Microsoft Retiring Standalone SharePoint/OneDrive + July Price Hikes Locked In
Microsoft is consolidating. Standalone plans are dying. Prices are rising. AI is everywhere. Here's what IT admins need to know this week.
📋 TL;DR — What You Need to Know
- Standalone SharePoint & OneDrive plans are being retired — migration planning required
- MFA is now mandatory for all M365 Admin Center sign-ins, no exceptions
- July 2026 pricing increases confirmed — budget for 5-33% increases depending on SKU
- Teams AI overhaul rolling out with Intelligent Recap, 40-language translation
- 5 features retiring this month including Designer bot, Planner integrations
🔴 Standalone SharePoint & OneDrive Plans — End of Life Announced
Microsoft is sunsetting standalone SharePoint Online (Plan 1 & 2) and OneDrive for Business (Plan 1 & 2) SKUs. This is one of the biggest licensing changes in years.
Timeline
- May 31, 2026 — End of new sales
- January 2027 — No more renewals for existing customers
- December 2029 — Full service retirement
Impact: Organizations must migrate to M365 Business Basic, E3, or E5 suites. If you have users on standalone SharePoint or OneDrive plans, start planning now. The 2027 renewal deadline will arrive faster than you think.
🔴 MFA Enforcement — Now Fully Active
As of February 2026, multi-factor authentication is fully enforced for all Microsoft 365 Admin Center sign-ins. There are no exceptions or grace periods remaining.
If any admin accounts aren't enrolled, they're now locked out. Verify today.
🟡 July 2026 Pricing — Final Numbers Confirmed
The December 2025 announcement is locked. Here's what you're paying starting July 1:
| SKU | Current | New | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| M365 E3 | $36 | $39 | +8.3% |
| M365 E5 | $57 | $60 | +5.3% |
| Office 365 E3 | $23 | $26 | +13% |
| M365 F1 | $2.25 | $3 | +33% |
| M365 F3 | $8 | $10 | +25% |
| Business Basic | $6 | $7 | +17% |
| Business Standard | $12.50 | $14 | +12% |
What you get: E3 now includes Defender for Office 365 P1. E5 gets Security Copilot allocation. Enhanced Intune features across tiers.
🟡 Teams AI Upgrades — February Rollout
Five major AI features hitting Teams this month:
🤖 Intelligent Recap
AI meeting summaries with speaker attribution and auto-extracted action items to Planner/To Do. Microsoft claims 30 minutes saved per meeting.
🌐 Real-Time Translation
40 languages, 95%+ accuracy for major business languages. Live captions + transcript translation.
📝 Additional Features
- Auto-generated notes for instant/ad-hoc meetings
- Enter key behavior now customizable (send vs. new line)
- New "Drafts" quick view for unsent messages
- Digital signage for Teams Rooms on Android (March)
🟡 Copilot Update: Expansion AND Pullback
The Growth Story
Copilot active users increased 10X year-over-year. Average conversations per user doubled. Microsoft's calling it "a daily habit."
The Retreat
Internal pushback against excessive integration. Reports suggest Microsoft may:
- Remove Copilot branding from Notepad and Paint
- Rename or rework the Recall feature
- Focus on "addressing pain points" rather than feature-stuffing
Coming soon: Enhanced M365 Copilot Memory using Microsoft Graph data (March). New Graph APIs for managing Copilot agents/apps.
⚡ Quick Hits
- New RBAC role: Teams External Collaboration Administrator now available
- Simplified meeting URLs:
teams.microsoft.com/meet/<code>?p=<password> - Loop workspaces now available for O365 E1/E3/E5 and M365 F1/F3
- Security groups: Soft deletion enabled (30-day restore window)
- Purview eDiscovery: Exports now auto-delete after 14 days
- Authenticator app: Jailbreak/root detection coming for Entra credentials
- Cross-Device Resume: Now works with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Spotify on Android phones
🗓️ February Retirements
| Feature | Retirement Date |
|---|---|
| Entra ID voice MFA custom greetings | Feb 28, 2026 |
| Designer bot & banners in Teams | Feb 27, 2026 |
| Planner legacy task comments | Feb 2026 |
| Planner Whiteboard tab (premium) | Feb 2026 |
| Planner + Viva Goals integration | Feb 2026 |
✅ Admin Action Items
This Week
- Verify MFA enrollment — All admin accounts must have MFA. Check today.
- Audit standalone SharePoint/OneDrive usage — Identify affected users, plan migration path to Business/E3/E5
This Month
- Update Teams Phone devices — Enable Explicit Recording Consent feature
- Review Teams Direct Routing SBC configs — Changes required by end of February
- Communicate Planner changes — Warn users about retiring features
Before July
- Budget for pricing increases — Especially Frontline worker SKUs (+25-33%)
- Review EA renewal strategy — Volume discount removal compounds price hikes
🔥 The Bottom Line
Microsoft is consolidating. Standalone plans are dying. Prices are rising. AI is everywhere (and maybe backing off where it shouldn't be).
The standalone SharePoint/OneDrive retirement is the big one to plan for — you have time, but 2027 renewals will be here before you know it. Start the conversation with affected departments now.
The July pricing is locked. If you haven't budgeted for it, that's your priority this quarter.
Questions about any of these changes?
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