How long the Business Central environment remains as it is after subscription is expired?

Question

&nbsp;https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/commerce/subscriptions/what-if-my-subscription-expires?view=o365-worldwide&nbsp;When investigating about this topic, it is often confused with "how long customers can access to the database even Microsoft support team.In fact, we were once told that the database (environment) will be destroyed step by step 30days after subscription is expired.However, this document explains that "the data will be deleted after 90days".Does this mean Business Central environment remains for 90days as it is and will be deleted after 90days?Are customers able to use the same environment without issue if they re-purchase the license &nbsp;within 90days after the subscription is expired?

jillarmourmicrosoft · Answer

Yuko_Mizuno I have forwarded this inquiry to the team and when they respond I will post back here for you.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Thanks for being part of the community!&nbsp;

rajeshgan · Answer

Hi Yuko,The important distinction here is between data retention and continued access to the Business Central environment.The 90-day period mentioned in the Microsoft 365 subscription lifecycle documentation should not be interpreted as meaning that the Business Central environment will remain fully operational and accessible to users for 90 days after the subscription expires.Microsoft describes the general subscription lifecycle as Active → Expired → Disabled → Deleted. For most Microsoft 365 offers, the Expired state is typically 30 days and the Disabled state 90 days, but Microsoft also notes that the exact lifecycle depends on how the subscription was purchased, for example through CSP, Enterprise Agreement or other licensing programs. Microsoft LearnFor Business Central specifically, an environment can become Suspended when its subscription has been suspended. So, the environment/data may still exist on Microsoft's service while normal customer access is no longer available. Microsoft LearnTherefore, I wouldn't rely on the 90-day data-retention period as a guaranteed 90-day window in which the customer can continue using the BC environment.If the subscription is renewed/re-purchased, whether the existing environment can simply be resumed depends on the subscription state and licensing route at that point. It is better to renew through the CSP/partner before the subscription reaches the deletion/deprovisioning stage, rather than relying on the retention period.Also, this should not be confused with manually deleting a Business Central environment from the Admin Centre. A manually deleted BC environment currently has a 14-day soft-delete retention period, during which it can normally be recovered; after that it is permanently deleted. Microsoft LearnHope this helps clarify the difference between license expiration, environment availability and data retention.

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How long the Business Central environment remains as it is after subscription is expired?

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