Another Microsoft service has been retired. This week marks the first work week where organizations do not have access to Skype for Business Online, a service that Redmond terminate on July 31.
Only a handful of exceptional cases can now use it, and even that is temporary.
This extinction has been on the way for two years, and Microsoft released several reminders about its impending termination. The service was finally knocked offline on the last day of the previous month, ending a solid run.
With this, finally, Teams is the only choice for companies that previously relied on Skype for their communication needs. And Redmond has already provided IT pros with tools to migrate their meeting data and contacts to the new platform.
The software titan explained the transitionary procedure in more detail in a blog post:
“Organizations who haven’t made a full transition from Skype for Business Online will be scheduled for a Microsoft-assisted upgrade to help with the last-mile technical steps getting to ‘Teams Only’. Scheduling notifications are sent to tenant admins within the Microsoft 365 Message Center and Teams admin center 90 days before the date of the assisted upgrade. Even after scheduling, customers may self-upgrade prior to the assisted upgrade date to better control the timing of their upgrade experience.”
Microsoft has been going all in on Teams these last couple of years, and shedding the Skype branding was the next logical step for the company.
This does not mean that Skype itself is going anywhere, at least not right now. The Business Online end of the communication service may have ceased operation, but the consumer variant of Skype persists, as does Skype for Business Servers.
But it is clear that the focus is now on Teams; the future is too.
