Teamwork has become pivotal these days. People can no longer work in silos, even if they want to. Departmental functions cannot be carried out efficiently without inter- and intradepartmental communication.
This is business studies 101; effective communication within an organization is key to its success. Silos and haphazard communication can lay waste to a company teeming with great ideas and talented people.
Have you heard of Microsoft SharePoint? Is your company already using it?
If not, we will share with you 7 reasons – although we can add more – why SharePoint is essential for your company.
But first, let us discuss what SharePoint is and its various products and technologies.
SharePoint is a web-based collaboration platform. It is used for data management, document sharing, business intelligence, and intranet. Users can create websites for teams, departments, or the whole organization.
It’s a powerful tool that allows developers to develop innovative solutions. Collaboration between team members or between the various departments of a company becomes hassle-free with SharePoint.
SharePoint allows users to access, review, edit, and share documents from wherever they want. It can even function as a web content management system, a blog site, or simply a shared repository for documents.
Think of SharePoint as Google Drive, except that it comes with many more features and capabilities, making it an all-around solution. Despite its flexibility, companies mainly use SharePoint to disseminate information, create workflows, and store documents.
Collaboration using SharePoint can be of the following two types:
1. Team-Based Collaboration
The SharePoint Solution offers a virtual team-only access workspace where members can collaborate to create a project. It lets users determine which member will execute which tasks and what kind of access each member would have.
2. Company-Wide Collaboration
The intranet lies at the core of the company-wide collaboration approach. Employees from various departments can communicate with each other using instant messaging tools, blogs, and discussion boards. SharePoint also supports cross-departmental collaboration via tools such as content management systems.
Let’s look at the different SharePoint products and technologies.
It is a cloud-based service suitable for all types and sizes of businesses. Companies can subscribe to a Microsoft 365 plan or choose to go solo with the SharePoint Online service. Both options allow companies to save money by not needing to install and deploy a SharePoint Server on-premises.
The employees of a company can create sites using SharePoint to share information and documents with each other, partners, and clients seamlessly.
Over 85% of Fortune 500 companies use SharePoint through Microsoft Office 365. In total, about a quarter of a million companies are using SharePoint worldwide.
It offers additional features such as modern web parts, site pages, lists and libraries, and integration with Power BI, Power Apps, and MS Flow. The organization can deploy and manage it on-premises if it does not want to subscribe to a Microsoft 365 plan.
This is a free program that was released back in 2013. It is used for making compelling workflow-enabled solutions. Sharepoint can also be used to edit external content types for external data solutions depending on the Business Connectivity Services.
-
OneDrive Sync
It is a desktop application that syncs documents from OneDrive or team sites to one’s computer for offline use.
Let us now discuss why SharePoint is crucial to your company’s success. Here are 7 reasons why we think you should have SharePoint.
1. Better Data Management
Today’s workforce is overloaded with data. Research suggests that an average employee spends a quarter of his work time reading and responding to emails. It’s not just emails that consume the workers’ time. It can also be making reports, meeting minutes, dealing with customer complaints, etc.
All this can get overwhelming for the labor force. It is true that one can organize one’s data, but it is easier said than done when the data volume is enormous. Moreover, how does one ensure off-site workers’ access to such data?
What if a factory worker wants to see customer feedback on the latest product launched by the company? Will the worker need to visit the headquarters to access it? Would they request access to it via telephone or email?
All such options cost time and money. And time is money. Companies that save both time and money prosper. This is where SharePoint comes in as a one-stop solution for teams and departments to collaborate on a project.
Data management is made so much easier with SharePoint. Users can directly access the required data points without rummaging through tons of irrelevant data. SharePoint Online allows users to access such data from wherever they want.
The best part is that one does not need to abandon existing best practices to move on to SharePoint. It offers seamless integration with other Microsoft products like Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
All companies require better data management to thrive. Yours would not be any different.
2. Improves Data Security and Compliance
Professionals in many industries are expected and required to follow strict regulatory guidelines. Failure to do so often results in legal action against the non-compliant professional or company.
As it turns out, document control is key to such adherence. In other words, access to specific documents, employee data, and client information are often restricted so that the same may not be misused.
SharePoint allows you to specify security measures you need to follow at every data point. Moreover, it lets you set up auditing and storage policies that help you control and manage critical business information and data.
If data is the most crucial thing for your company (which it is for most companies), it would be well worth it to spend money on keeping it secure.
3. Better Content Management and Delivery
We often hear the phrase ‘Content is King’. A robust content strategy goes a long way in helping a business achieve its goals. For a content strategy to be successful, it requires prompt approvals, proper editing, and a feedback loop to see how it’s rolling out.
A content manager must be aware of who is accessing the content, who is reviewing and editing it, and who is publishing it. SharePoint makes answering all those questions a lot easier by allowing users real-time access to data.
Content management and delivery are thus made easy and a lot more fun.
4. Unparalleled Collaboration
A vital benefit of SharePoint Solutions is its ability to streamline information and workflows through collaboration. This gives rise to a workforce that is well-informed and organized.
An informed workforce is an empowered workforce. Such a workforce is also highly motivated.
In an era where staying up to date is crucial for business survival, a collaboration tool such as SharePoint is next to necessary for a company’s success. The mobility offered by SharePoint is what makes it a deal clincher.
And why not? Which company would refuse to be better organized and mobile with a more agile workforce?
5. Customization
The default features of SharePoint are excellent, and many companies use these. But if your company cannot use these, you need not worry. You can avail yourself of the SharePoint customization feature to make the solution fit your needs.
You can choose to customize SharePoint’s interface to align it with your brand identity better and to offer a more engaging experience to your employees.
6. Ease of Use
Another fantastic benefit of SharePoint is its ease of use. One does not need to be a computer scientist or a software engineer to build or update a website through SharePoint.
Whether it’s a website you wish to create or a specific online tool for your team, SharePoint lets you do it in a few clicks. No coding is needed!
7. Centralized Administration
SharePoint features a central administration console that allows the administrator(s) to access all the application features via a single dashboard easily.
These features include security settings, system settings, backups and restoration, and general application settings. All in all, it turns a seemingly arduous task into a piece of cake!
Summing it up
In the late 1990s, the world saw the proliferation of personal computers and the rise of the internet. Back then, the most tech-savvy way to manage and share documents was to use a shared file system on a single server.
It’s 2022, and much has changed in these past few decades. Cloud services have shaken the world, and AI is fast outpacing humans in many walks of life. Why should a team or enterprise collaboration be any different in an age of continuous disruption?
Nobody wants to go back to the old days when memos were used to communicate with one’s colleagues. Those were days when gaining access to data took hours, days, and even weeks! Nobody could even fathom how team collaboration would become so easy one day.
But that day has come. We have laid down for you 7 key reasons why you should deploy the Microsoft SharePoint Solution in your company. Are you ready to make the move?
If you are still not convinced, or you require further information on Microsoft SharePoint deployment, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]