Before there was Skype, there was Lync – and before that there was Office Communications. This replacement isn’t surprising for those who have followed Microsoft’s evolution in this product category. Microsoft takes aim squarely at Slack with this move as it seeks more share of the workplace collaboration market. The second update is on Skype for Business, which will soon be replaced by Microsoft Teams (despite Teams not being even one year old). Knowing what’s most important to your business from a feature and functionality perspective, and Microsoft’s roadmap as it relates to those aspects, should weigh into your decision (as well as which license/subscription option you ultimately pursue). While some of the feature enhancements are useful, many are more directed towards UI improvement and other “flash-and-sparkle”-type improvements. If you’re mulling the switch from on-premise Office to O365, it’s important to assess whether you need/want the feature upgrades being delivered. Companies are finding it harder to stay with SA on on-premise Office as their refresh cycles are lengthening. This is certainly where Office 365’s “continual updates” prove to be a benefit, and one of the reasons why enterprise customers are flocking to the solution. If you’re using Office 365, you’re probably already taking advantage of many of these updates and feature upgrades. Office 2019 will be interesting primarily for users/businesses that are still using the on-premise version of Office. Service enhancements to usability, security, voice and manageability will also be included. Microsoft Office 2019 will come with updated versions of the usual application suspects (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook client applications) along with the respective server software versions (Exchange, SharePoint and Skype for Business).

As we work with clients, we’re finding that they’re not necessarily aware of this news and its implications.įirst is the release of Microsoft Office 2019, scheduled for the second half of 2018. In case you missed the news that came out of Microsoft’s Ignite! last fall, here are two items regarding Microsoft Office 2019 and Skype for Business that impact enterprise customers.

Lync skype for business update