Why Your Business Might Want to Switch to Microsoft 365 Before October 2020

Introduction

If you’ve used Microsoft products for a while, you’ll know that the company is no stranger to making big changes.

We’ve already covered Microsoft Office 2010 going end-of-life in October 2020, but it turns out there’s a bit more to this story.

If your business is using any of the standalone versions of Microsoft Office – as opposed to the subscription-based Microsoft 365 – these upcoming changes will be of particular interest to you. These packages include Office 2013, Office 2016, and Office 2019.

Here’s everything you need to know about what’s coming on October 13th 2020 – and beyond.

Cloud service connectivity changes for standalone Office installations

As Microsoft recently reconfirmed on their blog, the company has been planning for a few years to adjust its support for connectivity from older, standalone versions of Office to the latest 365-powered services. These services include any of the online aspects of Office, including both Outlook and SharePoint.

This means that, after October 13th 2020, connectivity to 365 services will no longer be officially supported for standalone versions of Microsoft Office prior to Office 2016 (for Windows) and Office 2019 (for Windows and Mac).

In real terms, it’s likely that nothing will change for those using older versions – at least not straight away. That said, there are no guarantees that connectivity to 365 cloud services, including your Outlook email accounts, will be stable or consistent – and it’s possible (but unlikely) that they’ll simply stop working altogether at some point.

In the words of Microsoft themselves:

“Microsoft will not take any active measures to block legacy versions of the Office client from connecting to Office 365 services, but these older clients may encounter performance and/or reliability issues over time.”

A note about connectivity in Office 2016 and Office 2019

Okay, so if you’re using Microsoft Office 2016 or Office 2019, you’ll be set for the full 10 years of support it offers as standard, including all of those 365 cloud services… right?

Sadly, that’s not quite true.

Originally, this same October 13th 2020 date for connectivity adjustments also applied to Office 2016 for Windows. Thanks to customer pressure (and the impact of COVID-19), Microsoft has now extended this to October 2023. This might sound like a positive step, but, in reality, it actually means that the usual 10 years of full support Microsoft offers for its standalone products is technically reduced by 5 years.

While you’ll still receive security updates for the full 10 years, connections to cloud-based 365 services will not be guaranteed after 2023 – even for the latest Office 2019 owners.

Beyond 2020: Changes to Office authentication

The final update we’ll look at in this guide refers to the authentication methods Office uses to connect users to its online services, like Outlook.

In simple terms, Microsoft is planning to disable the less secure ‘Basic Authentication’ method used by older standalone Office packages. This method is effectively a username and password – no bells and whistles (but also very little security). In its place, Microsoft will support only ‘Modern Authentication’ which is used by Microsoft 365 and enables advanced security such as Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

Due to the impact of COVID-19, this change is currently scheduled for the latter half of 2021.

So how will it impact you (or, how can you work around it)? Here’s a quick per-platform summary:

• If you’re already using Microsoft 365 and created your ‘tenant’ before August 1st, 2017, you’ll need to enable Modern Authentication in your Admin Centre. Your IT administrator or support team will be able to help you with this (or you can always ask the Get Support team).
• If you’re using Outlook 2013, you’ll need to make a registry change and recreate your mail client profile. Making these changes will require some technical know-how, so your IT team should be able to assist – or you can just drop us a line.
• If you’re using the default mail app for Android, you’ll need to switch to Outlook app or another client which supports Modern Authentication.
• If you’re using Office 2016 for Windows or later, (or, of course, Microsoft 365), you won’t be affected.

What to do if you’re using legacy standalone versions of Microsoft Office

Let’s imagine your business is still using a standalone version of Microsoft Office.

With so many changes on the horizon, you’ll probably want to reassess your approach to Microsoft Office and how best to use it within your company.

So, what are your options?

It’s clear that Microsoft is trying to push people towards using Microsoft 365, its all-singing, all-dancing cloud-based productivity suite. There’s a lot to love about Microsoft 365 – as we discussed in a previous article – but we also know that not everyone loves the subscription model.

If you prefer the standalone Office experience, there’s no doubt your options are a bit more limited.

You can either stick with your existing package, with the understanding that its cloud-based features may be limited over time, or you can wait for the next mainline entry in the Office series – potentially Office 2022. While no announcements have currently been made, the Office team has made a commitment to continue production of standalone versions of Office alongside 365 – so watch this space.

Ready to make the switch to Microsoft 365? Talk to Get Support today

We know that switching to a subscription plan can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be difficult.

At Get Support, we’ve helped countless customers make the switch the most up-to-date version of Microsoft’s productivity suite, Microsoft 365.

If you’d like to discover just how simple it could be for your business to make the move, call the team today on 01865 59 4000 to discuss your options in detail.