SharePoint Server Subscription Edition AMA

Hi Green,

Thank you for asking this question. 

Previous versions of SharePoint Server like SharePoint 2019 and SharePoint 2016 were based on point-in-time "snapshots" of the SharePoint Online codebase. This approach allowed SharePoint Server to inherit many new features introduced in SPO. Unfortunately this approach has become too expensive as SPO continues to evolve with deeper integration with other Microsoft 365 services and technologies.

Our strategy for SharePoint Server Subscription Edition is to focus on the unique needs of our on-premises customers. That means SharePoint Server Subscription Edition isn't based on a new snapshot of the SharePoint Online codebase, and our goal isn't to achieve feature parity with SharePoint Online. SharePoint Online and SharePoint Server will now evolve independently of each other, while maintaining our ability to successfully migrate customers from on-premises to the cloud when they're ready.

How will we focus on the unique needs of our on-premises customers? By engaging with the SharePoint community to better understand why you're using SharePoint Server and what your most critical needs are. In addition to the direct conversations we've always had with customers, we're also listening to the SharePoint community in places such as the SharePoint Tech Community, the SharePoint Feedback Portal, Reddit, Discord, and others. We hope you'll continue to share your feedback with us to better understand what you need and why.

I've just made a post regarding the new features we are planning to release in later this year. Modern experience improvements will happen in document library and list. In another reply to the question of SharePoint Framework, I also mentioned that we are in the progress of updating SPFx to a newer version. So yes, we are picking critical modern needs into consideration. So please feel free to let us know what are the modern features you need with more information about why you need them in which scenarios to solve what problems. It will greatly help us to understand the importance and urgency and help us to prioritize them.

Thanks

Steve