Microsoft Project · Migration
Project Online to Project Server Subscription Edition
Microsoft retired Project Online on 30 September 2026. There is no database migration path out of it, and the schedules were always the easy part. We have taken an organisation through a Microsoft Project Server migration end to end — environment build, configuration reconstruction, import and verification.
Where you stand now
The deadline has passed. Three situations, three different jobs.
You migrated already
Worth a second pair of eyes on the result. The faults we have seen were not in the transfer — they were settings that reported success and changed nothing. We can verify your new environment against what you expected.
You missed the deadline
If you still need to migrate from Project Online, it is harder but not hopeless. Local copies of schedules are now your primary source, and the environment rebuild never depended on the old service running. The first job is working out honestly what is recoverable.
You moved to a stopgap
Plenty of teams landed somewhere temporary to beat the date. If that is not where you want to stay, moving to Project Server Subscription Edition is a planned project rather than an emergency.
The part most plans get wrong
There is no database migration path.
A Project Online migration was never a database restore. You cannot back up a database and move it into the new environment, because Microsoft never exposed the Project Online database. So this was never a migration in the usual sense — it is a reconstruction, with the schedules moved in afterwards. That changes where the effort sits, and it is why “we will do it over a weekend” plans slipped.
Travels with you
- Task structures and outline
- Dependencies and constraints
- Resource assignments
- Baselines
- Actual work recorded to date
Rebuilt by hand
- Enterprise custom fields and lookup tables
- Views, tables, filters and groups
- Enterprise calendars
- Security groups and categories
- Project detail pages
Before you plan anything else: Project Server Subscription Edition requires the Enterprise edition of SharePoint Server Subscription Edition. It installs from the same media but cannot be enabled on Standard. This one stops projects before they start.
How we run it
Six stages, and the verification is not optional.
Inventory the source, read-only
Every project, custom field, lookup table and resource exported to file. Read-only throughout, because the source is production — and because later you will need to prove a value matches, and memory is not evidence.
Extract the schedules
Each enterprise project opened through Project Professional and saved locally. Automated rather than done by hand, because repetition is where mistakes enter.
Build the target environment
Windows Server, SQL Server, SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, then the Project Server service application and a PWA instance.
Rebuild the configuration
The long stretch. Custom fields, lookup tables, views, calendars, security categories and project detail pages, recreated from the exported inventory.
Import, publish and verify
Schedules imported and published, master projects reassembled, then total work, duration, start and finish compared across both environments — and the differences flagged.
Licence, secure and cut over
Project Server licensed and activated, certificate installed, HTTPS configured, full backup taken, and everything checked back in.
The most valuable thing we learned on the last one: verify from the system, never from your own log. A script that reports success has proved only that the script ran. Three separate faults on that engagement were settings that accepted every write and changed nothing. The full account is here.
Common questions
Project Online and Project Server, answered plainly.
Can I still migrate now that Project Online has retired?
Yes, but the work changes shape. Microsoft retired Project Online on 30 September 2026 with no grace period and no read-only window, so you can no longer connect to the source system to export from it. If your organisation kept local copies of schedules — anything saved out of Project Professional, emailed to a stakeholder, or sitting in someone’s OneDrive — those become your primary source. The environment rebuild was always manual and never depended on the old service running, so that part is unaffected.
What is the difference between Project Server and Project Online?
Project Server vs Project Online comes down to who runs the infrastructure. Project Online was Microsoft’s cloud-hosted service, billed per user and managed entirely by Microsoft. Project Server Subscription Edition is the same scheduling engine installed on infrastructure you control, on top of SharePoint Server Subscription Edition. Your schedules, custom fields and way of working carry across. What changes is that you now own the servers, the SQL instance, the patching and the backups.
Is there a database migration path from Project Online?
No. You cannot back up a database and restore it into the new environment. Microsoft never exposed the underlying Project Online database, and no third-party tool changes that. This single fact is why most migration plans ran over: the schedules transfer, but the surrounding configuration has to be rebuilt by hand.
What transfers automatically and what has to be rebuilt?
Schedules carry their real content across: task structures, dependencies, assignments, baselines and actual work. Everything else is recreated in the target environment by hand — enterprise custom fields, lookup tables, views, tables, filters, groups, enterprise calendars, security groups and categories, and project detail pages. Budget for the reconstruction and treat the schedule transfer as the small part.
Do I need the Enterprise edition of SharePoint?
Yes. Project Server Subscription Edition requires the Enterprise edition of SharePoint Server Subscription Edition. It installs from the same media but cannot be enabled on Standard. Confirm your licensing before planning anything else — this one stops projects before they start.
How long does a migration take?
It depends on how much configuration exists rather than how many projects you have. The environment build is predictable. The reconstruction of custom fields, views, calendars and security is the long stretch, and verification against the source adds time at the end. We will give you a realistic range once we have seen your inventory, not before.
What does it cost?
We quote per engagement after reviewing your environment, because the variable is configuration depth, not project count. There is no charge for the initial conversation or for telling you honestly that your situation is simpler than you feared.
Talk to someone who has done it
Work out where you actually stand.
A free 30-minute call. We will tell you what is recoverable, what has to be rebuilt, and what it realistically takes — including if the answer is that you do not need us.
Book a free consultation