Skype for Business Online is/was a communication platform for businesses, wherein users could message and video chat with each other in a work context. Before the days of COVID-19 where these platforms were plentiful, Skype for Business Online was one of the bigger names in the industry. However, since 2017, Microsoft has decided to retire the software, slowly replacing it with Microsoft Teams. If you’re the owner or stakeholder in a business that operates with Skype for Business Online, you’ll need to be ready to make the switch over to Microsoft Teams. The first thing users will want to do is make sure that both their teams are ready to transfer, and that their information within Skype is primed for transfer. It’s recommended that your users have ample time to adapt to Teams, rather than needing them to figure it out the day of an important meeting or presentation. The second thing that is strongly recommended is a free upgrade planning workshop, offered to all Skype for Business Online users. This will help users smoothly move their businesses from platform to platform. If you’re a Skype for Business Online user, this workshop is a crucial step in migrating your business. Since the process of moving your business over can take a while, you might not want to do everyone at once. If you have one team that’s especially busy, you might want to leave them for last so that they’re not sidetracked by the move. The migration system does allow for compartmentalized moves, meaning you can take members across as you see fit. Don’t delay people too long, though, as the final change must be made by July 31st! Finally, you may be wondering why you need to bother with the migration at all. Why not just scrap Skype and start anew in Teams? Microsoft answers this question best: We’ve even done some research on how the platform matches up against other software. Check out our Zoom vs Microsoft Teams guide or our Google Meet vs Microsoft Teams guide to get a better idea of how this platform matches up against its competitors.
