Planning for Retirement
Microsoft has announced that Project Online will be retired on September 30, 2026. After this date, Project Online will no longer be available, and all data stored within the service will become inaccessible. This presents a significant challenge for organisations still relying on Project Online for project and portfolio management (PPM), making proactive planning critical to ensure business continuity and data preservation.
At ManagementStudio, we understand the importance of staying ahead of such transitions. To support organisations in preparing for this retirement, we have enhanced our Engage Assessment to include Project Online Inventory capabilities. This functionality allows you to:
- Quickly generate a comprehensive inventory of all your Project Online files
- Identify projects and data at risk
- Establish a clear migration or archiving plan
If your organisation continues to rely on Project Online, now is the time to assess your environment and make informed decisions about your next steps. Waiting until the retirement date could put critical project information at risk and create unnecessary disruption.
Inventory Your Projects with Engage
Within the Engage function of the ManagementStudio platform, you can generate a detailed inventory of your Project Online files, including essential metadata such as:
- Project title and description
- Project owner
- Last modified date
- Start and finish dates
- Percentage complete
Armed with this detailed insight, you can make strategic decisions, such as archiving older projects, prioritising current active projects for migration, or evaluating new tools to continue managing your work effectively.
“The Assessment and Inventory provided by Engage creates a clear starting point for the transformation,” commented Peter Keane, Solutions Consultant from Continuous Software. “This enables the transformation team to clearly document the scope of the transformation, choose which items need to survive the end of life as ongoing work, and which should be preserved as archived info.”
He continues, “This type of inventory is essential for any replacement platform, be it Microsoft Planner, OnePlan or something else) to begin the process of moving the data into the new platform and remove remaining data to an agreed archive solution, if required.”
Microsoft’s Recommended Options
Microsoft provides several options for organisations transitioning from Project Online:
- Planner (with Project for the web): A unified task and project management solution that supports baselines, dependencies, Gantt charts, and workflow automation, suitable for teams seeking a modern, integrated experience
- Project Server Subscription Edition: Designed for organizations that require advanced project and portfolio management (PPM) capabilities, including complex resource planning and enterprise-level governance
- OnePlan: A Microsoft-recommended enterprise project management solution that extends Planner functionality with portfolio management, financial planning, resource allocation, and governance features, ideal for organisations seeking an enterprise-ready platform
What Is Engage?
One of the most common challenges in transformation programs or day-to-day service management is knowing where to start. Without a clear baseline, planning the steps to reach your end goal becomes difficult and error prone. The Engage Assessment is designed to quantify your initial project landscape and identify areas that require further attention. Leveraging the ManagementStudio platform, Engage removes much of the guesswork and heavy lifting from project discovery, helping organisations move confidently toward their next phase.
As Peter Keane concludes, “The End of Life should not just be a life raft or band aid, it should be a conscious choice to build improvements into the essential practices of planning that drive the success of any organisation. During and after completing the transformation, our intelligent planning platform, aangine, provides schedule optimisation, foresight empowered decision making, and much more. These elevated planning practices improve organisations’ ability to navigate the uncertainty and seize the opportunity.”
For more information or a personalised demo, contact ManagementStudio today and start planning your seamless transition from Project Online.
