SharePoint Advanced Management licensing updates

Question

There seems to be conflicting interpretations and licensing rules for SharePoint Advanced Management. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/advanced-management#licensing states that "SharePoint Advanced Management is a per-user license. To use SharePoint Advanced Management, you must have a license for each user in your organization. (It's not required for guests.) Users must also be licensed for SharePoint K, P1, or P2 via standalone or a Microsoft 365 suite.:" It DOES NOT state that the per user license is available for only the users expected to benefit from it. This is a huge issue as there is nothing in the product terms that state anything about SharePoint Advanced Management other than it is an add-on product.

Now that it is inclusive of Microsoft 365 Copilot, does that mean that any user in my tenant that does not have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license still requires the SharePoint Advanced Management license?

Miss the old product terms that were very specific, FWIW

Answer 1

Thank you for the response but it does not address the following:

1. SharePoint Advanced Management states that each user needs to have a license (there is no stipulation that "only for persons intended to benefit" which leads to the next question
2. If the admin turns on SharePoint Advanced Management for the Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed users, does that mean everyone else on the tenant requires either a Microsoft 365 Copilot license (in addition to their M365 license) or they need to add the standalone SAM license.

What will hold up in case of an audit from the BSA?

Answer 2

Dear JM,

Thanks for your updates.

As far as I know, the feature is for the administrator with the advanced policies to manage SharePoint Online. So only the licensed administrator can deploy the policies for users with the feature and no user needed to be involved.

The administrator can be licensed to use the feature and leave the users without licensed.

Microsoft SharePoint Premium - SharePoint Advanced Management overview - SharePoint in Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn

They can be processed side by side. I don't think that there will be something prevented for the user activities and Audit Log.

Welcome to share any updates at your convenience.

Your efforts and time are greatly appreciated!

Sincerely

Cliff | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 3

Dear Dan,

Any further information about the feature hasn't been released currently.

From the existing article, the feature has started to Copilot users in early 2025.

I suggest you keep close eyes on the official articles or blogs from Microsoft 365 for the latest updates.

Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely

Cliff | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 4

Can we define "Early 2025" a bit better?

Answer 5

Dear JM,

Yes, you need to buy the SharePoint Advanced Management license if you don't have Copilot.

For your reference: Accelerate Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption with built-in content governance | Microsoft Community Hub

Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely

Cliff | Microsoft Community Moderator