In recent weeks we had a couple of discussions with customers planning to upgrade from SharePoint Server 2016 to SharePoint Server 2019.
What was interesting to hear was that some customers were not aware that SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 will both reach end of support on the same day: July 14th, 2026
As SharePoint Server 2016 can be directly upgraded to SharePoint Server Subscription Editon (unlike earlier versions where it was unsupported to skip an intermediate product version) upgrading from SharePoint Server 2016 to SharePoint Server Subscription Edition is not more complex as upgrading to SharePoint Server 2019.
Also keep in mind that SharePoint Server 2019 will reach end of mainstream support next year in January – just 6 months from now. After this date only security related fixes will be released.
Planning a migration from SharePoint Server 2016 to 2019 would require a very good reasoning which would not include the support lifecycle.
The general recommendation is to plan upgrades for SharePoint Server 2016 to Subscription Edition rather than SharePoint Server 2019.
References:
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Thank you for sharing this! My first thought that came to my mind is, will the support for SP2019 remain the same after Jan 9, 2024? Will there be any changes after that date (until EOL of course)?
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Hi Rickard,
in detail this can only be answered on a case-by-case basis.
The general rule is that as long as the issue can be resolve through config changes the support experience will be the same.
Issues caused by a problem in the product would result in an ask to upgrade to SharePoint Server Subscription Edition.
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Stefan
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Hello,
I see it’s possible to migrate from SharePoint 2016 directly to SharePoint SE.
Now our licensing consultant has informed us that this is not permitted under the licensing law.
He refers to
“Active Software Assurance or a subscription license is required to run and access SharePoint Server Subscription Edition software (server and CAL). SharePoint Server Subscription Edition licenses include a perpetual entitlement to run SharePoint Server 2019 software only. If Software Assurance coverage lapses, or Customer purchases a buyout license, Customer must uninstall Subscription Edition Software and may install version 2019 software.” (https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/terms/productoffering/SharePointServer/OVOVS)
The words “run SharePoint Server 2019 software only” prompt him to make this statement.
I interpret this differently, not in relation to the process of direct migration, but to the operation of the SharePoint servers in the farm.
Can you be more specific here?
Thanks for your patience!
Tobia
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Hi Tobia,
sorry I cannot comment on licensing specific questions. Please contact your Licensing contact for this.
But to support your assumption: upgrading from SP2016 to SPSE is fully supported and a common practice and used by a large number of customers.
Cheers,
Stefan
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Hi Stefan
We’re considering upgrade from Sharepoin2013 to SharepointSE, considering that we’re NOT using SPS for Document management, but mainly for department websites. We’ve also developed some custom fields, using BCS, developed some webparts etc.
Moreover, our current SPS2013 was upgraded from SPS2003.
We think that a Go/No-Go point, would be after upgrading to SPS2016, and then decide whether to continue with upgrade up to SE version.
How do you recommend to manage this kind of upgrade?
The upgrade from SPS2007 to SPS2013 was pretty hard… It took over a year.
Regards,
Asaf