SharePoint 2016 delayed until 2nd Quarter 2016

If you were planning for and awaiting the release of SharePoint 2016 for later this year you will need to readjust that expectation as Microsoft has announced a delay in the latest version of the on-premises server that was originally planned for later this year.

Yesterday, in a blog post on the official Office blog, Seth Patton the Director of Product Management for SharePoint confirmed the delay.

Today, we are confirming that SharePoint Server 2016 will become generally available in Q2 2016, with a public beta planned for Q4 2015.  We also want to confirm our commitment to delivering on-premises releases of SharePoint for the foreseeable future. We envision a future where we will continue to have customers who choose a combination of on-premises, cloud and hybrid deployments for many years to come.

The post goes on to promise much more information at Microsoft Ignite which is being held in Chicago next month from 4 to 8 May 2015.

Patton did single out sessions at Microsoft Ignite that will be key to understanding the significant areas they plan on improving in SharePoint 2016:

Improved User Experience

Cloud inspired-infrastructure

Compliance and reporting

With a planned public beta arriving late this year one way to provide direct feedback before that public beta is to apply to join the SharePoint 2016 Technology Adoption Program aka TAP.

But, wait...there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.