Microsoft 365 EWS Usage Reports: Your Guide to Seamless Migration to Microsoft Graph

A quiet but significant evolution is underway in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center—a change poised to impact IT departments and application developers worldwide. With Microsoft’s recent rollout of new Exchange Web Services (EWS) usage reports, administrators finally gain unprecedented visibility into one of the most critical yet often opaque elements of their Exchange Online environments. This reporting innovation is more than a dashboard enhancement—it is a harbinger of the future, serving as a necessary bridge as Microsoft moves closer to sunsetting EWS in favor of the modern, security-focused Microsoft Graph API.

Understanding Exchange Web Services: Legacy and Transition​

Exchange Web Services has long been a foundational API for enterprises, allowing custom applications and integrations to access Exchange Online and Exchange Server data. Through EWS, developers have enabled everything from mailbox management tools to intricate calendaring and contact synchronization platforms. For years, it served as the lifeblood for countless business processes that required automated interaction with Outlook mailboxes, calendars, and task lists.
But the tech landscape has evolved. With security threats more sophisticated than ever and regulatory compliance demands climbing, the RESTful Microsoft Graph API has emerged as the crown jewel of Microsoft’s developer platform. Graph offers not only a richer, more unified programming model across Microsoft 365 but also enforces more granular permissions and provides enhanced monitoring, analytics, and data protection.
It was against this backdrop that Microsoft, in 2023, officially announced its plan to deprecate EWS in October 2026. This decision sent a ripple across the IT landscape—suddenly, organizations with years of investment in EWS-based solutions faced both a looming deadline and a limited window for migration. In response to these concerns, Microsoft began empowering IT with sophisticated new analytics: the EWS usage reports.

EWS Usage Reports: Clarity Amid Complexity​

The introduction of EWS usage reports in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center represents a strategic move by Microsoft, aimed at helping organizations map out their journey away from legacy EWS infrastructure. Located under the “Reports” section, and accessible from “Usage” > “Exchange” > “EWS Usage” on the Overview page, these reports provide a clear, actionable breakdown of EWS activity, offering:

• A list of all application identities calling EWS APIs
• A record of the specific SOAP actions invoked by each application
• Successful-call volumes segmented by SOAP action and by app
• Trend visualizations and data filterable by time horizon (7, 30, 90, or 180 days)
• Easy export to Excel CSV for custom analyses

This level of detail is not merely cosmetic. IT administrators can now rapidly identify which apps and services are still dependent on EWS, assess how frequently those connections are used, and engage relevant stakeholders before the service is deprecated. For large organizations, this insight is transformational; what was once a messy inventory-gathering challenge is now a structured, data-driven process.

Direct Benefits for IT Administrators​

The practical implications for IT teams are considerable:

• Proactive Risk Mitigation: By understanding which line-of-business applications depend on EWS, teams can avoid last-minute surprises in 2026. Early discovery is key to allocating migration resources effectively.
• Stakeholder Engagement: The identification of application owners is simplified, facilitating dialogue about migration timelines, priorities, and dependencies.
• Migration Planning: Trend data reveals whether usage patterns are static or declining, informing triage efforts and allowing gradual de-escalation of EWS reliance.
• Regulatory Compliance: For organizations struggling with compliance mandates, the ability to track legacy API usage and retire insecure endpoints systematically is critical.

Microsoft has explained, “The Exchange Web Services (EWS) usage report displays the SOAP actions used by each application calling EWS in your organization. It also shows the successful-call volume for each SOAP action. This information enables you to coordinate with the application owners to ensure they’re preparing for the EWS deprecation in October 2026.”

The Migration Tide: Why EWS Has to Go​

Why the push to retire EWS when it’s so deeply entrenched? The answer is twofold: security and innovation.
EWS was designed for an older era, where monolithic applications made broad API calls with relatively little oversight. While effective for its time, this model is less suited to today’s cloud-centric world. EWS’s permission model can be overly permissive—for example, a third-party app needing just calendar access might, via EWS, gain broader mailbox access than intended.
On the other side, Microsoft Graph provides precise, least-privilege access controls, detailed audit trails, improved authentication protocols (including OAuth 2.0), and integration hooks that span not just email and calendars, but also Teams, SharePoint, and beyond. In essence, Graph consolidates and modernizes enterprise development across all of Microsoft 365.
Deprecating EWS is not just an engineering cleanup exercise: it’s a security mandate. By driving customers to the Graph API, Microsoft closes potential vectors for attack and aligns enterprise integrations with its broader Zero Trust security ambitions.

Rolling Out EWS Usage Reports: Access and Mechanics​

Administrators eager to utilize these new reports will find the experience well-integrated and familiar. The rollout is complete for all Microsoft 365 commercial customers; there is no additional licensing, hidden configuration, or extended onboarding process required.
The process is as follows:

• Sign In: Administrators log in to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
• Navigate: Go to “Reports,” then select “Usage.”
• Drill Down: Under the Usage section, choose “Exchange” and then “EWS Usage.”
• Analyze: View trends, filter by date, drill into SOAP actions, and see volumes per app.
• Export: Download the full dataset to Excel for offline or custom reporting.

With filters for the last seven, 30, 90, or 180 days, it’s easy to spot both persistent and declining EWS usage. This time-based analysis is essential for long-term migration projects. A declining usage trend may indicate that end users and app owners are already adopting modern alternatives, while flat or growing usage signals areas that need urgent attention.

Key Strengths: Clarity, Simplicity, and Strategic Value​

There are several notable strengths that set these EWS usage reports apart from prior attempts at Exchange analytics:

• Immediate Actionability: Unlike raw audit data, these reports aggregate and contextualize usage, making it actionable for non-technical administrators as well as technical architects.
• Export Flexibility: Microsoft’s decision to enable one-click export to CSV means the data can be mashed up with asset inventories, security alerts, or project tracking tools without major manual wrangling.
• Visualization and Time-Framing: The inclusion of visual trends makes it easy to justify migration investment to stakeholders and upper management.
• Direct Line to Stakeholders: By revealing the specific applications and owners behind EWS calls, the report catalyzes collaboration between IT and business units—often a bottleneck in migration scenarios.

Potential Risks and Gaps: What the Reports Don’t Reveal​

However, as with any reporting tool, there are caveats and challenges to consider:

• Complex Custom Integrations: While the reports expose which apps are using EWS and which SOAP actions they invoke, they do not inherently describe what business process, department, or user base is being served. App detective work, while simplified, is not eliminated.
• Readiness of Microsoft Graph Replacements: Although Microsoft Graph is positioned as the logical successor, migration can be complex. Not all EWS features—even as of today—are fully matched by Graph APIs. Organizations may need to redesign workflows or accept functional gaps.
• Change Management Overhead: The reports are diagnostic, not prescriptive. Identifying a dependency is one thing; remediating and testing new integrations is another project entirely—a fact sometimes overlooked amid dashboard-driven optimism.
• Potential Blind Spots: Some edge-case integrations, especially legacy scripts or abandoned automations, may not be easily mapped to their business impact. There remains a residual risk that organizations will miss hidden dependencies until too late.

Additionally, any technical specification or critical business figure surfaced by these reports should be cross-verified. While Petri IT Knowledgebase and Microsoft’s documentation describe these features, prudent administrators should review their own reports and validate findings against application logs or access controls to prevent surprises.

Recommendations for IT Departments: From Discovery to Action​

For IT professionals charting a course through this transition, several steps are recommended:

• Run the EWS Usage Report Regularly: Make it part of ongoing IT hygiene to monitor these metrics. Set up an inventory baseline, then track changes monthly or quarterly.
• Map Application Owners: As soon as an integration or custom app is identified, assign responsibility. Engage app owners in migration planning discussions now, not later.
• Evaluate Migration Readiness: Check whether each use-case has a viable Microsoft Graph alternative. For feature gaps, push queries to Microsoft or the broader dev community—often, workaround patterns exist.
• Communicate the Timeline: Make sure all stakeholders understand the hard deadline: EWS will be deprecated in October 2026. Last-minute scrambling may endanger business continuity.
• Leverage Exports for Audit and Compliance: Use the exported data not just for migration, but also for regulatory compliance—demonstrating to auditors that legacy service use is being reduced systematically.

What Happens If Organizations Delay Migration?​

The landscape after October 2026 will shift considerably. Microsoft’s deprecation means that EWS will stop receiving updates and—eventually—be fully disabled in Exchange Online. Applications that depend on EWS for mailbox data, automated reports, or workflow triggers will begin to fail, often silently at first. The consequences could range from minor annoyances (meeting invites not syncing) to critical business outages (invoice processing, compliance archiving, etc.).
Waiting until late 2026 to perform this transition virtually guarantees rushed, error-prone migration projects. Worse, it risks lost data, security exposures, and compliance failures—outcomes that modern organizations can ill afford.

The Bigger Picture: Microsoft Graph as the Future​

Microsoft’s push toward Microsoft Graph is not only an API migration story, but a vision for the modern digital workplace. By consolidating access patterns across email, phones, files, chat, and security signals, Graph unlocks advanced scenarios impossible with legacy APIs. Features such as organizational analytics, real-time collaboration, and AI-powered data enrichment become tangible realities.
Further, Microsoft’s commitment to evolving Graph means rapid updates, new features, and closer integration with Azure Active Directory and other security infrastructure. This is in marked contrast to EWS, whose functionality has plateaued and whose security posture is increasingly out of step with enterprise risk management best practices.

Critical View: Is the Migration Path Smooth Enough?​

Despite the clear benefits, it would be naïve to paint the migration journey as seamless. Some organizations, particularly those with heavy investments in bespoke EWS-based integrations, will face significant reengineering tasks. Licensing complexities, API throttling limits, and potential shortfalls in feature parity will raise project risks.
Furthermore, uncertainty remains regarding the fate of on-premises Exchange Server EWS. While the current changes impact Exchange Online, hybrid or legacy environments may experience longer—if less secure—lifespans for EWS. Microsoft’s directional signals, however, leave little doubt: the writing is very much on the wall for the old model.

Conclusion: Seizing the Opportunity​

The integration of EWS usage reporting within the Microsoft 365 Admin Center is a timely and strategic response to an industry-wide challenge. It gives organizations not only the data but also the impetus to face the approaching EWS deprecation proactively. With this visibility, IT can move from reactive troubleshooting to planned, measured migrations—fortifying both security and operational stability.
That said, these reports are a starting point, not a panacea. Thoughtful migration planning, ongoing dialogue with application owners, and deep engagement with Microsoft Graph documentation and the developer ecosystem will be necessary to ensure a smooth transition.
Above all, organizations must heed the deadline: October 2026 is closer than it seems. By leveraging EWS usage reports today, IT professionals can chart a confident course toward the future—one defined not by legacy overheads, but by modern, secure, and fully integrated Microsoft 365 experiences.

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Source: Petri IT Knowledgebase Microsoft 365 Admin Center Adds New EWS Usage Reports