Exchange Server 2019 has less than six months of support left in the tank

Pricier successor due in July. Three months is plenty of time to test it, right?

Microsoft has warned administrators that less than half a year remains until support ends for Exchange Server 2016 and 2019. However, the follow-up, Exchange Server SE, won't arrive for another few months.

October 14, 2025, will be a big day in the Microsoft world: many Windows 10 devices will cease to be supported, and administrators will also need to manage servers headed for the support void, not least Skype for Business and Exchange Server 2016 and 2019.

Although Microsoft would prefer that Skype for Business users embrace Teams, it is dangling the carrot of Exchange Server SE in front of sysadmins tasked with keeping email on-premises. The problem is that with less than six months to go, Exchange Server SE is not yet available. It should arrive in July 2025, but that will leave barely three months for in-house techies to perform a migration before Exchange Server 2016 and 2019 reach end-of-life.

For its part, Microsoft insists that Exchange Server SE is simply a rebrand of Exchange Server 2019 Cumulative Update (CU) 15. The final release to manufacturing (RTM) of Exchange Server SE should have code parity with its predecessor, including any Security Updates (SUs) released after CU15.

So that's alright then? Well, not really. No responsible administrator would accept the new version without first testing it, regardless of how much Microsoft might insist that everything will be fine. Three months is not enough time.

A cynic might note that Microsoft has form when putting out releases that don't behave exactly as expected. Prudent admins would probably prefer to wait until the first CU for Exchange Server SE.

Prices for on-premises servers are also going up. Earlier in April, Microsoft confirmed that prices for standalone on-premises server products (SharePoint Server, Exchange Server, and Skype for Business Server) are scheduled to jump by 10 percent in July. The company added that there would be no impact on pricing for SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, or Teams.

Directions on Microsoft analyst Rob Helm said: "The licenses price hikes, the cutoff of old versions, the weak link with new Outlook, they all point to a single message: If you care about Exchange email, get off Exchange Server."

Strong words, but difficult to rebut. In its six-month warning, Microsoft said: "Our recommendation is for customers to migrate to Exchange Online." The alternative is to get up to date on Exchange Server 2019 CU15, trust in Exchange engineers, and warn finance that prices are going up.

Or perhaps – like many Windows 10 users – consider something else entirely. ®