End of Support for SharePoint 2016

End of Extended Support

Microsoft has officially announced that Extended Support for SharePoint Server 2016 will end on July 14, 2026. This marks the end of the product’s lifecycle, following ten years of mainstream and extended support. After this date, no further security patches, bug fixes, or performance updates will be released by Microsoft.

Running SharePoint 2016 beyond its end-of-support date means your environment will no longer receive critical security updates, leaving it vulnerable to potential threats and exploits. Even with strong internal IT controls, the absence of Microsoft’s ongoing protection introduces significant risk to your organization’s data integrity and compliance posture. Companies subject to audits or regulatory requirements may also find themselves out of alignment with IT security standards if they continue to operate on unsupported platforms.

Now is the time to start planning your migration or upgrade strategy to ensure business continuity, security, and full compatibility with modern technologies.

Ultimate Forms Support Policy

At Infowise, we align our product support timelines with Microsoft’s official SharePoint lifecycle. As a result, Infowise Ultimate Forms will follow the same cutoff date for SharePoint 2016 support.

On July 14, 2026, we will officially decommission all development and testing environments for SharePoint 2016. This means that our engineering team will no longer maintain or release new builds targeting this version. At that time, the Ultimate Forms source code will also be updated to target SharePoint 2019 and later versions (including SharePoint Subscription Edition).

After this transition:

• New releases of Ultimate Forms will no longer install on SharePoint 2016 environments.

• Existing installations will continue to function as they are, but Infowise will not be able to provide technical support involving bug fixes, troubleshooting, or environment-specific assistance for SharePoint 2016.

• Any issues requiring development-level changes will only be supported in SharePoint 2019, SharePoint Subscription Edition, or SharePoint Online environments.

We strongly recommend that organizations still using SharePoint 2016 begin planning their upgrade paths immediately to avoid service interruptions and maintain full access to support, updates, and future feature enhancements.

Migration Guidelines and Recommendations

Depending on your organization’s strategy, there are two main migration paths available:

1. Migration to a New On-Premises SharePoint Environment

If your organization intends to stay on-premises, the upgrade path is straightforward:

1. Deploy a new SharePoint farm (SharePoint 2019 or SharePoint Subscription Edition).

2. Install the latest version of Ultimate Forms on the new farm.

   • Contact Infowise Support to obtain a new set of license keys.

   • If your organization maintains an active Annual Support plan, these updated keys will be issued free of charge.

3. Migrate your content data by attaching your existing content databases to the new SharePoint farm.

   • This is typically the most efficient and reliable way to move existing lists, libraries, and configurations to a new version.

This approach ensures you remain on a secure, supported version of SharePoint while retaining all the benefits and functionality of Ultimate Forms. It also allows you to leverage new features available in modern SharePoint environments, such as improved UI, modern web parts, faster performance, and enhanced compliance capabilities.

2. Migration to SharePoint Online (Microsoft 365)

If you are ready to embrace the cloud-first model, moving to SharePoint Online under Microsoft 365 offers scalability, easier maintenance, and automatic updates.

In this case:

• We recommend using a third-party migration tool (such as ShareGate, Metalogix, or AvePoint) to streamline your migration process. These tools simplify the transfer of lists, libraries, and metadata from on-premises environments to SharePoint Online.

• You will need to subscribe to the SharePoint Online version of Ultimate Forms, which provides all the same powerful form-building, automation, and reporting capabilities, fully optimized for the cloud.

• Please note: on-premises Ultimate Forms licenses cannot be transferred to SharePoint Online. Cloud licensing operates on a subscription model through Infowise’s Microsoft 365 platform.

Migrating to SharePoint Online offers many long-term benefits. These include lower maintenance costs, instant scalability, native integration with Microsoft 365 apps, and access to new Ultimate Forms features that are continuously updated in the cloud.

Preparing for the Future

As SharePoint 2016 reaches the end of its lifecycle, organizations should view this as an opportunity to modernize their infrastructure. Whether you choose to move to SharePoint 2019, SharePoint Subscription Edition, or Microsoft 365, planning ahead will ensure a smooth and secure transition.

Infowise is committed to supporting you throughout this process — from consultation and migration planning to reinstallation and configuration assistance.

If you need guidance or support in designing your migration strategy, reach out to our team at support@infowisesolutions.com.