Tag Archives: Exchange Server

Microsoft 365 Local and SE products

Microsoft introduced us to the notion of their Sovereign Private Cloud in June 2025 (see the announcement here: https://bit.ly/3KYvuqj). It’s designed for customers who need to meet strict sovereignty requirements and combines Azure Local and Microsoft 365 Local. Azure Local’s been around a while, but Microsoft 365 Local is new. It’s built on the Azure Local infrastructure, and enables organisations to deploy the traditional Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, and Skype for Business Server products entirely within their sovereign environment. To that end, the new SE versions of these products will be supported until at least 31 December, 2035.

Find information on Microsoft 365 Local here: https://bit.ly/3Wosztx, and the earliest End of Support date information here: https://bit.ly/48QNrRC.

Exchange Server roadmap update

Microsoft confirm that the next version of Exchange Server will be licensed Server/CAL and will only be available to customers with active SA, similar to the current SharePoint Server and Project Server Subscription Editions. They also confirm that the release date of this new version has been moved out to the second half of 2025.

Find the announcement with lots of useful links here: https://bit.ly/3dSDR6n.

Microsoft productivity servers: the future

Microsoft announce that the next versions of Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, Skype for Business Server, and Project Server will be available in the second half of 2021.

What will be different is that they will only be available with the purchase of a subscription licence which will entitle organisations to support, product updates, and security patches.

There will also be a new perpetual release of Office for Windows and Mac in the same timeframe.

Find the announcement here: https://bit.ly/3j8SrEy.

Updated Server Virtualisation VL Brief

There’s an updated (June 2016) “Licensing Microsoft server products for use in virtual environments” Volume Licensing Brief.

It’s updated for Exchange Server 2016 (no changes to the licensing), SQL Server 2016 (Business Intelligence edition removed, requirement to assign a minimum of 4 licences per processor rather than using the Core Factor table) and it references the Product Terms document rather than the Product List and Product Use Rights documents.

Get this updated brief here in the Application Servers section: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.

Exchange Server 2016 Announced

Microsoft announce Exchange Server 2016 and are describing this release as “forged in the cloud” – in other words, the features that are already in Exchange Online have now arrived in the on-premises product.

Exchange Server 2016 is also added to the October 2015 Product Terms document and there are no changes to the licensing.

Read the announcement article for an overview of the new features here: http://bit.ly/1Gn43tl.