Skype for Business Server SE launches with subscription model shift

Skype might feel long gone, but Skype for Business Server is still hanging on. That’s true for customers who haven’t gone all-in on the cloud.

As expected, Microsoft has now made the Subscription Edition (SE) of Skype for Business Server generally available, extending support for on-prem setups beyond the looming 2025 cutoff.

Why Skype for Business Server Still Isn’t Going Anywhere

While Skype’s consumer version was replaced by Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business Server has remained the go-to option for organizations needing an on-premises communication solution.

With numbered versions 2015 and 2019 approaching end-of-life on October 14, 2025, SE arrives as Microsoft’s way to keep the service alive through a subscription-based model under the Modern Lifecycle Policy.

The new SE doesn’t introduce big features or visual changes. It’s essentially the same product as the 2019 version, just with a new name, updated licensing, and version number. However, it will continue to get cumulative updates, bug fixes, and installation improvements.

Microsoft is recommending an in-place upgrade for current customers and notes that post-2025, SE will be the only supported edition. Eventually, the coexistence between older versions and SE will be phased out. A future update will prevent 2015 and 2019 from being installed or run alongside SE.

Microsoft’s decision to keep Skype for Business Server around—even as Teams takes the cloud-first spotlight—signals its awareness that many customers still need on-prem flexibility. Since Teams doesn’t offer an on-prem version, SE provides a stopgap for those not ready to migrate.

So no, Skype isn’t fully dead yet—it’s just evolving into something that fits better with Microsoft’s long-term enterprise roadmap.