagrams. In addition, the original errors remain – the requirement for a customer to have a minimum of 16 Windows Server Core licences when licensing by virtual machine was removed in April 2023.
However, keep your Microsoft documentation stash complete by grabbing this document here: https://bit.ly/44doWLJ.
Controlling Azure costs
There’s a really useful article on the Microsoft FinOps blog about managing Azure spend through governance and Azure Policy rules. It’s aiming to help you to prevent overspend rather than react to it, and it’s a practical read for anyone responsible for cloud cost optimisation. There’s a nice table called “The Wasteful Eight” to help you focus on where you might currently be using resources that are over-provisioned, or configured with unused premium features, for example.
Find this article here: https://bit.ly/3HSGFzg.