Exchange 2016 and 2019 End of Life and Some Interesting Exchange Online Developments

Exchange SE and Exchange Online News October 2025

On Oct 14, 2025, Exchange 2019 and 2016 reach end-of-life and Exchange SE becomes the only supported on-premises Exchange server. In other news, we discuss Microsoft guidance for moving to cloud first identity, HVE and ECS and the extension of basic authentication support to September 2028, the introduction of auto-archiving for Exchange Online, and why Microsoft is deprecating the Contact object from Exchange Online.

Primer: Using Exchange High Volume Email with Azure Automation

Use HVE with Azure Automation

This article covers how to use HVE with Azure Automation to send email. HVE is Exchange Online’s High Volume Email solution for internal communications. In the discussion, we cover how to retrieve credentials from Azure Key Vault, how to retrieve data from a web page, and how to bring everything together in a message submitted to HVE.

Comparing Microsoft Cloud Email Services

HVE and ECS are two competing Microsoft Cloud Email Services. At least, they seem to compete. In reality, HVE and ECS serve different target audiences. HVE is all about internal email services for apps and devices while ECS is for high volume external mailings like customer newsletters. We tested both services by sending subscription reminder notifications to Office 365 for IT Pros readers.