Microsoft is ending mainstream support for SharePoint 2016 in July 2021.
If you’ve followed Kiefer for a while and read our blogs, you’ve likely read a blog announcing Microsoft ending support for certain products. In July 2021, Microsoft will be ending mainstream support for SharePoint 2016.
Microsoft support falls into 2 categories, mainstream support and extended support. Mainstream support includes security updates to address bugs and requests to change product design and features. Mainstream support for SharePoint 2016 ends in July 2021.
Extended support for SharePoint 2016 will end on July 14, 2026. With extended support, you should not expect new features, only bug fixes and patches.
Understanding Your Options: On-Prem or Online?
If your organization has invested in SharePoint as a platform, we recommend that you determine a path forward. You have 2 options. You can keep SharePoint on-prem and move to SharePoint 2019, or you can take the leap and move to the cloud with SharePoint Online.
Should I Stick with SharePoint On-Prem or a Hybrid Deployment
Kiefer’s team of SharePoint experts often conduct assessments to determine what content, features and customizations will need to be migrated. In some cases, we must recommend a hybrid environment where the client leverages both SharePoint on-prem and SharePoint Online.
Microsoft’s investment in SharePoint Online is outpacing its investment in on-prem and new features in SharePoint Online are aimed at getting customers to move to SharePoint Online. The integration with Microsoft Teams, Power Automate and Power Apps provide organizations with the ability to do more with SharePoint in the cloud. In addition, SharePoint Online provides organizations with the ability to deploy hub sites with single-point site branding and content roll-up, a benefit over an on-prem deployment of SharePoint.
If you stay the course and move to SharePoint 2019 (on-prem), you’ll notice that some features of SharePoint Online have been incorporated into the server version of the product, but like other versions of SharePoint, Microsoft has already announced that mainstream support for SharePoint 2019 will end on January 9, 2024.
If your wondering about the differences between on-prem administration and administration of SharePoint online… SharePoint Administrators will have more administrative control features in SharePoint 2019 than they will in SharePoint Online. It is important to note that those that have embraced the move to the cloud have found convenience in being able to manage SharePoint using Microsoft 365 administrative functions.
Should I make the move to SharePoint Online?
We’ve written several articles that promote the idea of making the move to SharePoint Online. Depending on your current SharePoint deployment, we can help you prepare for migrating to a newer version of SharePoint if you need to stay on-prem while helping you prepare for a migration to SharePoint Online in the future. In every case, the plan is always to help prepare you for your next move and leveraging everything that SharePoint can offer. Contact Kiefer to learn more about upgrading to the latest version of SharePoint and we can help you determine what infrastructure will work for your organization, on-prem, online or hybrid.