Feature and update validation in the Microsoft 365 Apps channels

Applies to: Microsoft 365 Apps delivered through Microsoft 365 subscription plans, including enterprise, business, education, and consumer subscriptions that receive updates via Microsoft 365 Apps update channels.

Microsoft is committed to delivering high-quality, reliable updates to Microsoft 365 Apps. To achieve this, Microsoft uses a structured experimentation and validation process across its update channels. This article explains how experimentation works, which channels participate, the role of diagnostic data, and how enterprise administrators can manage experimentation for their organizations.

Overview

Before features and code changes reach the broadest set of Microsoft 365 Apps users, Microsoft validates them through a progressive series of update channels. As part of this process, Microsoft conducts controlled experiments and validation activities on select channels to ensure that updates meet quality, performance, and reliability standards.

This experimentation is a key part of how Microsoft delivers continuously improving experiences while minimizing risk. By testing changes with smaller audiences first and measuring real-world impact, Microsoft can catch issues early, iterate on feedback, and make data-informed decisions before broadly releasing updates.

Update channels subject to experimentation

The following Microsoft 365 Apps update channels participate in experimentation and validation activities:

Channel Description
Beta Channel Provides the earliest access to new features and updates. Ideal for users who want to explore upcoming changes and provide feedback. Updates are frequent and may include incomplete or experimental features.
Current Channel (Preview) Provides early access to upcoming feature releases. Designed for a broader set of early adopters and validation scenarios. Updates are more stable than Beta Channel but still include pre-release changes.
Current Channel The default update channel for Microsoft 365 Apps. Provides the latest features and fixes as soon as they are ready for production use.

Devices on these channels may participate in experimentation at any time as part of Microsoft’s standard validation process.

Update channels not subject to experimentation

The following Microsoft 365 Apps update channels are not subject to experimentation:

Channel Description
Monthly Enterprise Channel Provides updates once a month on a predictable schedule. Designed for organizations that want to limit the frequency of feature updates. Devices on this channel do not participate in experimentation or validation activities.
Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel Provides updates twice a year. Designed for organizations with devices where extensive testing is needed before deploying feature updates. Devices on this channel do not participate in experimentation or validation activities.

Experiments and validation activities are always terminated before changes reach the Monthly Enterprise Channel. This ensures that enterprise administrators who require a controlled, predictable update experience can confidently deploy updates without experimental variations.

Types of experimentation

Microsoft conducts several types of experimentation across participating channels.

A/B experiments

A/B experiments compare existing behavior to proposed new behavior. A subset of users on a participating channel receives the new experience, while another subset continues with the current experience. Microsoft then measures the impact on quality, performance, usability, and other key metrics. This data-driven approach ensures that only validated improvements are promoted to broader release.

Limited feature exposure

New or experimental features may be made available to a limited subset of users on participating channels. This allows Microsoft to gather real-world feedback, identify issues, and refine the feature before broader rollout. Users who receive limited feature exposure may see features that are not yet available to all users on the same channel.

Production release build candidate validation

Before a build is promoted to a broader channel, Microsoft validates it by deploying it to a subset of users on the Current Channel. This final validation step helps confirm that the build meets quality and reliability standards under real-world conditions before it reaches the full channel audience.

Duration of experiments

Experiments and validation activities typically last from a few days to approximately one month, depending on the type of experiment and the data needed to reach a conclusion. Regardless of duration, all experiments are terminated before updates reach the Monthly Enterprise Channel.

This guarantees that organizations on Monthly Enterprise Channel or Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel receive only fully validated, stable updates.

The role of diagnostic data

Diagnostic data plays a critical role in the experimentation and validation process. When users send diagnostic data to Microsoft, it enables Microsoft to:

  • Measure the impact of experiments on performance, reliability, and user experience.
  • Identify and resolve issues discovered during experimentation before they reach broader audiences.
  • Make data-informed decisions about whether to promote, iterate on, or roll back a change.
  • Continuously improve Microsoft 365 Apps based on real-world usage patterns and telemetry.

Without diagnostic data, Microsoft’s ability to validate changes and ensure quality is significantly reduced. Organizations that restrict diagnostic data may limit the effectiveness of the experimentation process, which ultimately benefits all Microsoft 365 Apps users.

For more information about diagnostic data, see:

Managing experimentation for your organization

Enterprise administrators who need to ensure that devices are not subject to experimentation should move those devices to the Monthly Enterprise Channel. Devices on Monthly Enterprise Channel receive predictable, monthly updates that have been fully validated and are not subject to A/B experiments, limited feature exposure, or build candidate validation.

To change the update channel for devices in your organization, see:

Administrators can manage update channels using the Microsoft 365 Apps admin center, Microsoft Intune, Group Policy, or the Office Deployment Tool. For more information, see:

Summary

Microsoft’s experimentation and validation process is a cornerstone of delivering high-quality updates to Microsoft 365 Apps. By conducting controlled experiments on Beta Channel, Current Channel (Preview), and Current Channel, Microsoft ensures that features and code changes are thoroughly tested before reaching enterprise update channels.

Organizations that require a fully predictable, experiment-free update experience should deploy devices to the Monthly Enterprise Channel.

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