It’s true.  You may have seen social media or come across blog posts about the future of Microsoft Project Online.  Here at HMS we have known for some time that the days of Project Online were surely numbered through a variety of contacts at Microsoft.  The time has finally come with an official announcement from Microsoft about the end of Project Online.  As of today, you are no longer able to buy a new instance of Project Online.  HMS has been around Project Server and the translation of Project Server into its SaaS equivalent since its inception.  And that’s all about to change.

Let’s get some of the facts straight here and then talk about the impact on TimeControl.

Here are some key dates:

September 5, 2025: Microsoft announces the end-of-life of Project Online for the end of September 2026.

October 1, 2025: End of new sales of Project Online

April 1, 2026, New tenants will no longer be able to be created in Project Online

July 14, 2026: Project Server 2016 and Project Server 2019 shift to “extended support” mode.  Microsoft recommends shifting to Project Server Subscription Edition

September 30, 2026: Official end of Project Online.  There will be no more access to Project Online after this date.  This includes access to any data that has been saved in Project Online.  It is essential that clients remove or back up their data in other sources prior to this date.

Dec 31, 2031:  Microsoft has committed to support Project Server Subscription edition until at least this date.

What does this mean for you?

First, if you are using Project Online now, you need to start making plans to no longer be using the product by September 2026.  You have a year to decide on your destination system and to remove your data from Project Online.  Once September 30, 2026 comes, you will not be able to log into Project Online even to retrieve your data.

What are your options?
You have a couple of big decisions to make

The first is whether to stay with Microsoft for your project management needs at all.  If you do, you have several possible paths:

1. Migrate your Project Online projects to Project Desktop. These products have no projected end of life at the moment and are widely expected to continue to be available for the foreseeable future.
2. Migrate your Project Online projects to Planner / Planner Premium. These products are not designed to be an enterprise project management system to replace Project Online.  Their functionality will no doubt expand but no one in Microsoft is saying that the ultimate goal is to make a product similar in scope to Project Online.  You will have to look at what Planner can offer you and how that meets how you are using Project Online now.  This will probably work for some clients.
3. Migrate your Project Online projects to Project Server on-premise. In some ways this sounds like the simplest solution but you have some things to consider here:
   • First of all, you are moving from a SaaS environment back to on-premise where you are responsible for the hardware, the installation, monitoring security and stability as well as any upgrades. The Project Server environment includes both Project Server and SharePoint.
   • Project Server 2016 and 2019 will go off of main support and into “extended support” this coming July. Moving to those two products will leave you with little help from Microsoft moving forward.
   • You can elect to migrate to Project Server on-premise Subscription edition. Microsoft will even help create a backup of your database that could be used to populate Project Server.  If you make this migration, there will be some things you are used to that won’t be supported.  This includes the old PSI in Project Servers 2016 and 2019 has been replaced with code more like the Project Online CSOM code for integrations and if you have been using OData calls to get reporting data, that will no longer be supported.  And, of course you will be responsible for the upkeep of an on-premise solution.

If you elect not to stay with Microsoft there are numerous project management vendors who will be vying for your business in the year to come.

What about TimeControl?

Here at HMS we take pains to be project management technology agnostic.  We have so many technology alliance partners that it’s impossible for us to promote one solution over another.  For clients who elect to stay with a Microsoft project management solution, we know that our links with Project Server on-premise are already well established and our links to Project Desktop started all the way back in 1995.

For TimeControl clients who are thinking of non-Microsoft options, we keep an updated list of possible combination solutions on the TimeControl website in the Use-Case Solutions area.

The Solutions area will be updated as we bring new possible products into the mix as we expect to do with our next TimeControl release expected by Christmas.  We will quietly remove products that no longer exist or for which there is no ongoing ability for TimeControl to link.  So, expect a number of changes to this area this year.

It is reasonably common for us to face a change of project management system with a client who wants to maintain TimeControl but not maintain their current scheduling system so we are able to help discuss your options with you.

The information in this blog post will be uploaded to the Project Online sections of the TimeControl website and, as more data and more options become available we will make sure that information stays updated.

As always, if you have questions or concerns about using TimeControl with any of the possible project management systems either from Microsoft or other vendors we work with, please talk to our staff at TimeControl.com/contact.