Microsoft has officially announced: Project Online will be shut down on September 30, 2026. Companies that have been using Project Online up to now should look into alternatives and migration strategies at an early stage. We answer frequently asked questions and show why we think this is a positive development overall.
Project Online will no longer be available from 30.09.2026.
The Microsoft Project Server Subscription Edition will remain available.
The Microsoft Project Desktop App will remain available.
Microsoft has been offering more modern apps for project management and agile software development for some time now, namely Planner, Loop, Azure DevOps and Dynamics 365 Project Operations.
There are two products behind Microsoft Planner: Planner Premium (originally Microsoft Project for the web) and Planner Basic (originally Planner). The Planner Premium plans use the logic of Microsoft Project internally and come closest to it. Basic plans are particularly suitable for managing a simple Kanban board.
A new addition is Microsoft Loop, which is partially integrated into Planner and To Do for task management and is essentially a type of wiki that also forms the basis for Copilot Pages.
Microsoft Azure DevOps and Azure Boards also offer functions that are particularly suitable for agile product development.
And finally, there is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations, Microsoft's solution for large professional service organizations.
What all of these solutions lack, however, is the ability to manage projects and products across the organization, e.g. for requirements management, scenario planning, portfolio management, program management, simple overarching resource management and also the ability to integrate apps with each other and with products from other manufacturers such as Atlassian Jira.
The gap is being filled by more powerful next-gen PPM solutions based on the Microsoft Power Platform, such as Projectum xPM and Altus.
The shutdown of Project Online is a challenge - but also an opportunity. Companies can use the change to modernize their project landscape and introduce more powerful next-gen PPM solutions. These solutions offer many advantages over Project Online:
They support the processes of requirements management, scenario planning, portfolio management, program management, resource management, agile product management and time tracking and have a more powerful reporting system. They only supplement what Microsoft itself does not offer and make ideal use of Microsoft 365, e.g. Microsoft Teams, Power BI and Power Apps. Thanks to Microsoft's Copilot AI, these solutions are perfectly geared towards the future. They also integrate Planner Basic and Premium as well as Azure DevOps and Atlassian Jira.
Basically, there is a wide range of project management solutions available to you as a user.
The market for project and portfolio management software can be roughly divided into two categories: standalone SaaS solutions and solutions based on no-code or low-code platforms. Standalone SaaS products are usually ready to use quickly, but often have the disadvantage that they duplicate functions that are already available in a Microsoft 365 environment - such as the chat function of Microsoft Teams or reporting with Power BI.
In addition, the IT department has to check each additional solution individually for data security and, if necessary, establish new processes for operation and integration. Furthermore, these systems can usually only be adapted within the scope of the intended configuration options - flexible expansion is not usually provided for.
In contrast, project and portfolio management software based on no-code/low-code platformsthat do not originate from Microsoft already offer freer expansion. However, for organizations that already use Microsoft 365, these solutions also have the disadvantage that many functions are redundant to those of Microsoft. In addition, they do not benefit from one of the best platforms in this area and there is the added expense of data security, operation and integration.
Both Projectum and Altus and the organization behind them, Sensei, are companies that have implemented PPM solutions based on Microsoft technologies for decades. Both have had established PPM solutions on the market for many years, which are used by a large number of satisfied international customers. The two solutions have different profiles. Depending on the respective application, one or the other is more suitable. Both are genuine standard products that are regularly updated by the manufacturer.
This makes them fundamentally different from many other solutions, especially in the German-speaking market, which are more like individual software that the customer has to maintain and service as part of consulting projects.
Holert has been implementing Microsoft-based project and portfolio management solutions as well as solutions for agile product development for over 20 years. With a team of over 35 employees, Holert started over five years ago to prepare existing customers for the time after Project Online and to migrate to the modern next-gen solutions Altus (formerly called Sensei IQ) and Projectum xPM (formerly called Projectum Power PPM). Holert's in-depth knowledge of Project Online will greatly facilitate the transition. Holert also has experience in migrating to Altus and Projectum xPM at KPT, Rohde & Schwarz, KUKA, Amer Sports, KWS, LAPP, Stadtreinigung Hamburg, Accompio, Frischli, Swoboda and SteelcoBelimed(Miele), among others.
Further references can be found here: Holert project management and portfolio management references
Access to Project Online data will be discontinued from September 30, 2026. This leaves only limited time for an orderly migration. Such projects require far more than just technical adjustments: Change management, training and the introduction of new processes are also necessary. Starting early reduces risks and ensures a smooth transition.
If you would like to discuss now what the upcoming end of Project Online means for your organization and what migration paths could look like, please contact us or make an appointment with us directly.
In order to find the best approach and target solution for your organization for the replacement of Project Online, Holert has the following offers:
To get an overview of the new solutions, feel free to watch the recordings of our previous events with VOLVO, KPT and Miele and meet us at the following events:
Follow us on LinkedIn, where we will be publishing more about the end of Project Online and tips & tricks for improving the effectiveness of your PMO in the near future.
If you would like to discuss now what the upcoming end of Project Online means for your organization, please contact us or make an appointment with us directly.
Microsoft announced on September 5, 2025, with one day's notice to partners, that Project Online will be retiring on September 30, 2026: Microsoft Project Online is retiring: What you need to know
Project Online is based on outdated architecture that prevents innovation - such as integration with modern tools like the Power Platform or Microsoft 365 Copilot. Microsoft is therefore investing in a new generation of intuitive, scalable work management solutions such as Microsoft Planner.
The data on the SharePoint sites of Project Online, such as risks, issues or documents, are also affected by the shutdown. Microsoft offers free migration tools for this. We would also be happy to support you here with a migration to the Power Platform or for the documents to modern SharePoint sites. Our Power Apps-based solutions Altus and Projectum xPM also offer SharePoint/Teams integration.
Altus PPM and Projectum xPM in particular come from two internationally renowned manufacturers who were former implementation partners of Microsoft Project Online. Both have developed internationally leading next-gen project and portfolio management solutions that make the transition from Project Online and Project Server easy - both through a one-off migration and through synchronization during a transition period. In addition, the Microsoft Project Desktop app can continue to be used for a transition period or permanently, making the changeover much easier for project managers.
Yes, firstly, the Microsoft Project Desktop app is not affected by the shutdown of the online service and will continue to be maintained and updated by Microsoft. The desktop app, or rather "MS Project", is synonymous with project management software. There is hardly any software that does not have an interface to MS Project. There are many people who are familiar with the desktop app and appreciate the Excel-like operation, which no web application offers in this form.
You can therefore continue to use Microsoft Project, but you can no longer save the data directly in Project Online. Alternatively, the project plans can be saved in the file system and stored in the Microsoft Cloud via Allocatus, for example, and thus the tasks from MS Project can be transferred to the employees' Outlook calendars and the actual Gantt chart can be shared with the team via the web interface, e.g. in Microsoft Teams.
Alternatively, you can also save Microsoft Project projects directly in Altus and Projectum xPM in Microsoft 365 (Dataverse). There is then no storage in the file system, but the projects are automatically reopened directly in MS Project on both solutions.
No, Microsoft Project Server Subscription Edition (SE) is just as little affected by the shutdown as SharePoint Server Subscription Edition and remains in active maintenance. Project Server Subscription Edition follows the Modern Lifecycle Policy, which means that Microsoft will announce the end of maintenance at least 12 months in advance. However, end of maintenance also means that you can use the software beyond this date.
These are technically two different technologies. As far as we currently know, Project Online data can be exported via interfaces; our next-gen PPM solutions Altus and Projectum xPM can import the data directly. The Microsoft Project Accelerator is based on Project for the web (now Planner Premium). This data will be retained and is not affected by the shutdown of Project Online.
Yes, you can continue to use the Microsoft Project Desktop app as a project manager with both Altus and Projectum xPM. However, the data is not stored in Project Online, but in Dataverse, Microsoft's modern Power Platform.
Based on the solutions from the manufacturers Altus and Projectum, Holert offers extended migration routines that have been specially adapted for the DACH region, allowing you to see your data in the new solution during test operation.
You can find a brief overview of the solutions here: Project management with Microsoft and Atlassian
Watch the recordings of our previous events or meet us at one of our future events: PMO/VMO and Project Management Events
Visit the vendor websites: Altus and Projectum
In addition to Planner, Loop and Project Operations, the project and portfolio management solutions from Altus and Projectum keep their data exclusively in the customer's tenant.
Renke Holert: Sep 13, 2025 8:11:17 AM
Microsoft has officially announced: Project Online will be shut down on September 30, 2026. Companies that have been using Project Online up to now...
Renke Holert