Microsoft has announced that Project Online will be retired on 30 September 2026. For organisations that rely on it to manage their project portfolios, this is a significant change requiring careful planning and prompt action. Below, we answer the key questions to help you navigate the transition.
Q: Why is Project Online being discontinued, and what alternatives are available?
Microsoft is retiring Project Online as part of its broader shift toward modern, cloud-native productivity tools. With retirement comes a hard deadline: all organisations must migrate off the platform before access is cut off entirely at the end of September.
There are three main alternatives to consider, each suited to different circumstances:
Microsoft Planner is the natural successor for teams that can move away from mature scheduling features. It is lightweight, well-integrated with Microsoft 365, and straightforward to adopt. If your organisation’s project management needs have evolved beyond the complexity that Project Online was built for, Planner may be all you need.
Project Server for SharePoint (PSSE) is worth considering if your organisation needs an interim solution and has the IT capability to provision and support an on-premises or hybrid deployment. It provides much of the familiar Project Online functionality but requires a greater infrastructure commitment.
Altus is the recommended modern alternative for organisations that need a capable, purpose-built project and portfolio management tool. It offers a contemporary interface, strong functionality, native integration with MS Project Desktop and dedicated tooling to support the migration from Project Online.
Q: How will the transition from Project Online impact current users and ongoing projects?
The impact is significant and universal: all users and all projects must migrate off Project Online before the retirement date. There are no exceptions and no extensions anticipated. Organisations that delay risk losing access to their project data, their schedules, their reporting, and their associated SharePoint sites with no ability to retrieve them after the cutoff.
The sooner your organisation begins evaluating options and planning the migration, the more control you will have over the process and the less disruption your teams will experience.
Q: What are the key dates and deadlines for Project Online migration?
Three dates should be firmly on your radar:
- All data must be off Project Online by 30 September 2026. This is a hard deadline.
- A platform decision needs to be made by the end of March 2026. Delaying this decision compresses the time available for planning, testing, and go-live.
- Data migration and go-live in your new tool should begin in August 2026 at the latest. Starting earlier is strongly recommended to reduce risk and allow time to resolve any issues before the final cutoff.
The timeline is tighter than it may appear. Acting now on your platform decision is essential.
Q: What steps should organisations take to prepare for the change from Project Online?
The most important immediate actions are:
- Quickly rule Microsoft Planner in or out. If your organisation can genuinely operate with simpler scheduling and task management, Planner removes complexity from the migration. If not, move on to evaluating PSSE or Altus.
- Rule Project Servicer Subscription Edition in or out based on your IT environment. If your IT team can provision and support an on-premises deployment and you need a bridging solution, PSSE is a viable interim path. Otherwise, a move directly to a modern platform like Altus is likely the better long-term decision.
- Engage with Sensei. Sensei has deep expertise in this transition and can help your organisation assess its options, build a migration plan, and execute it safely within the required timeframe.
Q: Are there tools or resources to help with data migration from Project Online?
Yes. Altus provides a dedicated data migration tool that allows organisations to export their data from Project Online and import it directly into Altus. This significantly reduces the manual effort involved in migrating active and historical project data and helps preserve the continuity of your project records.
Sensei can assist with the end-to-end migration process, from preparing your data for export through to validating the import and configuring your new environment.
Q: Where can users find support or guidance during the Project Online transition?
Sensei is the primary point of contact for organisations navigating this transition. Whether you need help choosing a platform, scoping the migration, managing stakeholder communications, or executing the technical migration, Sensei can provide the guidance and hands-on support required.
We strongly encourage organisations to reach out as soon as possible. The available lead time is limited, and demand for migration support will increase as the retirement date approaches.
Q: What happens to historic project data after Project Online is retired?
Once Project Online is retired, you will lose all access to all data held within the platform. This includes project schedules, task history, resource assignments, timesheets, and any other records stored in Project Online. There is no retrieval mechanism after the cutoff date.
Migrating your data to a new platform before 30 September 2026 is the only way to preserve it. This makes early action not just a matter of operational continuity, but of long-term record keeping.
Q: What happens to PWA SharePoint sites after Project Online ends?
The impact extends beyond Project Online itself. It is understood that the entire PWA (Project Web App) site collection will be removed as part of the retirement process. This means that all SharePoint sites, lists, documents, and other content hosted within the PWA site collection will also become inaccessible.
Organisations should audit their PWA SharePoint environment now to identify any content that needs to be preserved or migrated independently of the Project Online data. Assuming that SharePoint content will remain accessible after the Project Online retirement would be a significant and potentially costly mistake.
Get in touch
If your organisation is using Project Online and has not yet begun planning for the transition, now is the time to start. Contact Sensei to discuss your options and build a migration plan that keeps you ahead of the September 2026 deadline.
