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5 Ways Your Organization Can Make the Most of SharePoint

Microsoft SharePoint has made its reputation to be a multi-purpose, configurable platform for organizational data management needs. While some organizations may favor their SharePoint to act as an information repository, others might use it for knowledge management.

Most organizations currently using SharePoint are doing so because of its undeniable value as an intranet. Whereas more dynamic setups also extend their intranets to create carefully managed extranets on SharePoint.

This blog will list about 5 proven ways SharePoint can benefit your organization without breaking the bank!

Intranets on SharePoint:

An intranet is an organization-wide network where employees can interact, collaborate, and communicate information to perform tasks. SharePoint offers many features that are suitable to an intranet setup, making it an ideal option.

The SharePoint homepage offers a direct link to all the internal services and actions set in place by the organization.

It also hosts libraries to manage content, as well as search capabilities that make it easy to navigate. It has extensive sharing capabilities to keep the information flowing, and pairs with a mobile app so users have access to work on the go.

Along with an in-built hierarchy section, organizations can use SharePoint to design workflows and assign duties. The work-related features are complemented with social options to create an interactive environment for the employees.

Extranets on SharePoint:

Extranets expand on intranet infrastructure for organizations that require frequent interactions with third parties such as B2B matters or online marketplaces. It allow users to sign into your organizations intranet while restricting access to sensitive information.

It enables extranets by giving administrative authority to the organization so they can create a user-friendly interface for the third party, while lowering the risk of a breach. By extending the intranet into a website that other users can also access, SharePoint online makes the management of internal and external user-experience much easier.

Document Management System:

Every organization needs a central repository that users can access to store and retrieve information as required. A Document Management System (DMS) is critical to the smooth flow of operations. It facilitates employees in navigating internal documents while safeguarding them from data breaches.

SharePoint licenses host one TB (Terabyte) of data with an additional four TB storage for each content database.

The platform is perfectly suited to act as a DMS, as it offers user-friendly indexing paired with metadata fields to make documents easy to locate. It supports a wide variety of filetypes, so multiple kinds of organizations can perform their tasks hassle-free.

In order to maintain the integrity of the documents, SharePoint implements multiple layers of security. Along with this, it has versioning capabilities to audit documents conveniently. As with SharePoint for intranets, a DMS run on SharePoint offers impressive search capabilities, which is a crucial feature for a top-rated DMS.

Knowledge Management System:

A Knowledge Management System (KMS) is different from the above-mentioned DMS. The primary purpose of a KMS is to assist users in resolving specific queries and providing precise information rather than entire libraries of documents. A KMS helps users perform their tasks especially ones that require tacit knowledge.

SharePoint’s inbuilt capabilities allow users to navigate the available information in the form of FAQs and Wiki pages. This empowers users to instantaneously access the guides and address internal or external queries. The added benefit of having SharePoint as a KMS is that it works cohesively with an intranet managed on, thereby also reducing the hassle of managing separate platforms for these sharepoint functionalities.

Workflow Management System:

Microsoft has designed SharePoint keeping process management in mind. Therefore, it serves as a natural Workflow Management System that organizations can use to streamline and audit their performance.

Several pre-built workflows exist within SharePoint for basic tasks such as approvals and reviews. Organizations can also build custom workflows that help in the planning and execution of their tasks. Added capabilities for monitoring the productivity of the workflows are also possible. It also offers an appreciable level of process automation, which is necessary for modern operations to run punctually and efficiently.

Conclusion:

These examples of SharePoint’s versatility as a platform highlight its utility in any modern organization. However, it must be noted that while SharePoint can be a “Jack of all trades”, it is important to remember not to perceive it as a “Swiss Army Knife”. Using SharePoint to perform multiple critical functions within an organization is not ideal, as the site infrastructure is not built to handle such use. It is better to specialize SharePoint or use it within moderation for all the stock uses it offers.

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