Manu Shukla

Posted on Aug 17 Originally published at ecorpit.com

SharePoint Development Company: Scoping Intranet Builds After the 14 July 2026 Cutoff

#sharepoint #microsoft365 #intranet #powerautomate

SharePoint development company: scoping intranet builds after the 14 July 2026 cutoff

Summary. SharePoint Server 2016 and SharePoint Server 2019 both left extended support on 14 July 2026, and Microsoft's lifecycle pages record the same extended end date of 15 July 2026 6:59:59 AM PT for each. SharePoint 2013 workflows were fully retired from Microsoft 365 on 2 April 2026. Microsoft has also put the standalone SharePoint Online plan 1 and plan 2 SKUs on a retirement schedule: end of sale June 2026, end of life January 2027, end of service December 2029. In India, SharePoint (Plan 1) lists at ₹415 per user per month paid yearly, Microsoft 365 Business Standard at ₹770, and Microsoft 365 Copilot at ₹2,495. Four things that survived on Subscription Edition until 14 July 2026 stopped being supported on that same day: InfoPath Forms Services, SharePoint 2010 workflows, SharePoint Designer 2013, and Basic authentication. A build scoped without those five dates in front of it will be re-scoped later at the client's cost.

The dates that set the scope

Most SharePoint quotes are written as if the platform were static. It is not. Microsoft's own lifecycle page for SharePoint Server 2019 records a start date of 22 October 2018, mainstream support ending 10 January 2024, and extended support ending 15 July 2026 6:59:59 AM PT. The SharePoint Server 2016 page records 1 May 2016, mainstream ending 14 July 2021, and the identical extended end date. Two product generations, ten years apart in release, expired on the same morning.

The consequence is not subtle. Both follow the Fixed Lifecycle Policy, which means no further security updates once the extended end date passes. Anything still on 2016 or 2019 today is an unpatched estate, and that is the estate most Indian and UK mid-market firms are actually running.

Cutoff	Date	What stops	Microsoft's stated replacement
SharePoint Server 2016 extended support	15 July 2026 6:59:59 AM PT	Security updates, assisted support	Subscription Edition or SharePoint in Microsoft 365
SharePoint Server 2019 extended support	15 July 2026 6:59:59 AM PT	Security updates, assisted support	Subscription Edition or SharePoint in Microsoft 365
SharePoint 2013 workflows in Microsoft 365	2 April 2026	Workflow execution in existing tenants	Power Automate
Standalone SPO/ODB plan 1 and plan 2, end of sale	June 2026	New tenant purchases (none after 31 May 2026)	Microsoft 365 suites
Standalone SPO/ODB plan 1 and plan 2, end of service	December 2029	The SKUs entirely	Suites, capacity packs, pay-as-you-go storage

Subscription Edition is not a safe harbour on its own

The common advice is to move an on-premises farm to SharePoint Server Subscription Edition and treat the problem as solved. Read Microsoft's deprecation list for Subscription Edition before you accept that. Four capabilities were supported on Subscription Edition only "until July 14, 2026", after which Microsoft states they are no longer supported:

InfoPath Forms Services, with Power Apps named as the alternative. SharePoint 2010 workflows, with SharePoint 2013 workflows or Power Automate named as alternatives. SharePoint Designer 2013, after which Visual Studio remains the supported way to create and edit SharePoint 2013 workflows. And Basic authentication, with Trusted Identity Provider named as the replacement.

That last one has been tightening for two years. From the 24H2 update in September 2024, Subscription Edition administrators can no longer create new web applications or web application extensions using Basic authentication; existing ones continue to function. So a farm that "works" today can still be un-buildable tomorrow.

Several features are already removed rather than deprecated on Subscription Edition: Access Services 2010, Access Services 2013, PerformancePoint Services, the stsadm.exe command-line tool, the Claims to Windows Token Service, classic authentication mode for content web applications, and Groove sync app support. PerformancePoint went because of its dependency on Microsoft Silverlight, unsupported since 12 October 2021, and Microsoft names Power BI as the alternative.

The one piece of good news in that document is the workflow engine. Microsoft states it will focus future investment and maintenance on SharePoint Workflow Manager rather than Microsoft Workflow Manager, "including providing support beyond the year 2026". If an on-premises farm has to keep 2013-platform workflows running, that is the engine to be on.

What we build

A SharePoint engagement at eCorpIT is usually one of four things, and the difference matters more to the price than the word "SharePoint" does.

An intranet and communications build: hub sites, communication sites, navigation, search configuration, and branded SharePoint Framework (SPFx) web parts. A document and records workflow build: content types, metadata, retention, and Power Automate flows replacing whatever the 2013 workflow engine used to run. A line-of-business application: SPFx extensions, Microsoft Graph integration, and Power Apps front ends over SharePoint lists. And a migration and consolidation: moving a 2016 or 2019 farm into Microsoft 365, or into Subscription Edition where data residency rules out the cloud.

The migration work is the one buyers usually under-budget. The real cost is rarely the content copy; it is the customisations, the workflows, and the permissions model nobody documented.

The stack, and why the version numbers matter

SPFx is the supported extensibility model, and Microsoft is explicit that the deprecation of the older SharePoint add-in model in SharePoint Online "does not impact SharePoint Framework (SPFx), which is the primary replacement technology for SharePoint add-ins."

The current release is SPFx v1.23.2, shipped on 30 June 2026. It is a minor bump that clears all critical and high npm vulnerabilities and adds readiness for a Form Customizer panel override controlled by the isPanelExperienceEnabled attribute in the extension manifest. Note the history in that release: v1.23.1 was published and then delisted because of regressions. Pinning to @latest without reading the notes is how a build breaks.

The SPFx roadmap puts v1.25 in September 2026 with general availability of the new SPFx CLI and navigation customizers, and lists React 18 support as still in progress rather than shipped. Anyone quoting you a React 18 SPFx build today should be able to say exactly how they are handling that.

npm install @microsoft/generator-sharepoint@latest --global
npx -p @pnp/cli-microsoft365 m365 spfx project upgrade --toVersion 1.23.2 --output md

Microsoft's own warning on that upgrade is worth repeating: editing package.json alone will produce build failures, because a minor-version move also changes build configuration files and toolchain settings.

Workflows: the 2 April 2026 line

Microsoft's modernisation guidance sets out the sequence plainly. SharePoint 2010 workflows were retired in November 2020. SharePoint 2013 workflows were deprecated in April 2023, turned off for new tenants on 2 April 2024, and fully retired on 2 April 2026. Power Automate is the named destination, and Microsoft describes it as connecting to all Microsoft 365 services and over 220 other services.

Two practical points for scoping. First, use the Workflow 2013 Assessment tool before you price anything; it reports actual workflow usage in the tenant and flags which flows are worth rebuilding rather than retiring. In most estates a large share of 2013 workflows have not run in years. Second, budget the licence, not just the build: rebuilt flows that touch premium connectors need a paid Power Automate plan, and that is a per-user line item the intranet budget rarely carries.

Storage is a cost line, not a footnote

Microsoft's SharePoint storage planning guidance sets the tenant quota at 1 TB, with each additional SharePoint licence adding 10 GB. Exceed it and classic site creation, including site creation through PowerShell, is blocked. That is a build-stopping failure mode, not a warning.

There are three levers. Purchase additional storage per gigabyte per month. Purchase more licences, at 10 GB each. Or archive: Microsoft 365 Archive charges $0.05 per GB per month, and charges only when archived plus active storage exceeds the tenant's licensed quota. Microsoft eliminated the reactivation fee for archived SharePoint content on 31 March 2025, though re-archiving newly reactivated content is restricted for four months, and that change does not apply to OneDrive accounts.

Storage lever	Basis	Best fit
Additional storage purchase	Per GB per month, 1 GB increments	Short-term overrun during a migration
Extra SharePoint licences	10 GB added per licence	Headcount is growing anyway
Microsoft 365 Archive	$0.05/GB/month above quota	Large inactive site estates
Version trimming	No licence cost	Version history is the actual driver
Retention-based deletion	No licence cost	Content has a defensible expiry

Licensing: the plan you buy is changing

Microsoft's Partner Center announcement of 28 January 2026 confirms the retirement of the standalone SharePoint Online plan 1 and plan 2 and OneDrive for Business plan 1 and plan 2 SKUs, citing low demand for standalone offerings and higher operating cost. The timeline it publishes: end of sale June 2026, with no new tenants or customers after 31 May 2026 and renewals for existing customers only; end of life January 2027, with no renewals and existing contracts running to expiry; end of service December 2029.

Current India list prices from Microsoft's SharePoint plan comparison, all quoted per user per month paid yearly: SharePoint (Plan 1) ₹415, Microsoft 365 Business Standard ₹770, Microsoft 365 Business Standard without Teams ₹570, and Microsoft 365 Copilot ₹2,495. The Business Standard tiers cap identity and access management at 300 users, which is the number that quietly disqualifies them for a growing mid-market firm.

Our delivery process

Discovery and inventory, 1-2 weeks. Farm version, patch level, customisation inventory, workflow inventory from the assessment tool, storage position against quota, and the authentication model. This produces the migration risk list, not a slide deck.
Target architecture, 1 week. Microsoft 365, Subscription Edition, or a hybrid, decided against data residency and the deprecation list rather than preference. India-based clients with DPDP obligations get this section written explicitly.
Build, 4-10 weeks. Information architecture, content types, SPFx components pinned to a named version, Power Automate flows, and Graph integrations. Test tenant first, always.
Migration and cutover, 2-6 weeks. Content moves in waves, permissions reconciled and re-tested, and a rollback point held until sign-off.
Handover and run. Documentation, admin training, and either your team takes it or ours runs it under a support agreement.

Why eCorpIT

eCorp Information Technologies Private Limited was founded in 2021 and works from Gurugram, Haryana. We are CMMI Level 5 appraised, MSME certified, and ISO 27001:2022 certified, and we are a Microsoft partner alongside AWS and Google. Teams are senior-led and multi-disciplinary: a SharePoint engagement gets an architect, engineers who write SPFx and Graph code rather than only configure, and a delivery lead who owns the cutover.

We give an engagement model rather than a rate card. Discovery is a fixed-price package. Build is either fixed-scope against a signed information architecture, or a dedicated squad billed monthly when the backlog is still moving. Migration is priced by wave count and customisation complexity, because that is what actually drives the effort. If you want a monthly-billed team rather than a fixed scope, our staff augmentation services page sets out how that works.

For estates that span more than SharePoint, the related work usually sits with our Microsoft 365 Graph API integration practice, our .NET development team for server-side customisations, and our cloud migration services group when the farm moves alongside other workloads. Two adjacent Microsoft deadlines are worth reading in the same sitting: the Project Online retirement in September 2026 and the Exchange Web Services retirement in October 2026.

India-specific considerations

For Indian organisations the decision usually turns on data residency rather than cost. Where a regulator or a customer contract requires content to stay in country and Microsoft's multi-geo configuration does not satisfy it, Subscription Edition on infrastructure you control remains the answer, with the deprecation list above as a known constraint. Where it does not, the Microsoft 365 path is cheaper to run and removes the patching obligation entirely.

Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, an intranet holding employee records is processing personal data, so retention settings and the deletion path are engineering requirements, not paperwork. We design SharePoint deployments aligned with DPDP requirements: retention policies configured in Microsoft Purview, access reviewed against site permissions, and deletion demonstrable.

FAQ

What happened to SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 in July 2026?

Both left extended support. Microsoft's lifecycle pages record an extended end date of 15 July 2026 at 6:59:59 AM Pacific Time for each product, and both follow the Fixed Lifecycle Policy. After that date there are no further security updates and no assisted support, so any farm still running either version is unpatched.

Does moving to Subscription Edition solve the problem?

Only partly. Microsoft's deprecation list shows InfoPath Forms Services, SharePoint 2010 workflows, SharePoint Designer 2013 and Basic authentication were supported on Subscription Edition only until 14 July 2026. Access Services, PerformancePoint Services, stsadm.exe and classic authentication for content web applications are already removed rather than deprecated.

When were SharePoint 2013 workflows retired from Microsoft 365?

They were fully retired on 2 April 2026. Microsoft deprecated them in April 2023 and turned them off for new tenants on 2 April 2024 before removing them from existing tenants. Power Automate is the named replacement, and Microsoft describes it as connecting to over 220 services beyond Microsoft 365.

How much SharePoint storage comes with a tenant?

The tenant quota starts at 1 TB, and every additional SharePoint licence purchased adds 10 GB. If the quota is exceeded, classic site creation and site creation through PowerShell are blocked. You can buy storage per gigabyte per month, buy licences, or archive inactive content instead.

What does Microsoft 365 Archive cost?

Archive storage is charged at $0.05 per GB per month, and only when archived plus active storage exceeds the tenant's licensed quota. Microsoft eliminated the reactivation fee for archived SharePoint content on 31 March 2025, but re-archiving newly reactivated content is restricted for four months, and OneDrive accounts are excluded.

Are the standalone SharePoint Online plans being withdrawn?

Yes. Microsoft's Partner Center announcement of 28 January 2026 sets end of sale in June 2026 with no new tenants after 31 May 2026, end of life in January 2027 with no renewals, and end of service in December 2029. Microsoft 365 suites, capacity packs or pay-as-you-go storage are the stated alternatives.

Which SPFx version should a new build target?

SPFx v1.23.2, released on 30 June 2026, is the current release and clears all critical and high npm vulnerabilities. Version 1.23.1 was delisted for regressions, so pin the exact version. Microsoft warns that editing package.json alone during an upgrade will cause build failures.

What do SharePoint licences cost in India?

Microsoft's India plan comparison lists SharePoint (Plan 1) at ₹415 per user per month paid yearly, Microsoft 365 Business Standard at ₹770, Business Standard without Teams at ₹570, and Microsoft 365 Copilot at ₹2,495. The Business Standard tiers cap identity and access management at 300 users.

How eCorpIT can help

We scope SharePoint work from the inventory outward: what version the farm is on, which deprecated features it depends on, how many 2013 workflows actually still run, and where the storage position sits against the tenant quota. That inventory decides whether the answer is Microsoft 365, Subscription Edition, or a hybrid, and it decides the price. If you are working to the July 2026 cutoff or planning an intranet build for the next financial year, tell us what you are running and we will come back with a scoped plan and an engagement model. Start at /contact-us/.

References

Last updated: 18 August 2026.

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