The Difficulties and Dangers of Operating a SharePoint On-Prem Environment Without Support

Time flies and with a stable on-prem platform like Microsoft SharePoint you can quickly find yourself working in a platform that is a decade old and no longer supported. ?

Maintaining an on-premises SharePoint farm that is no longer supported by Microsoft can pose significant challenges and risks, both from a technical and business perspective. ?

Here are some of the primary issues you and your team might face:?

1 - Security Vulnerabilities?

One of the most critical concerns with unsupported software is the increased risk of security vulnerabilities. Once Microsoft stops providing security updates or patches, your system becomes increasingly vulnerable to new threats. This can lead to potential data breaches or unauthorised access, which could be catastrophic for business operations and data integrity.?

2 - Compliance Risks ?

Many industries are governed by strict regulatory standards that require companies to maintain secure and up-to-date systems. Running unsupported software could lead to non-compliance, resulting in legal penalties and damage to your company’s reputation.?

3 - Software Compatibility Issues?

As technology evolves, newer applications and systems may not be compatible with older versions of SharePoint. This can lead to integration issues, where newer tools or software that your business starts using cannot communicate effectively with the outdated SharePoint environment. This not only affects productivity but also limits your ability to leverage new technologies.?

4 - Decreased Productivity and User Experience?

Unsupported systems tend to become less efficient over time. Users might experience more frequent crashes, slower performance, and outdated features that do not meet modern usability standards. This can lead to frustration and decreased productivity among employees.?

5 - Costly Maintenance?

Maintaining an outdated system can be more expensive than upgrading. As issues become more complex and frequent, you might need to spend more on specialised skills and potentially costly custom solutions to keep the system running. Additionally, the cost of downtime, whether due to failures or maintenance, can significantly impact the business financially.?

6 - Lack of Vendor Support?

Without access to Microsoft support, resolving any issues that arise becomes more challenging. You are reliant on your internal IT team or external consultants, who might find it increasingly difficult to deal with complex problems without the backing of the original vendor. This can lead to longer downtimes and more trial-and-error in troubleshooting.?

7 - Difficulty in Finding Expertise?

As SharePoint on-premises versions become obsolete, fewer IT professionals will be specialising in it. This scarcity can make it more difficult and expensive to find qualified personnel to manage and maintain your SharePoint environment.?

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Given these challenges, organisations with unsupported SharePoint farms should urgently consider evaluating their long-term needs and possibly planning for migration to supported platforms, whether that be a newer version of SharePoint On-Premises or transitioning to SharePoint Online or another cloud solution. ?

This can help mitigate risks, reduce costs in the long run, and ensure a more robust and future-proof digital environment.?

?My advice is to plan and migrate early, but if your SharePoint farm has been in place for years and become?critical business tool that is now out of support this can become a huge project that the business does not have the resource to address. ?

If you find yourself in this situation then don’t panic, the tooling to migrate, such as Casper365, and the support for replacement technologies such as the Power platform or Logic Apps for workflows is all now well established, highly features and there to help.?

Help is at hand - Contact my team at Business Cloud Integration if you want to discuss your on-premisses legacy risks and plan a successful and non-disruptive migration. ?