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Microsoft has confirmed a major restructuring of its cloud storage portfolio. Effective January 28, 2026, the tech giant announced the discontinuation of standalone licenses for SharePoint Online (SPO) and OneDrive for Business (ODB). This policy change specifically impacts Plan 1 and Plan 2 SKUs. Organizations currently utilizing these a la carte options must prepare for a mandatory transition to comprehensive Microsoft 365 suites.
Critical Retirement Timeline
To ensure business continuity, IT administrators and procurement managers must adhere to the following schedule. Missing these deadlines will result in service interruptions.
- May 31, 2026 (End of Sale): This is the final date to purchase new tenant subscriptions. Starting June 2026, no new standalone contracts will be issued.
- January 2027 (End of Life for Renewals): Existing customers cannot renew standalone contracts beyond this date. Current contracts will remain active only until their specific expiration date.
- December 2029 (End of Service): Complete termination of services. All standalone infrastructure will be decommissioned. Organizations failing to migrate to a Microsoft 365 suite or alternative storage solution will lose access to data.
The Shift to Bundled Licensing
This move forces a shift from modular purchasing to bundled procurement. Previously, businesses could license storage (SharePoint/OneDrive) without paying for the full productivity stack. With the removal of these SKUs, the entry point for Microsoft cloud storage rises significantly.
Microsoft cites three primary drivers for this decision:
- Low Market Demand: The company claims niche demand for standalone plans does not justify continued support.
- Operational Costs: Maintaining separate infrastructure for non-suite users increases overhead.
- Non-Standard Usage: Microsoft noted an increase in “unintended usage” patterns, likely referring to organizations using cheap standalone licenses solely for massive, unstructured data dumping rather than collaborative work.
Financial and Operational Impact
This transition represents a de facto price increase for lean organizations. Customers migrating from a standalone SharePoint Plan 1 to a Microsoft 365 Business Basic or Standard plan will gain additional tools—such as Teams and Exchange—but will face a higher monthly cost per user.
Partners and CSPs (Cloud Solution Providers) must audit their client base immediately. The recommended course of action is to identify users on SPO or ODB Plan 1/2 and map them to the most cost-effective Microsoft 365 SKU that preserves their data retention requirements.
Legacy Support: InfoPath Forms Services
In a related deprecation update, Microsoft issued message MC616550 regarding legacy form tools.
- Deadline: July 14, 2026.
- Impact: The InfoPath 2013 client and InfoPath Forms Services within SharePoint Online will reach end-of-support.
- Action Required: After this date, InfoPath forms will cease to function. Organizations must migrate workflows to Power Apps, Power Automate, or Microsoft Forms immediately to avoid breaking business processes.