Sharepoint Supported Upgrade Paths

[Erica McKinley]

I am pretty new to the SharePoint world and looking for input. 

I am currently on SP13 on prem, but thinking that it may be time to do an upgrade.  There are a couple different paths that can be taken, but want to make sure it is the right one for us and is a supported upgrade path.  With that, I am looking for insight on what is a supported path going from:

       - SP13 to SP16

       - SP13 to SP365

            - If we are to move to SP365 can anyone provide detail on the level of customizations

              allowed, as our current setup is heavily customized?

        - SP13 to SP19

            - I do understand that this is not out yet, but trying to figure out if this would even be a

              possibility.  Also, we may not be in a place to make an upgrade until close to

              time for SP19 to be released, so it may be better to wait until SP19 is release before

               we make the jump. However, I have heard 2 different opinions regarding skipping a

                version: 

                       1. It would not even be possible to skip, you would have to upgrade to      

                           SP16 and then upgrade to SP19

                       2. It can be done going straight from SP13 to SP19

I need to have some facts that will prove or debunk the first option.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

[#2]

Hi Erica, There are many variables to consider when upgrading but for simplicity I would evaluate:

• SP13 - SP16 fully supported
• SP13 - SP365 lots to consider here but the long term bet is here, IMO. On premise is a commitment from Microsoft so one further option to consider is Hybrid (both On Premise and Cloud). This would allow you to leverage customisation you can’t yet move to the cloud, which is diminishing, and move workloads which can be easily moved to utilise the wider benefits of Office 365. Bear in mind licensing and infrastructure needs for this option and more expertise.
• AFAIK no firm guidance has yet been given on SP19 so pure speculation but I would only rely on N-1 for a reliable upgrade path unless we’re updated on this during 2018.

In your situation I would definitely evaluate hybrid first. Take a look over on TechNet for great resources to kick off your thinking.

Hope this helps!

John

[#3 · Accepted solution]

Hey @Erica McKinley great to meet you!

You have a few supported options:

Onprem 2013 to onprem 2016

Onprem 2013 to hybrid office 365 (sharepoint online)

Onprem 2013 to office 365 (sharepoint online)

Tell us a bit more about the customizations in sharepoint 2013 that you MUST keep. There may be some refactoring that needs to take place. Other considerations:

-Workflows

-3rd party tools

-Integrations with LOB systems

-custom admin-approved infopath forms

-custom master pages, page layouts,

-full-trust solutions

When you're ready to discuss tools to help with your migration, you'll hear about the new SharePoint Migration (SPM) announced at Ignite 2017, Metalogix, AvePoint, ShareGate, and numerous other players. Suggest you consult a trusted advisor for their opinions, then contact vendors for demos.

As for Sp2019, I don't expect we'll here too much about that until next Ignite. Guessing that May event in Las Vegas we'll hear more about what was promised at Ignite that the product team has delivered, what stuff is in development that was announced, and a handful of new features or enhancements to existing features. Unlikely we'll hear any huge announcements on sharepoint 2019 for at least a year. Everyone is likely too busy delivering what was already promised. Some great innovations are in the works, but unlikely to announce migration methods supported by May 2018.

My guess is with 2019 there will be no suprises...2013 - 2019 and 2016 to 2019 probably both supported.