Updates on Meta for Work
From 20 February 2026, Meta Horizon Managed Services (HMS), the all-in-one solution for managing virtual reality devices and experiences, will no longer be available as a commercial service.
In recent days, Meta has announced a significant evolution in its extended reality headset model for professional environments. From 20 February 2026, Meta Horizon Managed Services (HMS), the all-in-one solution for managing virtual reality devices and experiences, will no longer be available to purchase as a commercial service, along with the enterprise-specific Meta Quest SKUs.
The sale of headsets, including Meta Quest 3 and 3S, will remain unchanged, and they can be adopted for any purpose, personal or business. At the same time, access to HMS will become open to the public at no additional cost.
This announcement has raised reasonable questions among organisations that already use XR or were considering adopting it. However, when the change is analysed in depth, the underlying message is clear: this is not a withdrawal from the XR ecosystem, but a redefinition of how the technology is accessed, managed and scaled.
HMS is not going away: it becomes free and will be maintained over time
From 20 February 2026, HMS will be available at no cost, for both current customers and new deployments. In addition, Meta has confirmed that the service will have maintenance-mode support until at least 2030, which guarantees stability and operational continuity over the coming years. In practice, this means that:
- HMS will continue to work as a device registration and enrolment portal.
- It will allow you to manage the onboarding of headsets and their integration with third-party MDM platforms.
- No new functional developments are expected, but availability and support are guaranteed until at least 2030.
A step forward for the XR ecosystem
In this way, what may initially look like a step backwards is, in fact, a significant step forward for the XR ecosystem.
Removing the entry cost of device management systems lowers one of the most common barriers in XR projects, especially during pilot or scaling phases. This change has a direct impact on:
- Education and public institutions, where budgets tend to be tighter and centralised management is key.
- Business environments, which seek to roll out XR in a gradual, controlled and scalable way.
- Organisations that until now saw device management as a brake rather than an enabler.
The expected result is clear: greater adoption, more real use cases and more sustainable projects over time, showing that XR is here to stay and to integrate naturally with other technologies such as AI or robotics.
A more open, more flexible and more agnostic market
At INVELON, we see this moment as an opportunity to simplify the adoption of XR and help organisations take the next step with confidence. That is why we have designed a dedicated bundle focused on:
- Strategic hardware sourcing, tailored to each use case and extendable to other manufacturers, from the agnostic perspective that characterises us.
- Onboarding and set-up of device and experience management tools, such as Horizon Managed Services (HMS).
- Enterprise-level support and operational continuity.
- Definition of long-term XR strategies, integrated with emerging technologies such as AI or robotics, to create real impact.
Our goal is clear: to absorb the technological complexity so that our customers can focus on value, not on management.
Looking to the long term
With guaranteed support until at least 2030, HMS offers a solid foundation to build on. At the same time, this change drives a more open, competitive and mature ecosystem, in which organisations can launch their XR projects, validate their real impact and carefully evaluate the different alternatives on the market.
XR thus enters a new phase: fewer barriers, more access and a greater focus on real use.
If you would like to analyse how this new scenario could fit your organisation, or explore hardware and management alternatives from a truly agnostic perspective, we at INVELON will be delighted to help.