[German]Tt has been rumored for some time whether there would be a successor to Microsoft Exchange Server 2019, which was released on October 22, 2018. The subscription-based successor announced for 2021 never appeared. Speculation that customers would be forced from on-premise Exchange solutions to the cloud solution Exchange Online has now been put to rest. Microsoft has just unveiled the roadmap for Exchange Server in the tech community. Exchange Server vNext is coming in 2025.
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No Exchange Server 2021
In September 2020 Microsoft had announced the next version of Exchange Server in the second half of 2021 in this Techcommunity article (see also my blog post New Office and new Exchange Server in 2021). This product was planned to be available only with the purchase of a subscription license. The subscription entitles access to support, product updates, security and time zone patches. I did cover this in the blog post New Office and new Exchange Server in 2021. But 2021 is over and there is no Exchange Server 2021 as we all know.
Exchange Server vNext coming in 2025
The night I became aware of Microsoft's new announcement that Exchange Server vNext is planned for 2025 via the following tweet. Microsoft broke it all down in the Techcommunity post Exchange Server Roadmap Update from June 2, 2022.
That's also where the delay is immediately explained: unfortunately, Microsoft's plans for Exchange Server in 2021 were thrown into a bit of disarray. In March 2021, the company faced harsh reality: state-sponsored threat actors targeted on-premises Exchange Servers (see Hafnium and ProxyShell articles at the end of the blog post). And the poor patch status of these installations (see ProxyShell, Squirrelwaffle and a new PoC Exploit, patch your Exchange Server!) ensured that many customer systems were compromised.
Microsoft responded with various measures such as out-of-band updates, the introduction of AMSI, etc. – but this resulted in collateral damage (see Exchange 2016/2019: Outlook problems due to AMSI integration). An overview of the measures can be found in the Techcommunity post Exchange Server Roadmap Update. As a result, there has been a change in the development schedule for upcoming Exchange Server versions at Microsoft.
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- The release date for the next version of Exchange Server has been pushed back to the second half of 2025. [The EOL of Exchange Server 2019]
- The next version will require server and CAL licenses and will only be available to customers with Software Assurance.
This will apply similar licensing to SharePoint Server and Project Server Subscription Editions. Microsoft plans to announce more details on Exchange Server vNext names, features, requirements and pricing in the first half of 2024.
In addition, Microsoft plans to maintain the current support dates (i.e., expiration of support)for Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016 and Exchange Server 2019. Redmond also plans to support the next version of Exchange Server vNext beyond October 14, 2025 (which is when certain On Premises products expire in support). Microsoft recommends that customers move to Exchange Server 2019 if possible, as that version has been and will be security hardened as well.
Microsoft also announced it has moved the next version of Exchange Server vNext to its Modern Lifecycle Policy. There are no end dates for support for these products. Microsoft's announcement, "We plan to support Exchange Server as long as there is substantial market demand. That's quite an announcement – more details can be read in the Techcommunity article Exchange Server Roadmap Update.
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