What is Microsoft Sharepoint? and Why does my business need it?

Great, Thanks for checking in… great to see you here, and to give you an overview that could literally change your business’s cloud storage solution for the better.

You’ve probably heard a little bit about the features and benefits of Microsoft Sharepoint and like anything system new to you,

I think it best to try and explain it simply, so you can ‘get the gist’ of it’s functionality, and how it may serve you and your business as you currently stands, and SharePoints potential to serve the business as you grow and develop further.

To start at the very beginning, we get a lot of businesses asking us how to store their company files in the cloud. Especially since COVID-19 with a number of staff working from home. We need a way to share files with staff at home without the need for complicated VPN or remote access setups in the office. These also rely on internet connection and power at the office which is some cases might be unreliabe.

We’ve all seen a company intranet before, at least from an external overview, with all the policies, proceedures, documents, Images and lists included?

Well, think of Sharepoint as Microsoft’s version of a big, well organised company intranet with some innovative features up it’s sleeve.

Q: So, It’s just like OneDrive right?

A: Actually no…

Microsoft SharePoint differs in design with OneDrive,

primarily in the area of ownership of files.

Let me explain,

OneDrives files are owned by the User ie: me! (Chris) – the original user who set them up,

Whereas with SharePoint, the files in the system belong to the company, in this case and for the sake of the example, that would be South East IT…

It’s what Microsoft SharePoint refers to as “Tenancy”

Now, before you jump to negative conclusions on ownership, stick with me on this one, because the way Sharepoint administrates its content will have major benefits regarding ease of file access and ongoing archival capabilities to you and your employees, and it won’t hurt one little bit…

For the sake of the discussion, let’s just say your long term employee ‘Chris’ is leaving the business…

Upon his exit, his OneDrive account will be closed or deleted and his extensive and highly sought after library of OneDrive files will disappear also…

Which means the valuable files, lists, cheat sheets, forms and documents that Chris created for the companies’ use, right back to when he started with your company, eons ago,

will be lost and are no longer accessible to you, chris’s old collegues or any other employees who remain with the company.

In Microsoft Sharepoint’s case, the complete opposite outcome is true.

SharePoint’s files and documents created by Chris, belong to the SharePoint system under the tenancy process and therefore, remain completely acessible, available and ready for access and for co – authoring to continue on uninterrupted long after Chris’s departure.

Especially important if you have to deal with a continual rotation of personnel within your business.

Anyone with permissions to your Microsoft SharePoint intranet system would have access to the sites files and you can also be specific with sharing files and documents and decide who has permission to either edit or just view files, keeping in mind, you can adjust and adapt these file sharing permissions at anytime. Files can also be accessed through Microsoft Teams.

Specificity is possible right across your SharePoint Hub site, meaning you can share information specific to a users permissions within and also outside your organisation as required.

Viewers will only have access to content they have permission to view, So, your confidential data and documents is well protected. It’s South East IT’s general opinion,

Microsoft SharePoint is hard to beat when it comes to file sharing capabilities, controlling permissions and data synchronisation.

I’m sure it’s on my Hard Drive… somewhere??

Utter these words no more!

Microsoft Sharepoint Folder Sharing is also a brilliant feature, where your team can store documents in different folders and the whole team can have access to files and documents they have permissions to use,

Microsoft Sharepoint also includes Document Libraries which allow you to store your company data in the cloud and it can also be synced with your Mac or PC.

By being the central location for all files and documentation, ‘a good document memory’ and file paths are a thing of the past as you can create an easy to use, easy to find system, so everyone inside and outside the organisation can access what they require without any fuss. 

If a Microsoft Sharepoint package sounds like it will better suit the needs of your organisation and your current business requirements, South East IT offer migration services from on-premise servers or NAS devices to get you set up and running in Microsoft Sharepoint. You can have a beautiful looking intranet site for your business in no time…

Just get in touch with the Friendly team at South East IT. We’re only a phone call away on 1300 155 285

At SouthEast IT our team have a lot of experience in migrating your data to the cloud and setting up Microsoft SharePoint correctly with the most efficient structure working in the Microsoft file storage recommendations. Poor implemtations of Microsoft SharePoint can result in files being slow to access and folders being not accessable even if the data is online.

Wrapping up,

You’ll find Microsoft SharePoint certainly worth a considered look if you’re seeking a more concise and modern alternative to managing files, documents and data securely across your organisation.

As a final point,

One of the greater benefits of Microsoft SharePoint is that no matter the device, whether it’s a Mac, Windows PC or Mobile Phone, so long as you have an internet connection you’ll be good to go and there’s no requirement for a complicated VPN…

More information? Get in touch with the professional team at South East IT or or email enquiries@southeastit.com.au and we can help your business implement SharePoint correctly tailored to your needs.