Boston, MASSACHUSETTS, June 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BrightWork, a project and portfolio management solution company, has announced the latest release of BrightWork 365, a configurable project management solution built on Microsoft 365. The BrightWork 365 solution is designed to help Project Management Office (PMO) teams manage projects, portfolios, reporting, and governance within the Microsoft 365 environment. The release comes as organizations prepare for the retirement of Microsoft Project Online on September 30, 2026, and review their options for project and portfolio management to plan a smooth transition from Project Online.
BrightWork 365 as an Alternative to Microsoft Project Online
The latest BrightWork 365 release strengthens the BrightWork approach to leverage Microsoft 365 for project and portfolio management, giving PMO teams a practical way to manage project requests, governance, reporting, collaboration, and portfolio visibility within the Microsoft environment they already use.
As organizations begin reviewing their project management systems ahead of the Microsoft Project Online retirement deadline, BrightWork is encouraging PMO leaders and project managers to look beyond simple task management. For many teams, the next step is not just about replacing one scheduling tool with another. It is about reviewing how projects are requested, approved, managed, reported on, and delivered across the organization.
Microsoft Project Online has long been used by organizations to support project planning and portfolio management. Its planned retirement creates an important decision point for PMOs, particularly those that need to maintain structure, oversight, and consistent reporting across multiple teams, departments, or business units.
BrightWork 365 is designed for organizations that want to manage projects and portfolios within Microsoft 365 for its seamless integrations with other apps and highest security standards. The solution leverages the Microsoft 365 ecosystem and the Power Platform to support project request management, standardized best-practice templates, program and portfolio dashboards, Power BI reporting, Microsoft Teams collaboration, SharePoint document management, automated approval workflows, and executive visibility.
Key areas PMO teams should consider when looking for alternatives to Microsoft Project Online include:
- How new project requests are submitted, assessed, and approved
- Whether project templates and processes are consistent across teams
- How portfolio and program performance is reported to senior stakeholders
- Whether project collaboration can stay within Microsoft Teams and SharePoint
- How easily users can adopt a replacement solution within their existing Microsoft 365 environment
- Whether the solution offers guidance and support with deployment and adoption
- Whether the solution has the flexibility to customize and scale as project needs evolve
By working with familiar Microsoft technologies, including Teams, SharePoint Online, Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate, Dataverse, and Microsoft 365 security and permissions, BrightWork 365 gives PMO teams a way to improve project and portfolio management without moving to a completely separate project management ecosystem.
“Project Online retirement is a timely opportunity for PMO teams to step back and look at how projects are managed across the organization,” said Billy Guinan, Demand Generation Manager at BrightWork. “With the latest release of BrightWork 365, we are continuing to support organizations that want to manage projects, portfolios, reporting, and governance within Microsoft 365. The decision is not just about replacing a tool. It is about making sure teams have the right structure for project requests, governance, reporting, collaboration, and portfolio visibility.”
BrightWork 365 helps organizations standardize project management processes, manage project requests and approvals, track portfolios and programs, report on progress with Power BI, support collaboration through Microsoft Teams and SharePoint, and give PMO leaders and senior executives clearer visibility across project activity.
The solution supports organizations that want to start quickly with out-of-the-box templates, while retaining the flexibility to evolve their project and portfolio management processes over time. BrightWork also provides expert-led implementation services to support deployment, configuration, and user adoption.
PMO teams preparing for the retirement of Microsoft Project Online can learn more about BrightWork 365 and explore guidance on planning their next step at https://www.brightwork.com
About BrightWork
BrightWork helps organizations plan, manage, and deliver projects successfully with BrightWork 365, a project and portfolio management solution built on Microsoft 365 and the Power Platform. Combining ready-to-use, but configurable templates, dashboards, and reporting with the collaborative power of Microsoft Teams and Power BI, BrightWork enables teams to improve project visibility, standardise processes, and deliver better results. BrightWork expert-led deployment services deliver a strategic roll-out with high user-adoption for immediate value.
Press Inquiries
Billy Guinan
wguinan [at] brightwork.com
+1-617-357-9000 x 724
https://www.brightwork.com/
BrightWork, One Boston Place, Suite 2600, Boston, MA, 02108
