Microsoft’s changelog notice MC690604 said it was retiring the Observer role in Viva Goals to simplify access and permissions. The available notice does not establish when the change rolled out, what happened to existing Observer assignments, or which permissions replaced the role. Separately, Microsoft later announced that the entire Viva Goals service would retire on December 31, 2025—a date that has passed.
What Microsoft said about the Observer role
The changelog wording reproduced by Petri’s M365 Changelog page identifies the notice as Microsoft Message Center item MC690604. It describes retiring Observer as an effort to simplify Viva Goals’ access and permissions landscape.
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That wording confirms the role was being retired, but it does not explain the mechanics. The available excerpt does not state a rollout date, whether existing Observers were reassigned or lost access, or how to reproduce their former access with other permissions. Administrators should not infer a replacement role or permission mapping from the stated goal of simplification; check the original tenant Message Center notice or applicable tenant records for those specifics.
How this differs from the retirement of Viva Goals
The Observer-role notice concerned one role. Microsoft later announced that Viva Goals as a service would retire on December 31, 2025, with user access ending by that date or earlier if a customer’s licenses expired. Microsoft’s Viva Goals retirement FAQ, last updated January 21, 2025, gives that announced timeline. Because the date has passed, the FAQ documents Microsoft’s plan, not whether the service remains live for any particular tenant.
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Microsoft’s FAQ said it would not replace Viva Goals with another Microsoft solution or integrate its features into other products, and encouraged customers to explore third-party OKR tools. It also said customers could request partner recommendations from their Microsoft representative or email GoalsDecom@microsoft.com.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the service retirement meant for data and integrations
For the announced shutdown, Microsoft identified API, Excel, and PowerPoint as ways to export Viva Goals data and recommended exporting before the retirement date. The announcement also said integrations—including examples such as Teams and Azure DevOps—would remain functional through December 31, 2025 and cease afterward. These statements describe Microsoft’s announced timeline; they do not confirm the current state of a specific tenant or its exported data.
If an organization is still planning a transition, assess replacement OKR tools against its own needs: data export and import support, integrations, role and permission design, and transition assistance. Those are practical evaluation criteria, not Microsoft rankings or endorsements.
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Related dates and figures
- December 5, 2024: Microsoft said it would stop investing in new Viva Goals feature development after this date, according to the Message Center archive copy of MC949603, published that day: MC949603 in the Microsoft 365 Message Center Archive.
- December 31, 2025: Microsoft’s announced date for Viva Goals retirement and the end of access, unless a customer’s license expired earlier, according to its FAQ last updated January 21, 2025.
- 66 million active users: The same FAQ gave this figure for the wider Viva suite, not Viva Goals. It is Microsoft’s stated figure, not an independently verified measurement.
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