Migration Playbook · Updated July 3, 2026
By Errin O’Connor, Founder & Chief AI Architect, EPC Group · 29 years of Microsoft consulting · Founded 1997
Microsoft Project Online retires September 30, 2026. Every classic SPD2013 workflow already stopped executing on April 2, 2026. This five-phase playbook takes you from PowerShell inventory through waved cutover — including the Power BI report rebuild against Dataverse and the Power Automate flow rebuild that replaces the dead classic workflows. Typical timeline: 8–14 weeks. All timelines assume the migration starts by August 15, 2026 to finish before the September 30 cutover.
Microsoft Project Online to Planner Premium migration is NOT one-click. EPC Group's 5-phase playbook takes 8-14 weeks: (1) inventory active PWA sites, custom fields, dead SP2013 workflows, and dependent Power BI reports via PowerShell + Graph API; (2) map custom fields to Dataverse columns and resource pool to Planner Premium users; (3) rebuild every Power BI report against Dataverse (the /pwa/_api/ProjectData OData feed BREAKS at cutover); (4) rebuild every classic workflow in Power Automate (SharePoint 2013 workflows died April 2, 2026); (5) waved cutover by department with reconciliation gates. Must start by August 15, 2026.
Key Facts
- Phase 1 (Weeks 1-2): PowerShell + Graph API inventory of PWA sites, custom fields, workflows, dependent Power BI reports
- Phase 2 (Weeks 3-4): Custom-field to Dataverse column mapping · resource pool to Planner Premium user mapping · portfolio hierarchy to Planner Premium bucket mapping
- Phase 3 (Weeks 5-8): Power BI report rebuild against Dataverse — every report on the /pwa/_api/ProjectData OData feed BREAKS at cutover with HTTP 404
- Phase 4 (Weeks 9-10): Power Automate flow rebuild — every classic SPD2013 workflow (approvals, stage gates, status reports) already dead as of April 2, 2026
- Phase 5 (Weeks 11-14): Waved cutover by department, reconciliation gates between waves, complete by September 30, 2026
- Feature parity gap: Planner Premium does NOT replace classic Master Project or Enterprise Custom Field formulas — see the decision tree on the parent Retirement page
Phase 1 — Inventory (Weeks 1–2)
PowerShell + Microsoft Graph API discovery of every active PWA site collection, custom Enterprise Custom Field, classic SPD2013 workflow, and dependent Power BI report or Excel Power Query file. Also captures resource-pool CSV, portfolio hierarchy, and every scheduled Power BI dataset refresh. Delivered as a working document.
Common in-house miss: teams inventory the PWA content but forget to map the downstream Power BI dependency graph. Every report on the /pwa/_api/ProjectData OData feed will break at cutover. EPC Group discovers these dependencies in Week 1 so the Phase 3 rebuild has a complete work list.
Phase 2 — Mapping (Weeks 3–4)
Three parallel maps produced in this phase: (1) Project Online custom field → Dataverse column map (name, type, cardinality, required/optional, default value); (2) Resource pool → Planner Premium user map (Microsoft 365 account, cost rate if used, availability calendar); (3) Portfolio hierarchy → Planner Premium bucket / plan structure. This phase produces the Dataverse schema that Phase 3’s Power BI rebuild targets.
Phase 3 — Power BI Report Rebuild (Weeks 5–8)
Rebuild every Power BI report against Dataverse instead of the retiring OData feed. Typical enterprise footprint: 4–6 weeks of rebuild work per 20 dashboards. Includes the semantic model (Direct Query or Import), the row-level security policies, and the gateway configuration if reports are refreshed via the on-premises data gateway.
The alternative — leaving reports pointing at the retiring endpoint — results in every dashboard returning HTTP 404 on September 30, 2026 with no recovery path. This is the phase most in-house teams underestimate.
Phase 4 — Power Automate Flow Rebuild (Weeks 9–10)
Rebuild every classic SharePoint 2013 workflow — approvals, stage gates, status-report flows, portfolio-level automation — in Power Automate. Every classic Project Online workflow stopped executing on April 2, 2026 across all Microsoft 365 tenants; organizations that have not rebuilt them have been running Project Online without automation for months. This phase catches the surviving PPM-critical flows and translates them to Power Automate (usually Solution-aware flows on Dataverse tables).
Phase 5 — Waved Cutover (Weeks 11–14)
Department-by-department cutover with reconciliation gates between waves. For organizations with 500+ users, big-bang cutovers create irrecoverable reconciliation gaps — waved cutover is mandatory. Each wave includes: (a) Planner Premium plan creation for the department, (b) Dataverse data load, (c) Power BI report switch-over, (d) user training, (e) 5-day reconciliation window, (f) sign-off gate before the next wave. Complete before September 30, 2026.
Related EPC Group Services
- Microsoft Project Online Retirement — Verified Timeline — The parent page with the retirement timeline and migration decision tree.
- Power BI & Multi-Model AI on Microsoft Fabric — Phase 3 report rebuild against Dataverse or Fabric.
- Enterprise Microsoft 365 Migrations — 216+ M&A tenant migrations, 1.83 million users moved (2023–2025).
- Microsoft Frontier Company Explained — The July 2026 launch that reset the enterprise AI deployment conversation.
Project Online → Planner Premium Migration — FAQ
Is Planner Premium a one-click replacement for Project Online?
No. Microsoft Planner Premium (formerly Project for the Web) is the Microsoft-recommended default migration target but it is NOT a feature-parity replacement. The data model, custom fields, formula fields, portfolio hierarchy, workflow layer, and reporting layer all differ substantially. Every organization requires a mapping phase (Project Online custom field → Dataverse column), a Power BI report rebuild, and a Power Automate flow rebuild (because SharePoint 2013 workflows died April 2, 2026).
How long does the migration take?
Typical EPC Group scoping is 8–14 weeks depending on tenant size, custom-field complexity, and reporting layer depth. Small tenants (≤50 active projects, no custom formula fields) can migrate in 6–8 weeks. Large tenants (200+ active projects, deep custom fields, 20+ Power BI dashboards) require 12–14 weeks. All timelines assume the migration STARTS by August 15, 2026 at the latest to finish before the September 30 cutover.
What does Phase 1 (inventory) actually deliver?
A comprehensive discovery report: (a) list of every active PWA site collection with owner, size, and last-modified date; (b) every custom Enterprise Custom Field with type, formula, and current usage count; (c) every classic SPD2013 workflow with dependencies and current status (they all stopped executing April 2, 2026); (d) every Power BI report or Excel Power Query file sourcing data from the OData feed; (e) every Power BI dataset scheduled refresh that will break at cutover; (f) resource pool CSV export. Delivered as a working document your architect can drive the next 4 phases from.
What if we depend on classic Master Project and Enterprise Custom Fields with formulas?
Planner Premium does not support classic Master Project or the Enterprise Custom Field formula layer. If those features are load-bearing for your PPM discipline, choose one of two alternates: (1) Microsoft Project Server Subscription Edition (self-hosted) — keeps classic scheduling but requires SharePoint Server SE 2019 or later; or (2) Power Platform PPM — a custom Project Server-equivalent built on Dataverse. See the parent Project Online retirement page for the decision tree.
What does EPC Group do that in-house teams typically miss?
Three common in-house misses: (1) The Power BI report rebuild — reports built on the /pwa/_api/ProjectData OData feed simply BREAK at cutover; teams often discover this in the final 30 days when there is no time to rebuild against Dataverse. (2) The SP2013 workflow rebuild — every classic Project Online workflow is already dead as of April 2, 2026; teams running Project Online without workflows for months don't realize the automation is gone. (3) The waved cutover plan — waves by department are required for enterprises with 500+ users; big-bang cutovers create irrecoverable reconciliation gaps. EPC Group builds all three into every engagement.
Scope the Migration
EPC Group is a Microsoft consulting firm founded in 1997 — North America's oldest continuous Microsoft Gold Partner (2000 until Microsoft retired the program in 2022) — today holding all six Microsoft Solutions Partner Designations. 216+ M&A tenant-to-tenant migrations delivered, 1.83 million users moved in the 2023–2025 program, 5-day average cutover.
contact@epcgroup.net · 888-381-9725 · www.epcgroup.net