Tech Talk News - Microsoft Announces Planned Changes For Some 365 Licenses

Tech Talk News

From Your IT Professionals

February 26, 2026 - Volume 14, Issue 4

Microsoft Announces Changes To Several 365 Licenses

The news very few people want to hear is coming: there will be some price increases to some Office 365 licensing. These changes will go into effect come July 1, per Microsoft's latest update. Though, it is worth noting that a Microsoft deadline like this could always wind up as a moving target later on if they change their minds.

In this case, there is actually some news that could be positive to some users. The most commonly-used item that could be a positive for these users is the increase in Exchange mailbox data. For users running a Business Standard or Business Premium license, these plans will receive a 50GB increase in the amount of storage available in their online email archive. Even better news for those on Business Premium - there is no increase in the cost of that license.

Onto the bad news, the monthly price increases expected (though subject to change as Microsoft may make further announcements) are:

License	Anticipated Monthly Cost Increase
Business Basic	$1.20
Business Standard	$1.80
Business Premium	$0.00
Office 365 E3	$3.60
Microsoft 365 E3	$3.60
Microsoft 365 E5	$3.60

Ridge Support does not currently have any partners running any of the other affected licenses. It is also important to remember that this is a per-user license, so any potential increases would be multiplied by users with the associated licenses.

Any license not listed above that Ridge Support is currently providing to any of our partners is not anticipated to be affected this year, per Microsoft's latest updates.

Should you have any questions regarding how this might impact you, please feel free to reach out to our offices. For anyone who our team works on budgets for, we expect to have the finalized numbers for these increases and how it will impact you by July for any budget meetings around or after that time.

We strive to look out for the best interest of our customers and their procurement in the IT venue. Be it hardware, software or service related, we want to guide you in the most effective manner possible.

Don't Forget

___If you are engaging service or support with a software or third party vendor in which our services may be required, always make sure to give Ridge Support as much advanced notice as possible. These situations include but are not limited to:

Changing of an internet service provider
Changing phone service providers
Updating of websites
Software and hardware migrations, upgrades, and installations
Addition or deletion of user accounts

We ask this in an effort to be able to provide you with the steadfast and professional service that you have come to expect of us.

Ridge Support Technologies

610-323-3351 | service@ridgesupport.com | https://www.ridgesupport.com