Which aspect of EPP are you submitting for?
Endpoint Protector Server
What is a one sentence summary of your feature request?
Restore Skype for Business client support in CAP
Please describe your idea in detail. What is your problem, why do you feel this idea is the best solution, etc.
Restore and maintain Skype for Business client support (Windows and Mac) in Content Aware Protection and the application catalog, because Skype for Business Server Subscription Edition is a current, Microsoft-supported on-premises product with a large installed base — over 500,000 users in Korea alone — that will remain in service through at least 2035.
Microsoft retired the free consumer Skype app on May 5, 2025, and this has created a widespread impression that “Skype is gone.”
However, Skype for Business Server is a separate product line. On July 1, 2025, Microsoft released Skype for Business Server Subscription Edition (SfB SE) as a version-less product with regular updates under the Modern Lifecycle Policy, and after October 2025 it is the only supported on-premises version of Skype for Business Server, with continuing Cumulative Updates, Hotfixes, and Security Updates. Microsoft has additionally committed to supporting Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, and Skype for Business Server through at least 2035. SfB SE explicitly exists to provide an on-premises unified communications platform for customers who do not want to rely on the Microsoft Teams cloud service.
How do you currently solve the challenges you have by not having this feature?
The most significant consequence is that customers are not upgrading. Our survey of the Korean market identified nine customer organizations that are deliberately deferring their migration to EPP 2608 because Skype for Business is no longer supported in that release. These customers remain on older EPP versions solely to retain Skype for Business coverage, which means they are also missing the security fixes, CVE remediation, and new features shipped in 2608 — a direct conflict with the vulnerability-management requirements their own regulators impose. We expect the same pattern to surface globally as more Skype for Business Server customers reach the point of upgrading EPP, and we anticipate additional complaints from other regions.
Explain in security reviews that a Microsoft-supported product with a decade of remaining lifecycle is no longer covered by their DLP — which is difficult to justify and weakens EPP’s position against competing DLP products that still list Skype for Business as a supported application.
Even if this cannot be incorporated into the main product, we ask that Netwrix Technical Support provide an interim method for registering Skype for Business in CAP so that affected customers can proceed with their upgrade in the meantime.