MVPs around the World (2025)

Posted on July 30, 2025 by Michel de Rooij

31Jul: Moved MVPs per country to bottom and expanded table.

Another year, another Microsoft MVP award cycle. Always a great moment to have a quick peek at the MVP population. Note that this year, this post took a while longer to get published. This is due to the date of awards being announced, as well as the vacation period, which caused delays in people confirming their renewal agreement.

The numbers below are taken from the public MVP portal on July 30th. Comparing them to July from recent years should give an idea of trends and what award categories (and thus products) have focus.

A few notes:

3.589 public MVP profiles were processed. The overall number went up compared to last year. However, compared to the MVPs of June, the overall number went down by 12%.
The award category Mixed Reality has been closed. Have a look at the Sankey diagram further down this article to see where these people went.
The number of countries represented went down when compared to last year.
The number of MVPs with more than one award category has increased by 13%.
The MVP award category with the most MVPs is still the Developer Technologies.

MVP Awardees per Category

The following chart and table display the awardees per award category from 2021 to 2025, plus change percentages compared to previous years.

Award Category	Jul2021	Jul2022	%	Jul2023	%	Jul2024	%	Jul2025	%
AI Platform	138	128	-7%	105	-18%	269	156%	386	43%
Business Applications	323	351	9%	442	26%	474	7%	483	2%
Cloud and Datacenter Management	219	164	-25%	136	-17%	111	-18%	106	-5%
Data Platform	392	364	-7%	335	-8%	307	-8%	329	7%
Developer Technologies	770	715	-7%	747	4%	761	2%	859	13%
Enterprise Mobility	133	149	12%	100	-33%	0	-100%	0	0%
Internet of Things	0	0	0%	43	0%	43	0%	39	-9%
M365	556	492	-12%	541	10%	643	19%	819	27%
M365 Development	69	59	-14%	70	19%	0	-100%	0	0%
Microsoft Azure	534	546	2%	526	-4%	527	0%	539	2%
Mixed Reality	0	0	0%	45	0%	35	-22%	0	-100%
Security	0	0	0%	171	0%	305	78%	349	14%
Windows and Devices	42	45	7%	61	36%	102	67%	133	30%
Windows Development	120	92	-23%	37	-60%	30	-19%	35	17%
Total Categories	3296	3105	-6%	3359	8%	3607	7%	4077	13%
Total MVPs	3223	3023	-6%	3175	5%	3187	0%	3589	13%

Note: The difference between total categories and total MVPs is caused by MVPs that are awarded in more than one category.

Where did they go?

The Sankey diagram below displays the number of awarded categories moving from last year to now. The move is based on the MVP, the categories they had, and the new categories they have currently been awarded in. New awardees are categorized as “New,” and those who are no longer present on the MVP portal (e.g., no longer MVP) are categorized as “Out.”

MVP Awardees per Country

The following chart and table display the awardees per country, plus change percentages compared to July last year. Countries that show a 0 no longer have any published MVPs. This used to be a condensed table, but I have expanded the table and added fun facts such as MVPs per population and area as well, using apicountries.com as a reference.

Country	Was	Now	Change	MVPs per 1,000,000	MVPs per 1,000 km²
Albania	1	1	0%	0,35	0,035
Angola	1	1	0%	0,03	0,001
Argentina	17	19	12%	0,42	0,007
Australia	111	113	2%	4,40	0,015
Austria	32	37	16%	4,15	0,441
Azerbaijan	4	3	-25%	0,30	0,035
Bahrain	1	2	100%	1,18	2,614
Bangladesh	3	1	-67%	0,01	0,007
Belgium	59	64	8%	5,54	2,096
Benin	0	1	100%	0,08	0,009
Bolivia	5	4	-20%	0,34	0,004
Bosnia and Herzegovina	7	6	-14%	1,83	0,117
Brazil	127	136	7%	0,64	0,016
Bulgaria	8	8	0%	1,15	0,072
Cambodia	0	1	100%	0,06	0,006
Cameroon	1	3	200%	0,11	0,006
Canada	115	130	13%	3,42	0,013
Chile	4	5	25%	0,26	0,007
China	137	132	-4%	0,09	0,014
Colombia	16	14	-13%	0,28	0,012
Congo (DRC)	4	1	-75%	0,01	0,000
Costa Rica	2	2	0%	0,39	0,039
Côte d’Ivoire	1	1	0%	0,04	0,003
Croatia	13	11	-15%	2,72	0,194
Czechia	26	31	19%	2,90	0,393
Denmark	49	60	22%	10,29	1,392
Dominican Republic	3	6	100%	0,55	0,123
Ecuador	4	4	0%	0,23	0,014
Egypt	8	10	25%	0,10	0,010
El Salvador	2	2	0%	0,31	0,095
Estonia	4	4	0%	3,01	0,088
Finland	33	39	18%	7,05	0,115
France	120	113	-6%	1,68	0,176
Gabon	0	1	100%	0,45	0,004
Georgia	1	2	100%	0,54	0,029
Germany	143	177	24%	2,13	0,496
Ghana	6	6	0%	0,19	0,025
Greece	11	10	-9%	0,93	0,076
Guatemala	1	3	200%	0,18	0,028
Honduras	1	1	0%	0,10	0,009
Hong Kong SAR	6	7	17%	0,94	6,341
Hungary	8	6	-25%	0,62	0,064
Iceland	5	6	20%	16,37	0,058
India	118	147	25%	0,11	0,045
Indonesia	7	9	29%	0,03	0,005
Ireland	32	31	-3%	6,21	0,441
Israel	12	17	42%	1,84	0,818
Italy	69	75	9%	1,26	0,249
Japan	151	164	9%	1,30	0,434
Jordan	1	1	0%	0,10	0,011
Kazakhstan	0	1	100%	0,05	0,000
Kenya	7	8	14%	0,15	0,014
Korea	56	58	4%	1,12	0,579
Latvia	1	3	200%	1,58	0,046
Lebanon	1	1	0%	0,15	0,096
Lithuania	6	5	-17%	1,79	0,077
Luxembourg	1	2	100%	3,16	0,773
Malaysia	7	5	-29%	0,15	0,015
Malta	1	3	200%	5,71	9,494
Mauritius	1	2	100%	1,58	0,980
Mexico	18	21	17%	0,16	0,011
Morocco	4	7	75%	0,19	0,016
Myanmar	1	1	0%	0,02	0,001
Nepal	4	5	25%	0,17	0,034
Netherlands	175	195	11%	11,18	4,659
New Zealand	32	35	9%	6,88	0,129
Nicaragua	3	2	-33%	0,30	0,015
Nigeria	26	23	-12%	0,11	0,025
North Macedonia	5	8	60%	3,84	0,311
Norway	40	50	25%	9,29	0,154
Oman	0	1	100%	0,20	0,003
Pakistan	9	15	67%	0,07	0,017
Panama	3	1	-67%	0,23	0,013
Paraguay	1	1	0%	0,14	0,002
Peru	13	15	15%	0,45	0,012
Philippines	6	6	0%	0,05	0,018
Poland	66	73	11%	1,92	0,233
Portugal	23	25	9%	2,43	0,271
Puerto Rico	1	1	0%	0,31	0,113
Qatar	0	1	100%	0,35	0,086
Réunion	1	0	-100%	–	–
Romania	12	19	58%	0,99	0,080
Saudi Arabia	4	4	0%	0,11	0,002
Senegal	1	0	-100%	–	–
Serbia	7	10	43%	1,45	0,113
Singapore	20	23	15%	4,05	32,394
Slovakia	4	5	25%	0,92	0,102
Slovenia	7	7	0%	3,33	0,345
South Africa	11	14	27%	0,24	0,011
Spain	103	122	18%	2,58	0,241
Sri Lanka	10	10	0%	0,46	0,152
Sweden	80	96	20%	9,27	0,213
Switzerland	53	63	19%	7,29	1,526
Taiwan	45	46	2%	1,96	1,271
Tanzania	1	1	0%	0,02	0,001
Thailand	16	17	6%	0,24	0,033
Tunisia	1	0	-100%	–	–
Türkiye	20	24	20%	0,28	0,031
Ukraine	14	16	14%	0,36	0,027
United Arab Emirates	3	4	33%	0,40	0,048
United Kingdom	273	304	11%	4,52	1,252
United States	489	558	14%	1,69	0,058
Uruguay	2	2	0%	0,58	0,011
Uzbekistan	2	1	-50%	0,03	0,002
Venezuela	1	1	0%	0,04	0,001
Vietnam	5	5	0%	0,05	0,015
Yemen	1	1	0%	0,03	0,002

If you have questions or comments, please leave them in the comments below.

Exchange 2016 & 2019 ESU

Posted on July 16, 2025 by Michel de Rooij

In a somewhat surprising move yesterday, Microsoft announced there will be an Extended Security Update program for Exchange Server 2016 and Exchange Server 2019. The ESU is to cater to organizations that indicate they need some more time to move away from Exchange 2016/2019. I will not comment on the fact that these organizations had a few years to get current on Exchange 2019, which would lead them to having a smooth upgrade path now to Exchange SE, or even move to Exchange Online.

Extended Security Update

You might already be familiar with ESU programs, which are common for Windows clients and Windows Server, a.o. That said, Exchange also had its share of post-lifecycle (out-of-band) updates, such as the Hafnium security updates for Exchange 2013 and even Exchange 2010. These updates were developed and made available without any obligation as some of the updates applied to products that were past their end-of-support date.

Now, the ESU program for Exchange 2016/2019 is an official extension to keep receiving published security updates for Exchange 2016/2019. To receive these, organizations can purchase a 6-month ESU for their Exchange servers. For this, they need to contact their Microsoft account manager starting August 1st, 2025. Do note that there is no guarantee that, within this period, security updates will get published, as this is entirely driven by circumstances and urgency, of course.

To make it clear: The ESU program is not an extension of support. You cannot contact support for any incident with Exchange 2016/2019 in the ESU period. That is, unless it relates to an SU that gets published during the ESU period. Thus, ESU is more for peace of mind when it comes to security, when you can live without expecting support.

The ESU period ends April 14th, 2026, 6 months after Exchange 2016 and Exchange 2019 go out of support. It is possible to get ESU after August 1st and during the 6-month ESU window. This flexibility may lead to organizations taking a gamble, waiting for SU to appear, only to get ESU when the first SU arrives. Given that corporate purchasing processes might take some time and CUs usually come with some urgency to implement, this is not something I would recommend.

I would also not recommend seeing this ESU window as an opportunity to take it easy. The support date stands, which is what most organizations find most important. So, keep migrating, whether to Exchange SE directly or via Exchange 2019 CU15, or to Exchange Online.

Skype for Business

Skype for Business is iņ the same boat regarding lifecycle, and also has a similar ESU program. For more information, click here.

Exchange Server SE (RTM)

Posted on July 1, 2025 by Michel de Rooij

The day has finally arrived: The Exchange Team released Exchange Server Subscription Edition, or SE for short. The official announcement can be found here. Customers keeping Exchange on-premises or who are running Exchange hybrid deployments are recommended to use the remaining time this year to upgrade to SE before their current supported Exchange server, being Exchange 2016 or 2019, goes out of support in October.

Exchange Server SE has feature parity with Exchange Server 2019 CU15, meaning it contains no changes in features or security posture. Significant change Exchange SE introduces is a change of servicing and (new) lifecycle period, also known as Modern Lifecycle Policy. In essence, products have no end-of-life date provided that customers keep their products updated. Contrary to earlier Exchange versions, this means the product must be kept current, and the n-2 rule, meaning organizations could be trailing one update, will no longer apply.

Exchange	Download	Build	KB	Supersedes
Exchange SE	Download	15.2.2562.17	KB5047155

Co-existence

In a nutshell, Exchange SE RTM can be installed in organizations running Exchange 2016 or Exchange 2019. Servers running Exchange 2019 CU14+ can be in-place upgraded to Exchange SE by installing SE over the current build, as if it were a Cumulative Update. It does not require any schema or Active Directory changes; it just changes the product name, license agreement (modern lifecycle policy), and build numbers. SE also incorporates the May 2025 hotfix. An additional benefit is that it does not temporarily require twice the resources to move, unlike Exchange 2016, which basically consists of a classic mailbox migration. Lastly, More on the upgrade path here.

Post-RTM

When support for Exchange 2016 and Exchange 2019 ends in October this year, Exchange Server SE will be the only Exchange on-premises product that is supported. While these old Exchange versions will not suddenly stop functioning, Exchange SE CU2 will block co-existence with Exchange 2016 and Exchange 2019. This means you only have from now until the arrival of Exchange SE CU2 to upgrade. Future Exchange SE CUs will introduce new features and may start requiring Exchange SE keys when hosting mailboxes.

Hotfix Updates Exchange 2016-2019 (May2025)

Posted on May 29, 2025 by Michel de Rooij

The Exchange product group released the May 2025 Hotfix Updates for Exchange Server 2019 and Exchange Server 2016.

Hotfix updates do not contain security fixes, but address issues. They also might introduce or add support for functionality changes, such as dedicated Exchange hybrid app support added in the April hotfixes.

Exchange	Download	Build	KB	Supersedes
Exchange 2019 CU15	Download	15.2.1748.26	KB5057651	KB5050672
Exchange 2019 CU14	Download	15.2.1544.27	KB5057652	KB5050673
Exchange 2016 CU23	Download	15.1.2507.57	KB5057653	KB5050674

Changes

Issues addressed in these hotfixes are:

Dedicated Exchange Hybrid Application

A gentle reminder that since the April 2025 security updates, Exchange hybrid supports the dedicated Exchange hybrid app. The dedicated Exchange hybrid app becomes mandatory in October 2025 for continued cross-premises functionality (free/busy, a.o.). To make the required changes related to the Graph permissions model you have some more time, as that will become required in October 2026. For more information, please visit this link.

Hotfix Updates Exchange 2016-2019 (Apr2025)

Posted on April 29, 2025 by Michel de Rooij

The Exchange product group released the April 2025 Hotfix Updates for Exchange Server 2019 and Exchange Server 2016. Hotfix updates do not contain security fixes. Instead, this hotfix introduces support for the updated Exchange Hybrid Application model.

Exchange	Download	Build	KB
Exchange 2019 CU15	Download	15.2.1748.24	KB5050672
Exchange 2019 CU14	Download	15.2.1544.25	KB5050673
Exchange 2016 CU23	Download	15.1.2507.55	KB5050674

Dedicated Exchange Hybrid Application

Instead of relying on the default Office 365 Exchange Online application in Entra ID, the new model leverages a dedicated application in Entra ID to support Exchange Hybrid. By creating a new dedicated, unique application ID per tenant, instead of relying on the well-known application identifier 00000002-0000-0ff1-ce00-000000000000, allows organizations to decide when to move from EWS to Graph permissions.

To implement the dedicated Exchange Hybrid Application and configure all related aspects, the product group published a script, ConfigureExchangeHybridApplication.ps1 (part of the hotfix or available here). This script can take care of parts or all of the configuration. An extensive article explaining the steps and script usage is published here, so there is no need to repeat that information.

In addition, as part of the move to Graph from Exchange Web Services, the new Exchange Hybrid application will eventually leverage Graph instead of Exchange Web Services. Since Exchange still lacks functionality in the Graph area, the new app still requires blanket EWS permission full_access_as_app. But consider this a first step in the transition process, and expect permissions to change to Graph API permissions in the future.

Moving away from the common application, which has been around for a while, may impact existing scripts and procedures with hard references to its identifier. You need to anticipate this change by making the reference independent and dynamic. To determine this identifier, check for an Entra application named ExchangeServerApp-<Organization Guid>, provided you used the ConfigureExchangeHybridApplication script to create it.

Co-Existence

Organizations running Exchange Hybrid requiring rich co-existence must implement this April 2025 HU before October 2025 for continued functionality. This includes upcoming changes in Graph permissions (ETA October 2026). This may create an additional task when running Exchange Hybrid as part of a long-term hybrid deployment or when migrating to Exchange Online. Failure to do so may result in unpleasant surprises, such as broken Free/Busy sharing functionality.

Exchange SE

The change in the Exchange Hybrid Application model will propagate to Exchange SE. Exchange SE is the successor to Exchange 2019 and is expected to become available later this year, replacing the soon-to-be-out-of-support Exchange Server 2019 and Exchange Server 2016 versions.