Businesses rely heavily on Microsoft SharePoint – and for good reason.
Used by more than 129,000 companies worldwide, SharePoint integration has grown significantly over the past decade and has only been accelerated by the pandemic as more businesses adopt cloud-based collaboration platforms to finalize the integration of work-from- anywhere. Most people don’t know that Sharepoint is included with several Microsoft licenses, including certain Office 365 licenses. This is one factor that has promoted its rapid widespread acceptance by small business.
However, the focus of this article is not Sharepoint software itself but of the immense value business owners and managers can derive from moving to Sharepoint. One reason is that moving to Sharepoint is in fact a migration of the company to the cloud. Sharepoint provides that final impetus – and a safe and secure landing place – makes it possible and affordable to complete that once far-off dream! The ability to work and effortlessly collaborate with video, email, chat, phone, shared apps – in a fully integrated suite of applications. This is now possible for you, small business owner!
To discover more about SharePoint 365 and why companies use Microsoft SharePoint, our blog addresses:
- What is SharePoint?
- How to Access SharePoint
- How to Determine SharePoint Office 365 Compatibility
- Configurations of SharePoint Site Consider
- How to Get More Out of SharePoint with SharePoint Learning
What is SharePoint?
SharePoint is a way to store, manage, integrate and collaborate using company digital assets. Business units or teams gather their critical documents together under a separate Sharepoint Group. The Marketing group presents only the most essential files – pitchbooks, campaigns, logos, product tear sheets – like any other file-sharing system. However, Sharepoint has the giant benefit of being fully integrated into the Microsoft 365 universe of products. Thus all key apps are multi-user, providing real-time sharing and editing. This includes integrated video conferencing with Teams, and integrated VOIP phone system with Microsoft Voice.
In short, Sharepoint is the file-sharing backbone of a comprehensive collaboration platform, Micrsoft 365. Sharepoint, once focused on large companies, has been retooled to provide a complete collaboration platform for small business.
Moreover, since Sharepoint is included with many Microsoft 365 licenses, dollar for dollar the Sharepoint software is a very inexpensive investment.
What is SharePoint Used For?
Why use SharePoint? Businesses primarily use SharePoint to create websites, improve their content management, and streamline their collaborative efforts. Providing a streamlined flow of information and a cloud-powered ecosystem, SharePoint 365 also strengthens an organization’s infrastructure while helping informed employees to:
- Meet deadlines
- Make better decisions
- Improve internal and external collaboration
- Understand shared business strategies and processes
What is a SharePoint Site?
SharePoint sites are best used for collaboration on files with others or for publishing content for the world to see. Created through SharePoint Online, there are four core types of SharePoint sites, which include:
| Types of SharePoint Sites | |
| Site Type | Purpose |
| Classic | Create websites with web parts like announcements, calendars, and links that are automatically added to the homepage. |
| Communication | Create more modern sites that streamline collaboration and support Office 365 group integrations. |
| Modern Team Site
(Linked to a Group) |
Improve collaboration amongst team members by creating more modern sites that support Office 365 group integrations. |
| Modern Team Site
(Not Linked To a Group) |
Create modern sites or intranet sites that don’t support Office 365 group integrations. |
Still not sure how to access SharePoint? Contact us for a step-by-step walk-through today!
Is SharePoint Usable “Out the Box” With Your 365 License?
There are two SharePoint plans (Plan 1 and Plan 2) and one Microsoft Office 365 license that supports SharePoint Online. Here’s how their breakdown looks:
| Options | SharePoint (Plan 1) | SharePoint (Plan 2) | Office 365 E3 |
| Costs | $5.00/user/month | $10.00/user/month | $23.00/user/month |
| Office Apps | Not Included | Not Included |
|
| Services |
|
|
|
| Intended For | Intended to support small to mid-sized businesses | For enterprise-grade organizations. | For businesses that need Office and a document library with advanced messaging, document, file sharing, compliance, and management features for IT |
“SharePoint” may also refer to SharePoint products and technologies, like:
- OneDrive Sync – A desktop program used for syncing documents from OneDrive or a team site, from any device, at any time, from anywhere, and even during offline mode.
- SharePoint Server – Companies can implement and manage SharePoint Server on-premise or for enhanced features such as modern site pages, modern web pages and authoring, modern search, integration with PowerApps, and more, through an Office 365 Enterprise (Office 365 E3) subscription.
- SharePoint Designer 2013 – Released in 2013, this is a free program used to edit external content types for an external data solution that’s powered by Business Connectivity Services.
- SharePoint in Microsoft 365 Subscription – Operates as a cloud-based service for businesses of all sizes. Primarily used to create sites to share documents and information with customers, partners, and colleagues.
What is Sharepoint Integration?
The way to realize that immense value, your company resources (data, files, meetings, calendars, contacts, etc.) must be integrated with Sharepoint. Sharepoint must be configured according to meet basic company communication needs, and successful standard protocols and procedures in order to ensure the shortest learning curve and maximum benefit.
Power Consulting provides the plan the recommendations, resources, training, hand-holding, security – to ensure your businesses migration to the cloud is successful, and that your team is productive from day one.
SharePoint Configuration Factors to Consider
Getting the most out of SharePoint features means having a firm understanding of your organization’s needs and how SharePoint Online can get you there. While improving team collaboration, document management, and process efficiency and productivity are core benefits of SharePoint, you’ll never maximize those benefits without addressing the following:
- SharePoint Training – Without adequate training, SharePoint Office 365 adoption and utilization will be hindered. To learn SharePoint and expedite adoption best-practices, get the support you need today.
- Up-to-Date Software – All software needs to be up-to-date and align with SharePoint’s system requirements.
- Supported User Number – Do you know how many users or how large your microsoft teams will be? If not, now is the time to figure that out in addition to checking if any subscriptions already support SharePoint online.
- Structuring User Access Controls – Knowing which members will have access to your management system, communications site, intranet portal, and administrative controls is essential when setting up a SharePoint site.
- Meeting Hardware Requirements – No matter how great your SharePoint mobile app or site collection may appear, without the right hardware in place your site template and user experience will likely suffer. Always ensure your systems and processes are up-to-date for the best SharePoint experience.
Getting the most out of Microsoft SharePoint means being familiar with SharePoint.
How familiar are you with SharePoint?
To get the most out of SharePoint, consult with our experts at Power Consulting.
How To Get More Out of SharePoint With Training
Accelerating the adoption curve of SharePoint comes down to SharePoint training. Now that we’ve answered what is SharePoint and why businesses use it, it’s crucial to understand how SharePoint training and adoption are required for successful SharePoint implementations.
While SharePoint offers a step-by-step learning series that’s supposed to teach SharePoint in 8 hours, many organizations will likely find this training insufficient as those tutorials don’t take into account the customization requests your business has for SharePoint.
In addition, there are unique scenarios that may involve complex processes, such as using APIs to create custom solutions, that would be challenging to learn without person-to-person assistance.
Tap Into The Full Power of SharePoint With Power Consulting
Why use SharePoint? SharePoint provides organizations with more than website creation, but also a wide hosts of benefits that make SharePoint a “total” package for most organizations, such as:
- Streamlined processes
- Seamless collaborations
- Superior data management
- Improved processes with more simplicity
- Centralized administration, security, and backups
- And much more
The question isn’t what is SharePoint, but rather how can you migrate to SharePoint, acquire the customizations you seek, and train for a quick return to profitability? At Power Consulting, we understand this and that’s why we have a step-by-step process for managing your SharePoint integration.
To get more out of your SharePoint experience, contact us today and we’ll be happy to guide you through the process.
