Directions on Microsoft

M365 E7 to Launch May 1 for $99 Per User Per Month Microsoft will launch a new, high-end Microsoft 365 licensing tier, Microsoft 365 E7, on May 1, priced at US$99 per user per month. For that price, customers will get all the features in Microsoft 365...

Microsoft 365 E7 to Launch May 1 for $99 Per User Per Month: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/m365-e7-to-l... #MSLicensing #MSTech

Why Microsoft 365 E7 Is More Than Just a New Licensing Tier Initial reports around the expected new Microsoft 365 E7 have focused on pricing and packaging, presenting it as a higher-end bundle that includes AI features and carries a higher price tag. That fram...

Microsoft 365 E7: New bundle. Possibly a new economic model. Analysis from Directions' Lane Shelton:
directionsonmicrosoft.com/why-microsof... #MSLicensing

Microsoft 365 E7: A New Agent-Centered Subscription Plan Expected Soon Microsoft is expected to introduce a new Microsoft 365 subscription sometime in the next few months: The long-rumored E7. But M365 E7 isn’t simply Microsoft 365 E5 plus M365 Copilot delivered as a sin...

Microsoft's long-rumored M365 E7 subscription may arrive soon. Here's what we're hearing about it so far: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/microsoft-36... #MSLicensing #MSTech

Your Next EA Renewal: How to Avoid the Financial Cliff For years, Enterprise Agreement (EA) renewals have been high-stakes exercises. They required preparation, modeling, and disciplined negotiation. Even in their difficulty, renewals followed a familiar ...

Your Next EA Renewal: How to Avoid the Financial Cliff. Part 1 of a coming licensing blog series from Directions' Lane Shelton: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/your-next-ea... #MSLicensing

New podcast: Microsoft 365 Copilot Licensing: Five Things You Need to Know (whether you're still on the fence or in the midst of deploying M365 Copilot), featuring Directions' analyst Rob Horwitz: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/podcasts/mic... #MSLicensing

New podcast is out! SQL Server 2016 and 2017 are leaving Extended support in the not-too-distant future. Directions' analyst @expatandyuk.bsky.social shares his preparation tips and checklist with @maryjofoley.bsky.social: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/podcasts/sql... #MSTech #MSLicensing

Windows 11 26H1: Why It's A Nothing-Burger for Enterprises Microsoft is releasing two different versions of Windows this year: Windows 11 26H1 and Windows 11 26H2. For the vast majority of business customers, 26H1 is going to be a nothing- burger; it only wil...

Windows 11 26H1: Why It’s A Nothing-Burger for Enterprises: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/windows-11-2... #MSTech

On our new 'Three Smart Guys' podcast, Directions' @barryb.bsky.social and industry analysts George Gilbert and @pbokelly.bsky.social chat about Microsoft's 2026 challenges.
Audio only: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/podcasts/thr...
Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_K2...
#MSTech

Microsoft Claims 15 Million Paid M365 Copilot Seats Microsoft has released for the first time an AI adoption number about which many had been curious. During its Q2 FY26 earnings call on January 28, officials said the company now has 15 million paid se...

Microsoft Claims 15 Million Paid M365 Copilot Seats. (Is that good?) And more takeaways from its Q2 FY26 earnings call: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/microsoft-cl... #MSTech #MSLicensing

Does Microsoft care about what you care about? The last three years have seen Microsoft pivot to a hard focus on AI, similar to how the company turned to the web browser and internet in the late 1990s or tried to shoulder up to Apple and Google in...

Does Microsoft Care About What You Care About? If not, Directions' @jimgaynor.bsky.social has some ideas as to what you can do. #MSLicensing #MSTech

Blog: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/does-microso...
Podcast (with @maryjofoley.bsky.social): www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/podcasts/mic...

Licensing updates extend access to advanced capabilities in Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Places | Microsoft Community Hub At Microsoft, we empower organizations to achieve more through intelligent communication, inclusive collaboration, and connected workplace experiences. Our...

Microsoft plans to make some Teams Premium features available to those who don't have a Premium license starting April 1, 2026: techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microso... #MSTech

New podcast now live. Directions analyst @getwired.com talks with @maryjofoley.bsky.social about Microsoft bundling more separately priced features with Microsoft 365 SKUs, and what this means for customers and the long-rumored M365 E7: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/podcasts/wha... #MSLicensing

New podcast: Microsoft Licensing and Negotiation: A Year in Review -- featuring Directions' lead negotiator Dean Bedwell and @maryjofoley.bsky.social : www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/podcasts/mic... #MSLicensing #MSTech

Microsoft Roadmap Update: What's New, What's Next. YouTube video by Directions on Microsoft

Directions' annual Microsoft Roadmap webinar is free for everyone to watch/listen to. We look back at the biggest MSFT tech events of 2025 and make some 2026 predictions. Check it out here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Xn... #MSTech

As Microsoft transitions more customers off EAs and onto MCAs, orgs need to be aware of some potentially costly changes they may incur. Directions' lead negotiator Dean Bedwell shares with @maryjofoley.bsky.social the biggest gotchas: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/podcasts/mov... #MSLicensing

New podcast for you: As similar AI strategies proliferate, are there still reasons to choose Azure over AWS (or vice versa)? Duckbill's @quinnypig.com joins Directions' @getwired.com and @maryjofoley.bsky.social to debate the topic: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/podcasts/is-... #MSTech #MSLicensing

Microsoft to increase Office suite prices across the board starting July 2026 Microsoft will be increasing pricing for its commercial Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites beginning July 1, 2026.    Company officials attributed the increase to the inclusion of AI capabilities suc...

In 2026, Microsoft will put into effect first substantial price increase for Microsoft 365 and Office 365 commercial suites since 2021. Here's what to expect: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/microsoft-to... #MSLicensing #MSTech

CIO Talk: Microsoft Gets IQ By Barry Briggs Let the semantic-layer wars begin! A little over a month ago, I made the less-than-prescient claim that “Microsoft has done little to nothing about a semantic layer.” But – in fairness...

Want an explainer on Microsoft's recently announced Fabric IQ, Foundry IQ and Work IQ -- and why they matter? Directions analyst @barryb.bsky.social has you covered: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/cio-talk-mic... #MSTech

The annual Directions webinar on Microsoft's roadmap is coming up next week. It's open to anyone interested in Microsoft products and trends. Our analysts will take questions live.

Dec. 10 from 1-2 pm ET. Register for free: register.gotowebinar.com/register/533...

Microsoft Ignite 2025: Ten Things You Need to Know Microsoft’s annual Ignite conference for IT professionals, developers and partners, is kicking off this week in San Francisco. CEO Satya Nadella is not the lead keynoter this year; instead, the newly ...

What's going to be big at Microsoft's Ignite conference this week? Here are Directions' Top 10 picks -- the announcements that could impact enterprise customers and partners moving forward into 2026: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/microsoft-ig... #MSTech #MSLicensing

Microsoft's Agent 365 digital 'employees' are coming for your business Ahead of Microsoft’s Ignite conference next week, rumors are swirling about Microsoft launching an “Agent 365” platform. If the tips pan out, Agent 365 could become a way for Microsoft to unify how th...

Microsoft is expected to take the next step toward its promise of agents becoming digital workers with its 'Agent 365' platform: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/microsofts-a... #MSTech #MSLicensing

Announcing the Annual Release Cadence for Microsoft Configuration Manager | Microsoft Community Hub Starting with version 2609, Microsoft Configuration Manager will transition to an annual release cadence. This change is a formalization of the direction...

Starting in Sept. 2026, Configuration Manager is moving from a semi-annual to an annual release schedule: techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/configu... #MSTech

New Directions podcast is now available. Everything you wanted to know (or SHOULD want to know) about Microsoft ESUs with Directions' @jimgaynor.bsky.social , Rob Helm and @maryjofoley.bsky.social: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/podcasts/mic... #MSTech #MSLicensing

Here's Microsoft's preliminary post-incident review for the Oct. 29 multi-hour Azure outage. It was not a good day for Azure Front Door and all the Azure services it touched: azure.status.microsoft/en-us/status... #MSTech

Microsoft puts Office Online Server on the chopping block : The end is nigh, now get thee to 365

Microsoft is dropping support for Office Online Server as of Dec. 31, 2026. Microsoft's recommended replacement (no surprise): Microsoft 365, which includes web-based versions of Word, Excel, PPT, OneNote: www.theregister.com/2025/10/22/m... #MSLicensing

Auto-Archiving for Exchange Online | Microsoft Community Hub We are happy to announce the time-based archiving feature for Exchange Online users with archives.  

That plan for rolling out Auto-archiving for Exchange Online starting Oct. 15 -- which Microsoft postponed due to negative customer feedback -- is back on again, but not until Jan. 2026. Public preview to start Nov. 15, 2025: techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/exchang... #MSTech

Finance in Microsoft 365 Copilot is now generally available Built with Microsoft 365 Copilot, this role-based AI solution brings ERP-connected data and workflows directly into the flow of work

The product formerly known as "Copilot for Finance" (and also later as "Finance Agents") is now generally available. The newest name might be Finance solution for M365 Copilot (?): www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynami... #MSTech

What's happening with Microsoft Exchange? Get caught up with our new podcast now out with special guest Tony Redmond @office365itpros.com
Directions analyst Rob Helm and @maryjofoley.bsky.social
directionsonmicrosoft.com/podcasts/wha... #MSTech

CIO Talk: The Enterprise Semantic Layer: The Missing Link for AI (and Microsoft)? This blog post is a little different. I’m not going to tell you about the pros and cons of a Microsoft technology – rather, I’m going to talk about a missing Microsoft piece of the puzzle. Maybe it’s ...

New post from Directions analyst
@barryb.bsky.social: Enterprise Semantic Layer: The Missing Link for AI (and Microsoft)? www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/cto-talk-the...

Making every Windows 11 PC an AI PC New Copilot and agentic experiences make powerful AI easy on Windows 11 Today, we’re taking an exciting step forward with a new wave of updates that make every Windows 11 PC an AI PC – with Copilot at...

With Windows 10 hitting end of support this week, Microsoft is trying to make Windows 11 more appealing by adding more AI features. If you loved "Hey Cortana," you might love "Hey Copilot." And if not, probably not... blogs.windows.com/windowsexper... #MSTech