Microsoft licenses – why switching is also financially worthwhile

Microsoft is discontinuing the sale of standalone SharePoint and OneDrive licenses. From June 2026, companies will no longer be able to book new standalone plans, and existing contracts will expire by the end of 2029 at the latest. Anyone who has previously used SharePoint Online or OneDrive in a targeted and relatively cost-effective manner will effectively be forced to switch to comprehensive and more expensive Microsoft 365 suites.

What Microsoft describes as "low demand" and "non-standard use" means one thing above all for many companies and public authorities: significantly higher costs - while at the same time forcing them to use functions that they often do not even need on a day-to-day basis.

Paradigm shift: from a modular toolbox to an expensive complete suite

The previously available SharePoint and OneDrive plans were an efficient, lean and affordable solution for many organizations. Document management, file storage, collaboration - without Exchange, without Teams, without additional services. With prices below one euro per user and month, it was easy to calculate economically.

Now the bombshell: in future, the only option is to switch to Microsoft 365 suites such as Business, E3 or E5. In the EU, these cost around 36 to 60 euros per user per month, depending on the package. In addition, a price increase has already been announced from July 2026. For small and medium-sized companies, this often means a five to tenfold increase in costs - without the actual benefits increasing accordingly. It seems as if Microsoft wants to weed out smaller customers. And this at a time when more and more companies and authorities are critically examining the US aspect of their tech stack due to security concerns. In view of the discussion about European data sovereignty, the switch is currently booming anyway - and the number of success stories is growing daily. Now, it seems, Microsft is actively making European solutions even more attractive due to the economic cost aspect.

Many IT managers and managing directors are therefore asking themselves a simple question: why pay for a complete package when all you really need is a secure, high-performance and compliant file service?

The strategic lever: cost control instead of compulsory licenses

The current decision fits seamlessly into a strategy that Microsoft has been pursuing for some time: away from individual products and towards closely interlinked subscriptions that can hardly be deselected on a modular basis. For companies, this means less flexibility in their IT architecture - and an ever-increasing dependency on a single provider. At European level, the issue is part of a larger debate about digital sovereignty and independent procurement options: EU institutions and national authorities are working on a framework that promotes secure, sovereign cloud options and thus makes state and economic players less vulnerable to market bundling (EU Cloud Sovereignty Framework). Political players also emphasize the need to retain control over key technologies.

Experts from the IT economy and digital policy have been pointing out for years that this form of bundling not only harbors technical risks, but also major economic risks. The deeper companies are integrated into proprietary ecosystems, the higher the switching costs, training costs and license dependencies. Studies, including those by the European Digital SME Alliance, and analyses by the EU Commission show that license costs now account for a significant proportion of ongoing IT operating costs for large platform providers - and the trend is rising. This is also confirmed by the CERRE report on regulation/competition in the cloud market.

The current move with SharePoint and OneDrive is therefore acting as a catalyst: for the first time, many companies are seriously examining which services they really need - and where they can consciously opt out.

Switching does not mean doing without - but (safely) reprioritizing

Switching away from Microsoft services is no longer a technical step backwards. Modern, European cloud platforms offer powerful alternatives for file storage, collaboration and integration into existing processes - without license packages that fail to meet actual needs.

Especially for companies that have primarily used SharePoint and OneDrive as a file and document platform, this now opens up new scope:

• Predictable, transparent costs instead of annually increasing license packages
• Modular architectures that are geared towards actual requirements
• Independence from proprietary suite models
• Legal and investment security from European providers
• Genuine European data sovereignty without technical or legal loopholes

Numerous European initiatives on digital sovereignty show that this approach is also increasingly supported politically. The EU Commission and more and more national digital ministries are repeatedly emphasizing that economic resilience and competition can only arise where technological dependencies are actively reduced. Even the German Bundestag is planning to switch to truly sovereign solutions for its own administration.

In projects, we see time and again that sovereignty is decided in everyday life - when sharing, editing, releasing and restoring.

• SecureShare: sensitive data exchange with external parties, withdraw rights, retain control
• SecureWork: collaboration without copy chaos, with traceable rights/versions
• SecureSign: digital signing, traceable in the process
• Backup: plan, test and secure recovery

If you are also currently discussing internally whether and how a switch can work without affecting operations - then this is exactly the moment when a brief exchange makes sense.

European cloud alternatives are gaining in importance and popularity

For many companies, switching is not just a question of cost. It is also a strategic decision for more control over their own IT landscape. European cloud providers are focusing on transparent pricing models, open interfaces and the clear separation of individual services.

SecureCloud follows precisely this approach: companies receive hosted file services that can be seamlessly integrated into existing workflows - without the need for oversized product packages. Migrations from SharePoint and OneDrive environments can be implemented in a structured and controlled manner, including rights concepts, version histories and the connection of existing applications.

At the same time, organizations benefit from hosting under German law, clear compliance structures and an IT architecture that deliberately focuses on openness rather than lock-in.

Conclusion: The exit also makes business sense

The end of independent SharePoint and OneDrive licenses is not just a product adjustment, but a paradigm shift. It finally forces companies to reassess their IT costs and dependencies - not only for security reasons, but also for cost reasons. Anyone who has consciously opted for lean solutions in the past is now faced with the choice of simply accepting new conditions - or rethinking the entire IT infrastructure in a new and secure way. And reduce costs at the same time.

Switching away from Microsoft is no longer just a question of European data sovereignty or cyber security. It is increasingly an economically rational step to reduce costs, regain the ability to act and realign IT investments with actual needs.

For many companies, this reassessment is starting right now.