Microsoft Project Online is retiring: What you need to know

The timeline currently communicated for the retirement of Project Online is in direct contradiction to the commitments made in Microsoft’s own published statement, quoted below, which remains publicly available.

As any partner with experience in enterprise software deployment will recognise, the sales cycles for a tool of this nature extend well beyond six months. For organisations with fully integrated, enterprise-level deployments of Project Online, the introduction of a replacement solution with full feature parity will require a period significantly longer than the 13 months that has been made available.

This makes the proposed deadline near impossible for a considerable number of customers to achieve, creating both operational risk and reputational risk for Microsoft.  A more realistic timeline aligned with both the original commitments and the practical realities of enterprise transformation is essential to protect customer value and ensure continuity of service.

When will you retire Project Online?

If you are using Project Online, sometimes referred to as Project Web App (PWA) in the product, we understand the important business value it provides you. You can continue to use your existing Project Online environment confidently while you plan a transition to Project for the web. You can start your move as soon as it makes sense for your business.

We will continue to provide key performance and security improvements for Project Online. We remain deeply committed to providing the full support you need and expect, so you can continue to use and invest with confidence in Microsoft Project. 

There is no date to limit the functionality of Project Online at this time, but we encourage customers to plan their transition as soon as possible.  We know that many of you depend on Project Online.  Therefore, any decision on the date to limit functionality will be carefully made taking into account customer feedback and usage data on Project for the web to help ensure your business continuity and success.

Going forward, all innovation will occur in Project for the web. We are committed to providing visibility into our release roadmap, so you can start planning your transition. We will help you understand Project for the web and when it will best support your business needs, so you can transition as soon as it makes sense for your business.  Until then, we will also help you continue using Project Online in the best ways to ensure a smooth transition to Project for the web in the future.