Prime Steps to Put together for SharePoint Finish of Life in 2026

All good issues should come to an finish. Microsoft SharePoint has actually been nothing however good for enterprise collaboration and content material administration. IT has been a core collaboration and doc administration platform for a lot of organizations for over a decade.   

Nevertheless, if you’re nonetheless operating SharePoint 2016 or 2019, you would possibly need to begin getting ready for migration. Microsoft will formally finish all prolonged assist for these variations on July 14, 2026.  Whereas these environments might proceed to perform, working unsupported SharePoint methods introduces severe safety, compliance, and operational dangers.  Because of this many organizations are actually evaluating SharePoint migration companies to make sure a clean transition to newer, supported environments.

Understanding what SharePoint finish of life means and getting ready for migration upfront is important for sustaining a safe and dependable collaboration platform. Subsequently, this piece will checklist seven key issues you want to do earlier than the deadline to remain forward. 

The obituary for SharePoint 2016 and 2019 

Finish-of-life (EOL) is a typical time period used within the software program world. IT usually implies that an organization stops supporting a few of their product or their variations, which implies: 

• No new updates 
• Bug fixes and patches 
• Discontinued buyer assist 

When the SharePoint 2016 and 2019 variations attain their EOL, Microsoft will now not present safety updates, hotfixes, or technical help. Any newly found vulnerabilities stay unpatched, growing publicity to safety threats.  

Though the variations might proceed to function, they slowly grow to be more durable to preserve, dearer to safe, and tougher to align with trendy IT and compliance necessities.  

Corporations normally announce EOL for one in every of their merchandise when they’re planning to roll out newer merchandise. For instance, Oracle additionally introduced EOL for its extremely widespread Agile PLM by 2027 as a result of IT wished its customers to shift to their cloud-based PLM platform.  

Microsoft’s cause for retiring SharePoint 2016 and 2019 can also be a part of the firm’s broader technique of shifting prospects towards its cloud-based companies, notably SharePoint On-line. 

Here’s a full checklist of which SharePoint variations are affected by earlier and upcoming EOL: 

• SharePoint 2013 has already reached the top of each mainstream and prolonged assist. IT is now not supported and presents a excessive safety threat for organizations nonetheless utilizing IT.   
• SharePoint 2016 has exited mainstream assist and is presently in prolonged assist. Whereas IT nonetheless receives restricted updates, IT is nearing the top of its lifecycle, making migration planning a precedence. 
• SharePoint 2019 stays supported and receives updates. Nevertheless, IT remains to be an on-premises platform and doesn’t provide the full vary of contemporary collaboration, safety, and automation options obtainable in Microsoft 365. 

Organizations operating SharePoint 2013 or older SharePoint 2016 deployments ought to deal with migration as a near-term requirement reasonably than a future consideration. 

What it is best to do: 5 key steps emigrate 

Migration is a enterprise change, not only a technical activity. SharePoint migration impacts greater than Technology. IT modifications how customers collaborate, share Information, and entry content material. Treating migration purely as a technical exercise usually leads to consumer dissatisfaction and governance challenges. 

When migration is aligned with enterprise objectives, IT turns into a possibility to enhance collaboration, scale back technical debt, and modernize processes. 

Right here’s a five-step roadmap to do a Profitable SharePoint migration correctly: 

1. Determine your supply atmosphere 

Begin by checking your present SharePoint setup, whether or not IT’s SharePoint 2013, 2016, or 2019. You should use instruments like the SharePoint Migration Evaluation Instrument (SMAT) to establish points like customizations, workflows, or unsupported options.  

This helps you perceive potential challenges early on. For SharePoint 2019, use PowerShell scripts or third-party instruments since SMAT doesn’t assist IT. 

2. Audit content material 

Migration is an amazing alternative to wash up the “rot” in your enterprise knowledge. No, significantly, redundant, out of date, and trivial (ROT) content material will get constructed up in SharePoint over years of use. Use the Take away, Migrate, Rebuild (RMR) technique to: 

• Take away pointless content material 
• Migrate important, energetic content material 
• Rebuild complicated or outdated options like customized workflows 

3. Pinpoint your vacation spot 

Migratory birds know their precise migration coordinates spanning hundreds of kilometers. Similar to that, you need to be crystal clear about the place you in the end need to maneuver your SharePoint assets.   

Are you shifting to SharePoint On-line or staying with SharePoint Server on-premises? The proper selection is dependent upon your enterprise necessities and strategic objectives. 

4. Create a migration workforce 

Migration is a workforce effort. Subsequently, assign roles like mission supervisor, migration engineers, content material house owners, and testers. Have clear tasks to forestall confusion and make sure the migration stays on monitor. 

5. Communication and collaboration 

Talk with customers concerning the modifications properly upfront. Share the timeline, what shall be migrated, and the way IT will profit them. Present coaching, assist, and gather suggestions post-migration to enhance future efforts. 

What’s the greatest SharePoint migration vacation spot for you?  

For many organizations, SharePoint On-line is the advisable migration vacation spot. As a part of Microsoft 365, SharePoint On-line receives steady safety updates, characteristic enhancements, and repair enhancements with out requiring infrastructure upkeep. 

SharePoint On-line integrates natively with Microsoft Groups, OneDrive, Energy Automate, and different Microsoft 365 companies. IT helps trendy authentication, superior compliance options, and improved collaboration experiences. 

In sure circumstances the place regulatory or connectivity constraints exist, SharePoint 2019 could also be used as an interim resolution. Nevertheless, IT needs to be thought of a short lived step reasonably than a long-term platform. 

From a safety, scalability, and future readiness perspective, SharePoint On-line presents essentially the most sustainable path ahead. 

The perils of delaying SharePoint migration 

Don’t delay till tomorrow what you are able to do as we speak. Many organizations delay their SharePoint migration due to comprehensible causes like competing initiatives or tight budgets. Nevertheless, in our view, these challenges might be handled in phases, if not . A standard cause why firms delay SharePoint migration is the idea that they’ll “make IT by another yr.”   

However we will guarantee you that ready could make the method way more sophisticated and rushed. The longer you delay, the much less time you’ll have for correct planning, which can lead to a worrying, last-minute rush when the deadline approaches.  

Safety is essentially the most fast concern with unsupported SharePoint variations. With out common safety patches, vulnerabilities stay uncovered and might be exploited by attackers. This threat will increase considerably for environments which might be accessible externally.   

Compliance is one other problem. Many regulatory frameworks require supported software program, safe authentication, audit logging, and knowledge safety controls. Unsupported SharePoint platforms make IT troublesome to satisfy these necessities.   

Operational challenges additionally enhance over time. Legacy customizations, outdated workflows, and unsupported integrations grow to be more durable to preserve, resulting in instability and better assist prices.  

Migrating SharePoint is a multi-step course of that features many steps, a few of which we mentioned on this article. Skipping any of those steps will increase threat. For those who wait too lengthy, you may also face points like dropping vendor assist or lacking out on important instruments, making the migration tougher.  

Beginning the migration course of now offers you management over the timeline and avoids the frenzy of last-minute planning when the deadline will get nearer. Ready solely creates extra stress and makes issues more durable. 

Conclusion 

SharePoint finish of assist is a transparent indicator that motion is required. Persevering with to function unsupported or getting older SharePoint environments will increase safety threat, limits compliance, and raises operational prices. 

Planning migration early and selecting the best goal platform will let your group modernize collaboration whereas decreasing threat. For many environments, SharePoint On-line offers the perfect long-term resolution. 

A structured method that features evaluation, cleanup, governance, and communication ensures that SharePoint migration is profitable and sustainable. 

Xavor offers skilled SharePoint consulting companies to plan and implement your migration journey. Our specialists will safely and exactly transfer your SharePoint knowledge to trendy variations with minimal downtime. 

Contact us at [email protected] to ebook a free session session. 

In regards to the Creator

Director Skilled Providers

Umair Tariq is the Enterprise Options Architect and Director of Skilled Providers at Xavor. He designs cloud-enabled, AI-driven platforms throughout healthcare and retail, translating complicated enterprise challenges into scalable, production-ready options. He focuses on high-performing engineering management and HIPAA-compliant, large-scale integrations.