Skype for business End-of-Life: Options for moving forward
After suspending the support for Skype for Business, various team messengers started springing like mushrooms after the rain. Still, many teams continue using Skype for Business even without its support. However, it's time to consider moving forward since all patches and security updates will become unavailable on October the 14th, 2025.
At the same time, lots of businesses have auto upgraded to Microsoft Teams and started using it instead of Skype for Business. However, there are many other corporate messengers available on the market. Let's see what they offer in comparison with Skype for Business and what are the risks if you decide to continue using Skype for Business.
What are the risks for users of an end-of-life (EOL) product?
While using end-of-life product your organization may face such consequences as:
- Weak security. End-of-life products no longer receive updates and security patches. As a result, they may have unpatched vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers or malware.
- Lack of support. Technical assistance, customer support and bug fixes are no longer provided for EOL product users.
- Legal and compliance risks. Legal implications, financial penalties, and damage to the company's reputation may result from using EOL software.
- Features and compatibility limitation. EOL products are not modernized and thus they will not be compatible with modern operating systems and other software.
- Long-term costs. While using EOL products may seem cost-effective, such long-term costs as handling security incidents, maintenance and lost productivity will definitely add up over time.
Alternatives to Skype for Business
Exploring alternatives is essential for maintaining productivity and efficient collaboration. Today various communication and collaboration tools are available on the market. Thus, Microsoft Teams is not the only option to upgrade from Skype for business.
Upgrading to Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a natural progression from Skype for Business. It offers private and group chat rooms, video conferencing and various collaboration features which are not available in Skype for Business. Let's see why customers prefer moving forward to Microsoft Teams:
- Easily integrates with other applications in the Microsoft ecosystem.
- Enhances collaboration and as a result team productivity.
- Enables voice through Microsoft's Phone System or with its Calling Plans and Direct Routing tools.
- All data is stored on a secure Azure cloud server.
Collaborative aspect differs MS Teams from Skype for Business. Such features as files sharing, team channels, persistent chat, robust security and compliance options, project management tools make MS Teams more suitable for business communication and teams' collaboration.
Transition to Slack
Moving from Skype for Business to Slack is a perfect opportunity to update your preferred communication tool to a company-wide collaboration asset. You will be able to connect tools, people and workflows in a single platform. With the wide spectrum of collaboration tools, you'll get to keep what you liked in Skype and benefit from features that you'll love in Slack.
At the same time, while using Microsoft 365 for managing your administrative tasks, you will take advantage of Slack to create efficient collaboration and accelerate the work of your team. With the help of various integrations available with Slack, you can bring your entire organization's tech stack into one platform.
Moving forward to Virola
By upgrading from Skype for Business to Virola corporate messenger, you will transfer simple business communication into efficient company-wide collaboration. Unlike Skype for Business, MS Teams and Slack, Virola corporate messenger is available as a self-hosted solution which guarantees full control over your corporate data.
Virola is very simple and intuitive in usage. It does not require specific technical skills or knowledge. After using Skype for Business, your team will easily switch to Virola and will take advantage of a wide range of collaboration opportunities which are available with the tool.
Integrating Cisco Webex into communication workflow
Both Cisco Webex and Skype for Business are powerful tools for video communication, still they have many differences which should be considered while planning upgrade from Skype for Business end-of-life.
Skype for Business supports high-quality audio and high-definition video calling, allows up to 250 participants in a single meeting, features chat functionality for team communication, and integrates with Microsoft products.
Cisco WebEx is designed for large-scale meetings and is ideal for video conferencing and collaboration. It integrates with Cisco's broader suite of collaboration tools. Though Cisco WebEx allows storing in-meeting chats, it cannot be used as a chatting tool within the organization.
Utilizing Chanty for communication and collaboration
If you do not require seamless integration with the Microsoft environment, it may be worth considering other than MS Teams collaboration tools while moving forward from Skype for Business. Chanty is a very easy-to-use chat app designed for business communication. It offers such features as: Kanban task board, unlimited communication, receiving notifications from all integrated apps in one place, collaboration with external partners. Chanty focuses on communication within the organization and provides rich set of features for chat communication.
Skype for Business was mostly used for video communication. It is now part of MS Teams and seamlessly integrates with the Microsoft ecosystem.
If you do not require integration with Microsoft tools and need a reliable app for communication within your organization, Chanty will be a great solution for this purpose.