Useful resources for transitioning to Microsoft 365 Apps (now that some MS Office support has ended)

Starting October 13th, 2020, Microsoft will no longer provide technical support, bug fixes, or security updates for Microsoft Office 2010 and Office 2016 for Mac. Jared Spataro, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President, clarified that: “organizations that continue to use [Microsoft Office 2010 and Office 2016 for Mac] may face increased security risks and compliance issues over time”.   

Also, these two versions of Office for Mac, will not be able to connect to Office 365 Services, such as Exchange Online and SharePoint Online. Customers will now need Microsoft 365 Apps for Business or Enterprise, Office 2019 or Office 2016. 

This decision, first announced in April 2017, signals Microsoft’s commitment to new forms of working, embracing the change the world is going through and the need for organizations to remain agile, connected and secure.  

Nevertheless, Microsoft understands that not every company is at the same stage of their cloud adoption journey, so they’ve offered some resources to help those companies that still need to have on-premises deployments.  

Resources for transitioning to Microsoft 365 Apps  

• The Office 2010 end of support roadmap is a great place to start your migration. Walking you through the steps you’ll need to take and the resources available at each stage.   
• The Deployment Guide for Microsoft 365 Apps provides the most up-to-date deployment and servicing guidance. Including how to use the Readiness Toolkit to help you identify compatibility issues with Office add-ins, and Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macros.   
• For customers using Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, the Microsoft 365 Apps upgrade readiness dashboard shows which devices in the environment are ready to upgrade to Microsoft 365 Apps, including add-in and macro compatibility.  
• Research from more than 500 organizations demonstrates that customers who have taken the journey to Microsoft 365 are seeing productivity, security, and management benefits from the integrated solution.

Download this eBook to learn more about their experiences, and the business impact they’ve seen to date.   

If you have any questions or need guidance for your transition, don’t hesitate to reach out.