Skype for Business Online Retirement

Skype for Business Online Retirement – Your Questions Answered

Microsoft has made the decision to retire Skype for Business Online on July 31, 2021. It will remain fully operational until that date, but afterwards, the service will no longer exist for the vast majority of Skype users.

Why is this happening?

Microsoft believe (and who now would disagree?) that the hugely popular Teams platform is able to offer a richer and more comprehensive collaboration and communication service than Skype. As a result, the feeling is that Skype online has run its natural course.

Teams combines chat, video, calling, and document collaboration into a single, integrated app – and enables an entirely new way of working. For a few years now, Microsoft has been working closely with customers and partners to refine the platform. Then the disruption of the COVID pandemic thrust it into the spotlight as a quick and effective way to facilitate remote working. The truth is Teams offers so much more than just video conferencing, but that’s the function that led to a huge uptake of the product in 2020.

What do people think about this decision?

Customers who have already made the move from Skype for Business report that Teams has not only helped them improve collaboration generally, it has also provided a rare opportunity to rethink the way work gets done in their organisations.

Using Teams, companies across the world are becoming more agile, shortening cycle times, improving the efficiency of key workflows, and cutting out unnecessary overhead.

So, what can Teams offer my business that Skype for Business couldn’t?

Microsoft Teams extends the capabilities of Skype for Business, bringing together chat, meetings, calling, collaboration, app integration, and file storage into a single interface. This new central hub for teamwork can help streamline the way users get things done, improving user satisfaction and accelerating business outcomes.

Can I just wait till July to migrate across?

In theory, you could, but that doesn’t make good business sense. Even though the Skype for Business service will be fully operational until July 31, there are good reasons why you should begin your upgrade journey as soon as possible.

With a successful transition involving both technical and user readiness, you need to give yourself plenty of time to complete your upgrade and prepare your people well before the retirement date. Otherwise, you certainly won’t be able to hit the ground running.

Upgrading from Skype for Business to Teams represents a transformation in how you communicate and collaborate, and change is not always easy. The ideal upgrade approach should encourage user acceptance and adoption of Teams, driving a positive user experience and business outcome realisation.

Will we need help moving to Teams?

Many companies are choosing to enlist the help of an expert for their migration to Teams. These things are often not as easy as they sound but Resonate has the expertise and experience to make your transition effortless for you. We offer a full range of change and adoption services that advise you on the best way to set Teams up across your business, giving you as much or as little support as you want.

Our two Accelerator Packs – ‘Getting started with Teams’ and ‘Embedding Teams into the Business’ – are designed to enable small and medium-sized businesses to quickly realise the full benefits of the platform.

Resonate’s wealth of experience in enabling businesses to fully adopt Teams to help drive efficiency and manage workload migration will ensure you achieve the best possible ROI from the platform.