The web-based application known as SharePoint, a product of Microsoft, is a great tool for document sharing, business intelligence, advanced search, content collaboration, and much more. Originally launched in 2001, it’s generally marketed as a document management and storage system, but the millions of businesses that employ it likely utilize it in a variety of different ways because it’s highly configurable. Furthermore, SharePoint is known for its ease of use and is extremely user-friendly, making it a favorite with individuals at a variety of levels of IT knowledge.
Microsoft reports that some 75% of Fortune 500 companies use SharePoint, which tells you something about its adaptability. But if you’re new to SharePoint and haven’t quite decided whether it’s for you, take a tip from those big companies and examine it a little more closely. We’ll help you by offering our 5 top reasons why SharePoint may be right for your business.
- Flexibility – The SharePoint application has functions for just about everything that’s involved in your business’s day-to-day operations. For example, it can serve as an intranet – your company’s internal website for all sorts of tasks like scheduling, contacts, info sharing, and more. In addition, the administrators of the program can assign different “permissions” to different users, depending on their position with the company. Hence, those who are in executive positions will have more and different access than those whose job doesn’t require them to use certain functions.
- Customization – While the default online features and benefits of SharePoint may be fine for some, one of the best perks of using it is that it’s completely customizable. You can alter it to fit the needs of your business, whether large or small. As a matter of fact, you can customize the entire interface to display your company’s branding, too. Drag and drop functions improve employee experience as well.
- Integration with existing applications – We’ve found that Microsoft SharePoint integrates quite easily with a variety of other business applications. This includes all the elements in Microsoft Office Suite, such as Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. It’s also compatible with MS Exchange Server (a mail server and calendar app), MS Unified Communications, and several others. This means less money spent on new applications for your business. If you are using the online version of SharePoint, you’ll find that it’s compatible with not only Microsoft web browsers like Edge, but most other current web browsers as well.
- No coding required – SharePoint is an excellent solution for non-technical users because no coding skills are required to get it set up and running efficiently. This makes it easy to use from the start and employees will be eager to use it because it’s not complex. That makes this application a time and money saver because you don’t need to hire a developer to create a functional site from scratch nor do you need to call on one to update an existing page. Templates are readily available and sites can be launched in no time at all.
- Security controls – For many companies, this is one of the most important reasons to adopt Microsoft SharePoint. Reports from Microsoft say that the company invests about $1 billion each year in cloud security. That’s how important security is to them and why SharePoint is so popular with government entities. Advanced security features are integral in reducing the risk of outages and avoiding unauthorized access. Furthermore, security configurations – just like everything else – can be customized for individual documents or items, sites, lists, libraries, and more, allowing access privileges for some but not for others.
While these five points are amongst our favorite reasons for choosing SharePoint, it’s important to note that there are many others. It’s also essential to point out that since it’s introduction 20 years ago, SharePoint has been continuously evolving to keep up with the times, so to speak. As a matter of fact, in the last five years or so, Microsoft has made countless improvements to the application and users report that it’s more user-friendly, faster, and more mobile-responsive than ever. It also better integrates with popular services such as MS Teams and Flow, which are used by countless businesses.
Intrigued? Would you like to learn more about Microsoft SharePoint? We’d be happy to provide you with a simple overview of this web-based application and help you better understand how it could work for you and your business. For a no-obligation consultation or to speak to one of our IT experts, call 604-899-1105.