Is SharePoint Online a Threat to Other File Shares?

I remember the initial days when working with a media agency in Dubai, United Arab Emirates back in 2009. We had network drives synced to our laptops and all the final creative files had to go into the server (one user at a time to avoid duplications and rewrites). The most important thing is that we had to be “in the office” to do so. Two years later, the revolutionary Microsoft Office 365 came out and we were super excited when we had to say good bye to our old good “servers”.

The world has changed a lot and IT departments aren’t required to support the companies anymore (at least for the mid-sized businesses). Microsoft is innovating to drive growth by promoting mobility and agile business practices.

I live with SharePoint technology, but mark my words: Migrating to SharePoint Online is going to be the best decision ever taken to transform your organization, in my opinion.

So, why SharePoint Online is going to be a threat to other file shares? Here’s my justification for the same:

1. Security Matters

It’s never going to look nice when you get a physical access to your data center without an admin access, isn’t it? Your duty is to prevent vulnerable attacks to your server/portal.

This is where SharePoint shows its sophisticated expertise. It’s updated frequently with all the patches – a pool of resources who are dedicated to working on protecting your data. If you lose any data, Microsoft is going to pay for it. Isn’t that a perk? SharePoint can be hardened with MFA. Check for the appropriate Office 365 package before opting in.

As usual, the upgrades are free along with Office 365 and Microsoft has a charge if you are using on-premise or hybrid package.

2. The Costing

If you’re already an Office 365 subscriber, SharePoint is already included in your package. The fact is that 80% of the organizations forget to leverage the SharePoint features for their business. If you are not on O365, SharePoint comes with an affordable monthly subscription What’s the additional requirement you need apart from the Office 365/SharePoint Online Package? A computer with an internet connection.

You read it right! No more hardware, software, backup servers or VPN required that would end up costing your company more. SharePoint On-Premise is expensive compared to Online and is recommended for financial institutions. Microsoft keeps upgrading their platform with nicer updates and features eventually providing the best user experience for all of us. 

3. Remote Access

With the advancement of technology, our workforce is becoming more remote. Especially for construction companies, engineers and project managers keep travelling to their work sites and have no provision for using PCs on site.

File shares are local-only resources by design. Many companies overcome this issue by using VPN connectivity. Ever thought about the increase in maintenance and complexity of VPN solutions? It’s going to add plenty of maintenance costs for your organization (provided you have a high-speed network connectivity for VPNs to work seamlessly).

Mobile access to documents on OneDrive for Business & SharePoint Online is recommended for businesses.

SharePoint Intranet can be conveniently accessed from anywhere, anytime and from any devices. Users can sync their data with their personal computers with the OneDrive app. What’s the best part you ask? You can create workflows and notifications to have managers review and approve documents prepared by the sales/project team easily. What about the employees working at the site without network connectivity? No problem! They can complete working on the documents and save and once the internet connectivity is back, the files get synced to SharePoint  automatically. 

4. Compliance

The topics of compliance could be boring for some users but it is the most crucial part of a business. If not implemented, your company would be responsible for heavy fines. The good news is that Microsoft SharePoint can be deployed to your organization with several industry standards like HIPAA. Check out the Microsoft blog on “HIPAA Compliance with Office 365 (Exchange Online) – Steps for Configuration and Use“.

Please note that SharePoint can be compliant but doesn’t come in as a default feature. It requires configuration. 

5. Collaboration

I had a meeting with Rick, CFO of a leading Real Estate Company. His feedback about Dock and SharePoint was the flexibility of using a mini Sales CRM mobile app that connects his Sales Team in one place!

“Rick says that when his team works together in Dock, everybody gets access to the latest news and announcements. Sharing of files has become much easier with version control feature. We are delighted with the technology transformation and thanks to Microsoft SharePoint and Dock!”

Also, the Co-Authoring Feature in SharePoint is outstanding! Say goodbye to those file share issues we faced earlier! This feature helps multiple users to edit the document in real time. 

6. Search Compatibility

I don’t think an intro is required for the SharePoint’s search capability. The file share’s search capability is amazing. You can define tags in the SharePoint term store and indexing the content without any hassle. If you have come across search and file discovery issues with file sharing, move to SharePoint. It is easy and robust: thanks to SharePoint’s user interface and advanced features.

About Dock with SharePoint

In our 16 years of experience, SharePoint is one of the most promising and innovation solutions available today. If you are already an Office 365 subscriber, SharePoint comes with it already. Please visit our blog to learn more about latest SharePoint and Dock features! If you are looking forward to migrating your data to SharePoint Online, sneak peek into: MyGrator 365.