Microsoft Project Online is retiring.
Project Online is scheduled for official retirement on September 30, 2026. We understand this marks a substantial shift, and we recognize the potential effects it could have on your business, operational procedures, and strategic planning.
This update is exclusive to Project Online and does not affect Project desktop, Project Server, or Planner.
What this means at this time
- Project Online will continue to function as it has until the expiration date.
- Dates to keep in mind:
- October 1st, 2025: End of sale for new customers of Project Online-only SKUs.
- September 30, 2026: Official retirement date when Project Online will no longer be available.
- Project Desktop will remain available.
Transition Options
Project Server Subscription Edition (PSSE): This is basically an on-premises version of Project Online. Prior to Project Online availability, this was the route all organizations would take when wanting to utilize the features and functionality of Project Online, known then as Project Server.
The primary difference between Project Online and PSSE, is the software will be installed either on-premises at an organizations data center, or in the Microsoft Azure cloud (or at another hosting provider).
All the features you have become accustomed to in Project Online are available with Project Server Subscription Edition such as; advanced project and portfolio management (PPM), comprehensive planning, scheduling, and resource management tools, built on the latest SharePoint Server technology.
With Project Server Subscription Edition you will also have the following benefits:
- Direct access to the Reporting Database.
- Archive backups of your projects.
- Substantially faster page renders.
- More integration options.
- etc.
Since the team at Integent has been working with Project Online and Project Server since 2002, we are uniquely qualified to assist with every aspect of a transition to Project Server Subscription Edition.
Microsoft Planner: Microsoft calls Planner a unified solution for modern work and project management. Planner provides simple scheduling, baselines, dependencies, Gantt charts, and more via Power Apps and Power Automate. Planner also integrates quite well with Microsoft Teams and other Microsoft Technologies.
Planner does fall short of some key aspects of Project Server Subscription Edition as follows:
- Planner has no native resource management capabilities. Resource capacity vs. demand and the like are not natively available.
- There are no Risks and Issues capabilities.
- Custom project templates are not available, although there is a Copy Project function.
- There is no timesheet capability such as that in Project Online, PSSE.
- Planner does not provide financial tracking.
- Portfolio Analysis capabilities are not available in Planner.
Next Steps
We realize this news may come as a surprise. Please be assured, however, that the team at Integent is able to assist with any path you choose. We suggest scheduling time to discuss your system and how you use it in order to come up with a migration plan. Please either use our Contact page or use our Calendly to schedule time to discuss as soon as possible.
The next 12 months are going to progress very quickly, and we are here to help in any way we can.
