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Microsoft sets retirement plan for Skype for Business Online, foreshadowing death of Server edition, too.

Kevin Kieller

July 29, 2019

1 Min Read
Tombstone

Microsoft announced today that it will retire Skype for Business Online on July 31, 2021, two years from now. Toward that end, starting this Sept. 1, Microsoft will onboard all new Office 365 customers directly to Teams. And, after July 31, 2021, the Skype for Business Online service will no longer be accessible or supported.

 

Organizations currently using Skype for Business Online will be able to continue to add new users up until the retirement date in 2021. Any companies that want to start up with Skype for Business Online -- although it’s unclear why they would at this point -- would need to create its tenants in the next month.

 

With this announcement, Microsoft seeks to make clear that neither Skype consumer nor Skype for Business Server will be affected by the retirement of the Skype for Business Online service, as noted in a blog post outlining the decision. And yet, this does foreshadow an eventual end for Skype for Business Server.

 

Once Skype for Business Online is gone, Skype for Business Server becomes more of an on-premises “orphan” in the Office 365 family. With almost every other application and tool, Microsoft provides both an on-premises and cloud-based option: Exchange, SharePoint, SQL Server, Azure, and Azure Stack.

 

With today’s announcement, organizations both running Skype for Business Server and Skype for Business Online should hasten to develop a specific communications and collaboration roadmap. For larger organizations with tens of thousands of users, two years can go by very quickly.

About the Author

Kevin Kieller

Kevin Kieller is a globally recognized Unified Communications, Collaboration and technology analyst, strategist, and implementation leader. He is part analyst and part consultant, which ensures he understands both the "big picture" and the real-world realities.

Kevin and the team he created helps organizations select and successfully implement leading collaboration, communication and cloud technologies, focusing on delivering positive business outcomes. He helps vendors generate awareness and demand, position their products, often leveraging his unique understanding of the Microsoft ecosystem.

Kevin leads the elite BC Strategies Expert group and is part of the No Jitter technical analyst team where he covers Microsoft Teams, Copilot, UC, Collaboration, and AI for productivity. He presents regularly at Enterprise Connect and keynotes many other events focused on technology effectiveness.

He has led the development of many technology strategies for medium and large organizations, served as Bell Canada's lead UC strategist, developed new practice offerings for Softchoice, and advised hardware and software companies interested in expanding within, or competing against, the Microsoft ecosystem.

Kevin is comfortable interfacing at both the most senior (CxO) levels and getting "his hands dirty" helping technical teams.

Kevin has conceived, designed and overseen the development of software products and cloud-based services in the business, educational and recreational areas which have been used by millions of people in over 17 countries worldwide. A long time ago he created an award-winning game for the Commodore 64 and ever since has been committed to delivering business value through technology.