What is SharePoint and what is it for?
SharePoint: Document Manager and more
Microsoft SharePoint is known by many as Microsoft's tool for advanced document management and teamwork. It allows you to create private and secure internal and external websites where you can store, organise, edit and share information, from anywhere and on any device.
But SharePoint goes beyond being a document management platform, it is an integral work tool, perfect for creating a corporate Intranet, thanks to its important advantages:
Key Benefits of SharePoint
Image source: https://products.office.com/es-es/sharepoint
– Simple and intuitive interface and adapted to all types of devices. SharePoint is easy to use and can be accessed from any fixed computer (PC and Mac) and mobile device (tablets and smartphones).
– Personalisation with the company's image: SharePoint allows you to customise the design of the sites to match the company's corporate identity: logo, colours, fonts, styles...
– Integration with all Microsoft applications. As it is within Office 365, integrates seamlessly with:
o All the Office 365 package: Word, Excel, Access, Power Point...
o Azure, Microsoft's cloud and One Drive. We can synchronise in such a way that documents can be worked on locally, uploaded and synchronised.
o Microsoft TeamsThe software for group chats, which enables real-time communication within SharePoint.
o Microsoft Power BI, a business intelligence tool that allows in-depth analysis of business data to extract valuable information to help in decision-making.
o PowerAppsto create applications.
o Microsoft Flow, to create customised workflows that improve and automate processes.
– Collaborative platformSharePoint is a collaboration and communication platform, which allows effective teamwork, sharing all kinds of documents and tasks. It is a web-based service, it works through the browser. It allows you to create a corporate site, Intranet, for all members of the company to work, which can be organised in different ways. In addition, web applications can be created for the different departments of the company and external sites, extranets, for clients and/or suppliers, who have to interact with the company through workflows or other collaboration mechanisms.
– Version Control: SharePoint works with content libraries, which are repositories of information. In addition to storing documents (invoices, delivery notes, quotes, reports, presentations, etc.), it allows you to edit them online, with Office 365 applications: Word, Excel, Power Point, etc. The programme automatically saves the changes and the user's record. Users have different permissions: read-only, write (editing), etc. Thanks to the version history of each document, we can know who has modified it and when, and recover old versions. Sharepoint provides the added value of providing a history of data and metadata about the files we work with.
– AlertsThe alerts functionality is also very interesting. SharePoint allows us to create alerts when a document in the library is modified and so the programme alerts us when a user is modifying it.
– Enterprise Search EngineSharePoint includes a very powerful search engine: Enterprise Search and all search results are organised by sites, files and contacts (users).
– Document Upload: SharePoint can connect to a variety of data sources, allowing documents to be uploaded or uploaded in a variety of ways:
- From our computer or storage devices
- Through the browser
- Through the cloud
– Large storage capacityIt will depend, logically, on the version and the licensing plan contracted, with these maximums:
o Document Size: SharePoint allows you to store documents up to 10 GB in size.
o Databases: With SharePoint With Sharepoint Server we can upload content databases up to 4 TB.
o Lists: SharePoint allows you to create a list containing up to 30 million items.
o Libraries: SharePoint allows up to 30 million files and folders to be stored in each library.
o Site Collection: >: SharePoint allows you to create up to 500,000 site collections. Each site collection can have up to 10,000 groups and up to two million users.
o GroupsEach group of SharePoint can have up to 5000 users and each user in turn can belong to 5000 groups.
SharePoint versions
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SharePoint Online:
It is a cloud-based service from Microsoft, within Office 365 online.. This means that it is not necessary to download and install the software, but that we access the programme via the Internet. You must be subscribed to one of the Microsoft Office 365 plans, or subscribe directly to SharePoint online: Click on this link: Access to SharePoint Online
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SharePoint Server:
It is the most complete version and ideal for local work. It is a much more complete version, because it offers additional functionalities and the latest SharePoint features that are called "modern": modern site pages (we will see later what they are), modern web elements, modern lists and libraries, modern search, etc. But most important are the integrations with other Microsoft functionality: PowerApps, for creating applications: Power BI, Microsoft's business intelligence tool, and Microsoft Flow, for workflows.
This is the link to download SharePoint Server: Download
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SharePoint Foundation:
Formerly called Windows SharePoint Services, is the free tool for local deployment, only available for SharePoint Server 2013. Allows you to create many types of collaboration sites with web pages, lists, calendars and documents.
This is the link to download SharePoint Foundation 2013: Download
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SharePoint Designer 2013:
It is the best tool for rapid development of SharePoint applications.for advanced users, developers and web designers. It is a web design and application software that allows you to create and customise SharePoint sites in an agile way.
This is the link to download SharePoint Designer 2013: Download
o All of the above licensing information is from the Microsoft Office support website: https://support.office.com/es-es/sharepoint
Why SharePoint is the perfect platform for creating your Intranet
SharePoint is the perfect tool for creating a corporate Intranet, because it is the ideal platform for sharing content and ideas and encouraging participation. It allows the development of internal and external portals oriented towards collaboration, whether they are Intranets, for the exclusive use of the members of the organisation, or Extranets, for the relationship and exchange of documents with suppliers and/or clients. It also allows the creation of "communication sites" in seconds, to disseminate messages or share news with other members of the company, where all kinds of communication tools can be included: Blogs, Wikis, Mailboxes... And most importantly, these sites can be created without the need for technical knowledge or help from the IT department.
In short, SharePoint is not only a document management tool, but a solid, flexible and scalable collaboration and communication platform, perfect for creating a Corporate Intranet.
Next-Step Consultants we are experts in SharePoint
If you want to develop a corporate Intranet, contact us, we are SharePoint expertsWe will help you to create it and we will give you the training you need to be able to maintain and develop it independently: