Microsoft's AI-Driven Shakeup: Licensing, Security, and the Future of Business Tech

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A few whirlwind days and Microsoft has been everywhere. The biggest headline is a major licensing shakeup, just announced: Microsoft will eliminate volume discounts for Online Services under Enterprise Agreements starting November 1, 2025. Prices for Microsoft 365, Office 365, and more are going up between 6 and 12 percent for customers at higher price bands, a move sure to impact big business budgets according to Ultima’s industry blog. Microsoft is also raising prices for Dynamics 365 Business Central by up to 15 percent from October 1, so if you’re due to renew, there’s a rush on to lock in your rates. That’s not all—Microsoft revealed three new SMB security SKUs, bringing XDR and elevated data protection specifically to Business Premium customers, underscoring how security is being bundled as the new “must-have” for small to mid-sized businesses.

In partner news, the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program just updated its requirements, now pushing partners to drive much faster customer growth and skilling in AI and data security. A big rebranding: Information Protection and Governance Specialization is now just “Data Security Specialization,” aligning with the very visible move to integrate generative AI and data protection across all product areas, relayed directly in this week’s Partner Center announcement.

On the Windows front, Microsoft has started rolling out version 25H2 of Windows 11 in the Release Preview Channel for Windows Insiders, promising quicker onboarding and better security. OOBE improvements mean users can now get the latest updates right as they set up a new device, and new management policies aim to streamline IT headaches. Notably, Microsoft is touting its new Backup for Organizations with streamlined restore flows, plus hotpatch security updates that skip restarts—a direct win for admins everywhere. Windows 365 is getting an expansion too, now landing in Korea Central for better performance and residency options.

Over in security chat, the September security news post highlights public previews of Defender features, particularly a focus on scoping identity, advanced hunting telemetry, and a new security posture assessment in Active Directory. Meanwhile, detection for brute force attacks gets a boost, and SecOps can now formally dispute Microsoft’s security verdicts on suspicious emails—an olive branch to SOC teams worldwide.

For Dynamics 365, the 2025 Release Wave 2 is hitting Project Operations and Field Service with new features like investment project management, improved approvals, better migration for financial cutovers, and deeper integration with Outlook and Teams—aimed squarely at making enterprise projects less of a headache and optimizing field service teams on the move.

Community buzz remains strong: the September 2, 2025, Microsoft 365 & Power Platform Community call on YouTube saw MVP announcements, demos of Copilot Studio agents, and hints that being an active MVP is as much about giving demos as mastering tech. Microsoft also hosted an executive CISO roundtable in Stockholm, showing its ongoing direct engagement with Europe’s security leaders.

Rounding out the week, roadmap blogs hint that SharePoint document libraries will soon gain AI capabilities, Microsoft Viva’s communication dashboard is being enhanced with a new posts tab, and a refreshed Entra credentials UX is rolling out. Social media remains abuzz with discussions of the licensing changes and pricing hikes—echoing a mixture of anticipation and anxiety from IT pros and customers, fueling speculation about how these moves will affect Microsoft’s long-term competitiveness and partner ecosystem.

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