September 11, 2024
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Microsoft 365 Archive now Generally Available
WHEN: June 14, 2024
Microsoft 365 Archive is now available, a new feature that offers cost-effective storage for inactive SharePoint sites. This can be used if you need to keep inactive or aging data for long periods of time and prefer to store the data in SharePoint to simplify searchability, security, compliance, and data lifecycle management.
Microsoft 365 Archive allows you to retain this inactive data by moving it into a cold storage tier (archive) within SharePoint. Any data archived with Microsoft 365 Archive will have the same searchability, security, and compliance standards applied automatically at a much-reduced cost. This is a pay-as-you-go service that charges based on storage consumption and site reactivation.
Storage consumption is charged at a per-GB monthly rate. This meter is charged only when archived storage plus active storage in SharePoint exceeds the included or licensed allocated SharePoint storage capacity limit of the tenant. In other words, there's no additional storage cost for archived sites if the tenant hasn't yet consumed its already licensed Storage quota. Storage consumption is priced at $0.05/GB/month (shows on invoice as $0.00167/GB/day), USD MSRP.
Site reactivation is charged at a per-GB rate. The reactivation fee is charged regardless of whether a tenant is above or below its SharePoint capacity limit and only if reactivation is executed more than seven days after the site was most recently put into an archive state. This seven-day grace period provides you with the opportunity to reverse an accidental archival without reaction costs. Site reactivation costs $0.60/GB, USD MSRP.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Microsoft has made the entire GitHub product portfolio available as metered services on Azure, including through CSP Azure Plans.
WHEN: August 1, 2024
Before August 1, most of the GitHub portfolio was available to Microsoft customers as a metered offering. This included Actions, Packages, Codespaces, Copilot Business, Copilot Enterprise, and Large File Storage. However, GHE and GHAS were only available through Microsoft through Enterprise Agreements. This has now been expanded to include other channels, and Microsoft CSP customers interested in GitHub products can use their Azure subscription ID as a payment instrument for their GitHub offerings, such as GitHub Enterprise (GHE), GitHub Advanced Security GHE, and GitHub Copilot.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Windows 365 Cross-region Disaster Recovery generally available
WHEN: July 1, 2024
Microsoft has introduced Windows 365 Cross-region Disaster Recovery, a Windows 365 add-on feature that creates “snapshots” of Cloud PCs. These snapshots are placed in customer-defined, geographically
distant locations, and they can be recovered to Cloud PCs running in the selected location during a disaster recovery event. Windows 365 Cross-region Disaster Recovery is provided as an add-on license to Windows 365 Enterprise SKUs. It is not currently available for any other Windows 365 SKU. It sells for $5 per user per month (USD MSRP)
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Microsoft Entra Suite now available
WHEN: July 11, 2024
Microsoft has released a new offering, the Microsoft Entra Suite, for secure access management, identity verification, and Zero Trust security for cloud and on-premises resources. The new Microsoft Entra suite integrates five capabilities: Private Access, Internet Access, ID Protection, ID Governance, and Face Check in Verified ID Premium. These features can also be purchased standalone. See this link for pricing information.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Unlicensed OneDrive storage policy changing
WHEN: January 27, 2025
Beginning January 27, 2025, any OneDrive user account that has been unlicensed for longer than 90 days will become inaccessible to admins and end users. The unlicensed account will be automatically archived and viewable via admin tools but will remain inaccessible until administrators take action, either by licensing or deleting the account. If no action is taken, the account remains archived through Microsoft 365 Archive (see more information on this service and pricing above)
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Exchange Server SE announced
WHEN: TBA - Q3 2025
The next release of Exchange Server will be Exchange Server SE and will be available for download in the coming months. The licensing model used by Exchange Server SE will require subscription licenses or licenses with active Software Assurance for server and user licenses. Microsoft will continue to provide a free Hybrid server license and key, which will continue to be distributed using the Hybrid Configuration Wizard.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: Skype for Business Server SE announced
WHEN: TBA - Q3 2025
Likewise, the next release of Microsoft Skype for Business Server will be Skype for Business Server SE, which will also be available Q3 2025. It will also require subscription licenses or licenses with active Software Assurance for server and user licenses.
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