Microsoft Exchange server licensing with Introduction to Subscription Edition

Question

If a company recently purchased microsoft exchange server 2019 ie 2 months ago for 3 years and with the introduction of Microsoft Subscription Edition, what is their fate. If the licence was purchased via perpetual licensing or OVA or individually. Will they still be able to upgrade without purchasing new license or they will have buy new SE. Please explain the implications and the approach on how this can be handled?Thanks

Answer 1

Hi @Diana Piloya

Thank you for posting your question in Microsoft Q&A. 

We understand that you are considering exchange server 2019 roadmap with new Microsoft Subscription Edition (SE). We glad to assist you this part. 

If a company recently purchased Microsoft Exchange Server 2019 (as your description 2 months ago) for 3 years, and with the introduction of Microsoft Subscription Edition, likely including Software Assurance (SA) through a Volume Licensing program like Open Value, the release of Exchange Server Subscription Edition (SE) in July 2025 means your company’s strategy now hinges on licensing and upgrade decisions. 

With active SA, you can upgrade to SE at no additional cost during the SA term (for example, until July 2028), ensuring continued support beyond Exchange 2019’s end-of-support date (October 14, 2025). Without SA, you are limited to using Exchange 2019, which becomes unsupported soon, leaving you vulnerable to security risks unless you purchase SE licenses or add SA. Upgrading to SE is critical for long-term compliance and security, and your 3-year SA likely enables this transition seamlessly. 

In short: 

For perpetual licenses without Software Assurance: 

You will need to buy new licenses. A perpetual license for Exchange 2019 alone does not grant you rights to the Subscription Edition. To move to Exchange SE, you will need to purchase new subscription licenses. 

For open Value Agreement (OVA): 

Open Value typically includes SA by default. If your 3-year term is under Open Value, you likely have SA, allowing you to upgrade to SE at no additional cost during the SA term. The same product key for Exchange 2019 can be used for the initial SE upgrade. 

For individual Purchase: 

If purchased individually (likely retail or Open License) with SA, you can upgrade to SE without new licenses while SA is active. If purchased without SA, you must buy SE subscription licenses or add SA to upgrade compliantly. 

I recommend these approach and you could refer it: 

1.Verify Your Licensing: 

Please recheck or contact your reseller/Microsoft account team to confirm if SA is active. If purchased individually without SA, you could consider add it now (possible within 90 days of purchase in some programs) or buying SE licenses outright. 

2.Prepare for Upgrade:  

Update your Exchange 2019 servers to CU14 or CU15 if not already (SE requires this as a baseline). 

Back up everything: Databases, configurations, certificates, and Active Directory. 

Test in a lab environment if possible, using the Exchange Deployment Assistant tool for a customized checklist. 

3.Perform the Upgrade:  

In-place upgrade method:  Run the SE setup executable directly on your existing Exchange 2019 servers. It installs over the top like a cumulative update (CU). No new hardware is needed unless you're also changing servers or operating systems. 

Legacy upgrade method:  Install Exchange SE on new servers, migrate mailboxes and resources, then decommission the old servers. This is ideal if you're planning a hardware refresh. 

Timeline: Complete the upgrade before October 2025 to avoid running unsupported software. After upgrading, promptly apply any available Exchange SE cumulative updates (CUs).

You could refer to: 

Upgrading to Exchange Server Subscription Edition (SE) | Microsoft Learn 

Upgrading your organization from current versions to Exchange Server SE | Microsoft Community Hub 

If you have any additional concern, feel free to comment below. I be more than happy to assist.

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".      

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.