I've noticed that at various workplaces where I've taken over tech responsibilities, some users have both Exchange Plan 1 and Business Standard licenses. I assumed Exchange was a separate entity, but I've recently discovered that Business Standard includes Exchange Plan 1. So, I'm wondering—does anyone know why they would have both licenses? Was there a time when Exchange wasn't included with Business Standard?
5 Answers
It's pretty normal for this to happen. You can’t be licensed for the same service twice. If someone disabled Exchange under the Business Standard license, they might have assigned the separate plan instead. Honestly, it's baffling how that mix-up occurred in the first place.
As far as I know, there's no point in having both licenses. Business Standard already includes Exchange, so having Exchange Plan 1 alongside it is just redundant. Someone likely didn't realize that the standard plan covers it.
I occasionally end up keeping one or two Exchange Plan 1 licenses for specific needs, like setting up temporary email addresses for marketing campaigns. After a month or so, I usually just nuke them once they're not needed anymore.
Yeah, stacking Exchange Plan 1 on top of Business Standard is definitely a waste. It's likely that someone just mistakenly assigned both licenses without realizing that the standard one already includes Exchange.
In some cases, users might have an EOP1 license if they have a retail office license. Your organization may have started transitioning some users but didn't finish the process, which could explain the duplications.
Lol, that makes sense! I went through a ton of accounts and didn't realize until the end that some mailboxes were disabled. Talk about a heart attack moment!