Executive Guide: Building the Business Case for Migration — TCO, Risk & Adoption

With Microsoft Project Online officially set for retirement on September 30, 2026, organizations have a critical window to build a strong business case for migration. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to frame quantitative and qualitative ROI, assess risk avoidance, and drive adoption to make the migration decision clear, compelling, and credible.

Why this migration matters 

Legacy deadlines and strategic implications 

• Microsoft’s announcement: Project Online (cloud) will retire on Sept 30, 2026.  

• Key technology dependencies are being phased out (e.g., SharePoint 2013 workflows impacting Project Online custom workflows).  

• For organizations still running Project Online, the status quo carries hidden costs—both direct (maintenance, license) and indirect (risk, missed innovation). 

Strategic opportunity

This isn't just a compliance. It's a chance to modernize how work gets done, improve collaboration, and align with future ways of working. 

Quantitative ROI: The hard numbers 

To build a business case, you’ll want to calculate the total cost of ownership (TCO) today vs. the cost of migration + future state. Then connect that to measurable benefits.

Current-state TCO 

Consider the costs you are already incurring: 

• Licence/subscription costs for Project Online + any add-ons/integrations. 

• Infrastructure costs and custom workflow expenses. 

• Support and maintenance: staffing, bug fixes, workarounds for aging architecture. 

• Opportunity cost: slower delivery time, longer training, and less integration with newer tools. 

Future-state cost

• Migration cost: planning, data transfer, user training, and change management. 

• New license cost: whatever tool you migrate to (e.g., Microsoft Planner Premium or a PPM platform). 

• Ongoing support and operations in the new environment (which should ideally be lower).  

Benefits = Savings + Value 

Here are some typical benefit areas you’ll want to quantify: 

• Efficiency gains: fewer manual steps, less duplicate data entry, faster approvals.  

• Reduced licence/support spend: If legacy support fees or custom service fees drop. 

• Faster time to market / delivery: Projects delivered sooner = earlier benefit realization. 

• Avoid cost of downtime or data loss: If you’re relying on a system nearing end-of-life, one significant incident could cost tens or hundreds of thousands. 

Qualitative ROI & Risk Avoidance 

Numbers are important, but so are narrative and risk. Executives care about what doesn’t happen as much as what does. 

Qualitative benefits

• Modern user experience: With an up-to-date platform, you get better adoption, happier users, and less training friction. 

• Better alignment with hybrid/remote work: Newer tools are designed for collaboration, mobile, and cross‐team visibility. 

• Scalability & futureproofing: Avoid being stuck on legacy tech that cannot integrate easily with new systems (AI, analytics, Power Platform). 

• Brand and talent attraction: Using modern tools helps position your organization as forward-looking, valuable for recruiting and retention.  

Risk avoidance (often understated) 

• End-of-life risk: When a vendor retires from a product (Project Online), support ends, vulnerabilities mount, and hidden costs increase. 

• Data loss/service disruption: Using unsupported workflows or custom add-ins means increased risk (e.g., for Project Online; dependencies on SharePoint add-ins become unsupported after Apr 2, 2026). 

• Technical debt: Staying on legacy means accumulating more work later; higher costs, slower change. 

• Opportunity cost of innovation: If your project management stack cannot integrate seamlessly with modern analytics, automation or Power Platform, you miss next-gen benefits. 

• Regulatory/compliance risk: Unsupported systems may breach standards, lack patches, and expose security risk. 

Adoption and change management — make the migration stick 

A business case only pays off if adoption happens. Transformation isn’t just about technology—it’s people, process, and culture. 

Key levers to support adoption 

• Executive sponsorship: A clearly visible leadership signal helps cut through inertia. 

• Early champions and pilot teams: Start with a few teams, show wins, build momentum. 

• Training and support: Build targeted training for different user roles (PMO, project leads, team members). 

• Communication plan: Regular updates, success stories, what changes, and how users benefit. 

• Governance and metrics: Define how you’ll measure success (e.g., reduction in admin hours, % of projects using new tools). 

• Process alignment: Don’t simply move old processes into the new tool; re-think and optimize. 

• Legacy de-commission plan: Communicate end-dates, cut-over steps, and ensure legacy workload is migrated. 

Final Thoughts

Migrating from Project Online isn’t about reacting to a deadline — it’s about taking control of your digital future.  

By combining quantitative ROI (lower costs, higher efficiency) with qualitative ROI (better user experience, stronger collaboration, risk reduction), you create a migration story that appeals to both logic and leadership vision.  

Delaying migration only increases costs and complexity. Acting now turns uncertainty into opportunity. 

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The real question isn’t “Why migrate?” It’s “Why wait?”