Microsoft Urges Office Users To Upgrade To 365 — Or Face Doom

Support for Office 2016 and 2019 ends later this year, truthful nan institution is urging customers to move to nan cloud-based Microsoft 365.

Microsoft is urging Office 2016 and 2019 customers to upgrade to Microsoft 365 earlier support ends Oct. 14, but analysts said viable alternatives are disposable extracurricular Microsoft’s walled garden.

“Continuing to usage unsupported package tin expose your statement to information vulnerabilities, compliance risks, and operational disruptions,” nan company warned successful a blog post.

Microsoft 365 is nan cloud-based type of Microsoft Office, which besides includes Teams, Copilot and web-based collaborative features. It is available only by subscription, pinch prices starting astatine $9.99 a month, aliases $99.99 a twelvemonth for nan Personal edition.

The alternative, a standalone desktop type of Microsoft Office, doesn’t person nan AI and collaboration features, nor does it person Copilot or Teams. Users looking to switch Office 2016 aliases 2019 could besides opt for nan convenience of a one-time acquisition of Office 2024, which costs $149. 

Microsoft successful nan blog station talked only astir upgrading to M365, which ne'er expires. Office 2024 support ends successful October 2029.

Analysts said endeavor customers mightiness find upgrading to Microsoft 365 worthwhile for its generative AI (genAI) tools, collaborative features and security. Or, depending connected endeavor AI and productivity needs, they could jump vessel for rivals specified as Google Workspace. 

For endeavor customers worried astir information privateness successful nan cloud, nan desktop version of Office aliases free open-source alternatives specified arsenic LibreOffice might beryllium much attractive. The $149 value of Office 2024 mightiness besides beryllium cheaper than Microsoft 365 successful nan agelong run, analysts said.

Microsoft wants to move customers to Microsoft 365 subscription services, said Jason Wong, vice president astatine Gartner for connected app creation and development.

“This makes support easier and lowers nan costs of products for Microsoft, while astatine nan aforesaid clip it opens up galore up-sell and cross-sell opportunities specified arsenic information products, nan Power Platform tools, and of people M365 Copilot,” Wong said.

Basic Microsoft 365 editions for location users aliases business users don’t see Teams. But users tin get features that see Intune, Defender, Clipchamp and Loop astatine higher subscription prices.

For those who only request Microsoft Office apps that see PowerPoint and Word, nan standalone action could beryllium attractive, particularly if they already usage thing for illustration Google aliases Zoho for mail, calendar, and archive storage, said Irwin Lazar, main expert astatine Metrigy.

“For those wishing to return advantage of AI, an upgrade to M365 is simply a requirement. I expect that for [small and mid-sized businesses], Microsoft now offering M365 without Teams astatine a little value could beryllium attractive,” Lazar said. 

Metrigy successful a caller study noted that astir 25% of Microsoft customers were evaluating nan unbundled option. The study, Employee Experience Optimization: 2025, was published successful November.

“Google’s caller value increases for Workspace are apt to thief Microsoft, particularly for SMBs, though Google includes Gemini AI now pinch Workspace,” Lazar said.

Enterprises would spot worth successful moving from bequest on-prem, disconnected apps to Microsoft 365 though astatine this constituent those were astir apt Lotus aliases bequest on-prem Exchange/Sharepoint customers.  “The savings is apt to beryllium minimal if customers are already utilizing cloud-based services for document, email, and calendar,” Lazar said.

Some organizations are resisting nan push to nan unreality — chiefly European-based companies pinch stricter information requirements and regulations. “Cost besides plays a facet successful staying on-premise, but typically organizations recognize they won’t beryllium getting nan latest features and capabilities, for illustration generative AI and Copilot, if they take this path,” Wong said. 

Gartner sees clients evaluating rival suites to spot what life looks for illustration extracurricular of nan Microsoft ecosystem. “It typically comes down to familiarity of products and features for nan workers, and nan wide information and costs of ownership for IT to see whether to move aliases not,” Wong said.

Microsoft, for its part, painted a last day script to get users to upgrade to Microsoft 365 if they don’t discontinue Office 2016 aliases 2019 by nan clip support expires.