SharePoint Server 2016 Now Available

SharePoint Server 2016 closely mirrors features available in SharePoint Online and improves interoperability with Office 365. The release will most interest organizations that have significant existing on-premises investments in SharePoint and cannot currently migrate all their data and customizations to the Microsoft-hosted SharePoint Online. Some organizations will also upgrade because they are facing end-of-life with an existing deployment. However, migrating to SharePoint Server 2016 may involve other platform software upgrades; some previous features have been removed or delayed and others will require hybrid deployments for on-premises customers, which will in turn require additional licenses.

Deployment and Migration

The installation engine of SharePoint Server 2016 automates much of the server configuration, which should result in better initial reliability; however, the new version has changed some core features and carries with it updated platform prerequisites, which may require upgrading Windows Server and SQL Server before the new version of SharePoint Server is installed.