A year ago, we announced the July 31, 2021 retirement date for Skype for Business Online along with our recommendation that customers upgrade to Microsoft Teams. Since then, Teams adoption and usage continue to grow, as organizations have needed to find better ways to safely connect with their teams, customers, and partners. We’re seeing this play out in the dramatic increase in remote work, where traditional in-person meetings that are now impractical or impossible are being replaced by online meetings, calls, and chats.
Many of our Skype for Business customers have accelerated their upgrades to Teams expressly to bring people, data, ideas, and workflows together in one place, giving them the flexibility to keep working while physically apart.
With 12 months until the retirement of Skype for Business Online, we want to ensure each of our customers has a plan to transition to Teams – not only because access to Skype for Business Online will end, but to help realize the full benefits of Teams. Whether your organization is looking to transition from Skype for Business Server, Skype for Business Online, or a hybrid deployment, here are some resources to help along the way.
Training, workshops, and technical guidance for a successful upgrade to Teams
Teams Upgrade Guidance – The Skype for Business to Teams content on Microsoft Docs covers upgrades end-to-end featuring a proven project framework, coexistence specifications, and an upgrade success kit. Reference for all-up planning or for answers to specific upgrade questions.
Teams Upgrade Planning Workshops – Project leads, change managers, and IT admins rave about these free, interactive online workshops for their valuable guidance, best practices, and resources for planning and implementing the upgrade to Teams.
Instructor-Led Teams Training – Need guidance for your deployment, or help training your organization to get the most from Teams? Check out the free live and on-demand online training designed to help business decision makers, admins, IT Pros, and end users get up and running with Teams.
FastTrack and Partner Support – When Teams deployment projects require more involved assistance, customers with eligible subscriptions can engage FastTrack for support. Customers are also encouraged to engage a Microsoft Partner for assistance planning or executing their upgrades from Skype for Business to Teams.
Plan today for success in the months ahead
If you’ve already started your journey to Teams, keep it up. Each organization has its unique technical environment, application and process integrations, and aptitude for change that can shorten or extend the path to “Teams Only”. With a comprehensive upgrade plan in place, you’ll be ready to handle the expected as well as the unforeseen. Upgrade from Skype for Business to Teams and enable your organization to meet, chat, share, and collaborate from wherever they are, until the time is right for everyone to be together again.
See you on Teams!