GAM Tech

Microsoft ESU for Windows 10: What SMBs Are Really Paying

Extended Security Updates for Windows 10 come at an accelerating cost:

Year 1 → $61 USD per device
Year 2 → $122 USD per device
Year 3 → $244 USD per device
Then the program ends entirely.

For a typical 50-device SMB, this represents approximately $29,000 CAD over three years for security patches only.

What ESU does NOT include:
• Feature updates
• Full vendor support
• Compliance guarantees
• Assurance accepted by all insurers

ESU is a temporary compliance buffer not a sustainable IT plan.

Next: the actual cost of migration, and the 3 paths SMBs are choosing in 2026.

Windows 10 End-of-Life: 7 Months Later

Since October 14, 2025, Windows 10 has officially been unsupported and the business impact is becoming measurable.

We’re now seeing:
✔ Cyber insurance underwriting penalties for Windows 10 environments
✔ Software vendors removing support quarter by quarter
✔ Increasing exposure from unpatched security vulnerabilities

For SMBs, this is no longer a future risk scenario it’s a current compliance and cost issue.

This Thursday, we’ll break down:
• Migration options
• Cost breakdowns
• What a proper transition actually looks like for SMBs

Microsoft 365 Copilot for Canadian SMBs in 2026 —
The Security, Licensing, and ROI Reality

After two years of marketing noise, here’s the unvarnished version for Canadian small and mid-market businesses:

→ The three different “Copilots” Microsoft now sells (and which one you actually need)
→ The real all-in cost — not the $30/user headline
→ Why most SMBs surface files Copilot was never supposed to find
→ A realistic payback model for a 25-user firm
→ The 4–8 week deployment checklist that separates smooth rollouts from incidents
→ How to license the right cohort first instead of the whole company

This is the post we wish someone had written two years ago.

📖 Read it: https://www.gamtech.ca/category/blog/microsoft-365-copilot-for-canadian-smbs-2026-security-licensing-roi