As one of the most widely used cloud storage platforms in the business world, should businesses looking to adopt hybrid working be turning to SharePoint Online?
Many businesses at the moment are looking to transition to hybrid working. It is the next logical step after remote working, as it gives businesses and staff the freedom to work in whichever way each individual prefers – thus improving the overall productivity of the entire organisation. TechQuarters, a London-based Microsoft Solutions Partner, spoke to us about how SharePoint Online can be pivotal in helping businesses set up hybrid workplaces. TechQuarters are primarily an IT company, having provided IT support Croydon and London businesses have relied on for years. But they are also a Solutions Partner for the Microsoft Modern Workplace – this means they are experts on how platforms like SharePoint can be leveraged in a company.
What is SharePoint Online?
Microsoft SharePoint started off life (in 2001) as a server software. But it has evolved into a leading cloud platform that forms part of the backbone of Microsoft 365 – one of Microsoft’s most popular solutions for businesses. It is highly customizable and has a range of powerful capabilities that businesses all over the world use, such as…
File Management
When most businesses hear SharePoint, this is what they think of. SharePoint is one of two products in M365 that are billed as a cloud storage solution. As the name suggests, SharePoint is ideal for the shared storage needs of an organisation. Teams and departments may use SharePoint sites are places for storing files that everyone needs access to. Drawing on their experience as Microsoft Office 365 consultants, TechQuarters described how SharePoint storage is often used by businesses for critical company filing.
News and Information
SharePoint Online relies on sites, which are essentially pages in the platform that only site members can access. One of the two major types of sites is the Communication site. These sites usually have lots of participants but only a handful of admins, as businesses typically use them for executives sharing news and information to the organisation.
Teamwork
The other major type of site in SharePoint is the Team site. These types of sites have fewer members, but all of them have full read and write permissions for the site. This allows teams and workgroups to use the site as a hub for projects and other shared work. They upload files to the site for all the access, as well as write posts for the site; widgets and other mini apps can also be added to a team site.
Reasons to Use SharePoint Online
- Get Rid of Your Servers – The world of business is becoming increasingly cloud-based, and where previous versions of SharePoint required servers, SharePoint Online leverages the cloud as a means of replacing these type of legacy infrastructure.
Multi-Platform – As a cloud solution, SharePoint Online is not restricted by installation. In other words, you can access it via on desktop, laptop, tablet, and mobile, any Office 365 Company would vouch for this as a solution. This means users can access resources kept on SharePoint, any time and any place.
- Streamline Document Management – As one of the primary applications of the platform, document management is optimized with SharePoint. The platform already makes file sharing and storage easy as a cloud product, but it also implements version control, which means that you will never loss a version of a file, and you won’t end up with multiple duplicate copies of a file.
- Intelligent Search – The Modern SharePoint Online integrates an intelligent search system. This means that, when users search for something, the results are tailored to their activity, making it easy to find the content you need.
