As part of our ongoing commitment to align our products with modern IT environments, we’re announcing the retirement of the Exchange Granular Restore (EGR) Add-on for BackupAssist Classic. This feature will be discontinued on June 23, 2025, with full end-of-support scheduled for September 23, 2025.
This decision reflects a major industry shift: as more organizations adopt cloud-hosted infrastructure, and in particular Microsoft 365 (M365), the demand for on-premise Exchange Server tools has significantly declined.
What’s Changing?
- As of June 23, 2025, the EGR Add-on will no longer be available for purchase.
- Support for EGR will cease from September 23, 2025.
- Existing users may continue using EGR in BackupAssist Classic v14 beyond this date, but without official support.
- EGR will be completely removed from the software from BackupAssist Classic v15 (expected later in 2025).
Why We’re Retiring the EGR Add-on
Over the years, we’ve seen a clear movement away from maintaining on-premise Exchange Servers. Most organizations are now adopting cloud-hosted email, like Microsoft 365 (M365) Exchange Online, for its flexibility, scalability, and reduced maintenance overhead.
As a result, the demand for granular email restore tools like EGR has steadily declined. To focus our efforts on supporting current and future backup needs, we’re retiring this legacy feature.
Looking Ahead
While this change may impact a small number of customers, it reflects a larger IT trend. If you’re considering transitioning to a cloud-hosted email platform in the future, such as M365, now is a good time to plan that migration – and ensure your backup and recovery strategy evolves with it.
If your organization has already made the move to Microsoft 365, or plans to, BackupAssist 365 is the purpose-built solution to protect your M365 data – including Exchange Online mailboxes.
> Learn more about BackupAssist 365
Need Help Planning Your Next Steps?
Our team is happy to answer your questions about the EGR retirement or help you choose the right solution based on your environment.
