SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 end of support: what to do with old sites

What end of support means for an on-premises farm#

End of support for SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 means Microsoft stops releasing security updates, bug fixes and assisted support for those versions under its lifecycle policy. The farm does not shut off. Sites still load, search still runs and users can still check documents in and out.

The risk is cumulative. Each new vulnerability in SharePoint, in the Windows Server and SQL Server stack beneath it, or in its integrations stays open. Cyber insurers, auditors and client security questionnaires often ask whether business systems run on unsupported software, and an old farm turns the answer into yes.

Confirm the exact dates for your version and its dependencies on Microsoft's lifecycle pages. The operating system and database under the farm may follow their own timelines.

Why engineering and architecture firms still run old farms#

Engineering and architecture firms still run old SharePoint farms because the farms hold project history nobody wants to move by hand. A common layout gives each project its own site, with libraries for drawings, calculations, transmittals, RFIs, submittals, meeting minutes and correspondence, tagged with project number, discipline, phase and revision.

Over time the farm becomes the firm's memory. Closed projects stay online because a past client may return with a question, a claim may surface, or a principal wants to reuse an approach. Active work has often moved to Microsoft 365, Procore or a document management system already, leaving the farm as an archive that still needs patching.

Integrations make the farm harder to retire. Project accounting systems such as Deltek or BQE may store links to documents, markup tools such as Bluebeam may open files from mapped libraries, and scripts written by a former IT contractor may move files between sites. Each one breaks quietly when the farm goes away, so list them before any cutover date is set.

Migrate, upgrade or archive: a decision table#

The choice between migrating, upgrading and archiving depends on whether a site is still used, whether its data must stay on-premises, and how much custom code it carries. Most firms use more than one path across the same farm.

Archive and retire is often the right answer for the long tail of closed project sites. Migrating years of untouched project folders into a live collaboration platform adds storage, search noise and permission sprawl without adding any use.

If you migrate, check the destination's version settings before moving drawings with deep revision histories. Microsoft says the default organization setting for SharePoint in Microsoft 365 uses manual limits of 500 major versions with no expiration, and that changing the org-level setting does not update or trim existing libraries. Tenants that switched to automatic trimming or tighter per-library limits may keep far fewer versions than the old farm did.

Inventory checklist before you choose#

An inventory of the farm lists every site collection and what it holds, so each one can be assigned a path. Most of the information comes from SharePoint's management tools or a migration assessment tool, without opening documents.

Flag client-owned material during the inventory. Project sites mix the firm's internal reviews and calculations with deliverables and drawings that contracts may assign to the client.

• 1Site collections and subsites, with owners, created dates and last modified dates.
• 2Document libraries and lists, with item counts and total size per content database.
• 3Version history settings and how many versions files actually carry.
• 4Content types and metadata columns such as project number, discipline, phase and revision.
• 5Workflows, InfoPath forms, custom web parts and farm solutions that may lack a direct equivalent.
• 6Unique permissions, external users and groups that no longer map to current staff.
• 7Checked-out files, files over the target platform's limits and very long file paths.
• 8Links from other systems, such as project accounting records that point to document URLs.

What an archive of old sites needs to keep#

An archive of old SharePoint sites needs to keep more than the latest copy of each file. Version history shows who changed a drawing or a calculation and when, metadata ties files to projects and phases, and permission records show who could see what.

Store the archive in storage the firm controls, with a manifest per site and a short readme. A read-only file share with manifests is usually easier to search later than a database backup that needs a matching farm to restore.

Illustrative: a structural engineering firm with years of project sites#

Illustrative: a fictional mid-sized structural engineering firm runs a SharePoint Server 2016 farm with one site per project. Active projects moved to Microsoft 365 some time ago, but the farm still holds closed projects going back many years, each with calculations, drawings, RFI logs and internal review comments.

The IT lead runs an inventory and finds that only a small set of sites were opened recently. Those migrate to Microsoft 365. The rest are exported with full version history and a metadata manifest to encrypted, firm-controlled storage, and the farm is retired. A principal tags client-owned deliverables, so the firm's own review records and design reasoning sit apart from client property.

The firm now has one archive it can search for claims and reuse, and a clean record of what belongs to whom if it ever considers licensing internal project records.

How SourceX looks at old project archives#

SourceX looks at old project archives for internal work records: review comments, RFI responses, scheduling and staffing decisions, and the reasoning behind design choices. Client-owned deliverables and customer drawings are usually carved out unless the contracts allow use.

Each candidate package moves through the SourceX five-step transaction: Supply, Rights, Preparation, Approval and Delivery. The fit check uses inventory metadata only, the archive stays in the firm's storage, and the SourceX Evidence Packet records provenance, licensing rights, permitted use, the privacy record and release authorization.