So you are investigating Office 365 and have noticed that the option you are looking to buy includes SharePoint online.
You are probably wondering if it is the same as SharePoint 2013 on-premises and if so are there any differences?
SharePoint online offers a number of benefits and is very close in resemblance to SharePoint Server 2013. However, while SharePoint 2013 on-premises comes in 3 versions, most SharePoint online plans only have 1 version.
To make it easier to understand SharePoint online, included with most versions of Office 365 offers the same applications and services as SharePoint Server 2013 on-premises, but for a low monthly subscription cost. To purchase SharePoint Server 2013, you will need to consider server licenses and end-user licenses. This can quickly lead to a high upfront cost.
SharePoint online is available as soon as an Office 365 trial is activated. This way you can quickly create a site and a proof of concept for no initial outlay. You can create team sites, Document Libraries, workflows and more and then demonstrate this to your business key stakeholders. It is much easier to justify an investment if you can demonstrate something than a theoretical essay. What an excellent way to generate business buy-in for your forthcoming Intranet project.
Office 365 is a great tool for any business large or small.
For the smaller businesses consider Office 365 as part of your IT strategy to replace all servers in your IT infrastructure. Moving your services to the cloud will ensure you have reduced your business risk whilst at the same time introduced the concept of your staff accessing files and email from any location world-wide. As Office 365 includes products such as Word and Excel online, staff can access important files even from a computer with no Office applications installed. Office 365 Business Premium also allows staff to install Office applications on their mobile or tablet devices. By allowing staff to access files and services from remote devices, you can introduce flexible working for staff who require this option.
For larger businesses Office 365 can be used to compliment your existing IT Infrastructure, some services such as Exchange and SharePoint can be fully migrated to the cloud whilst other legacy applications can remain on-premises. Office 365 E3 and E5 plans also include software to allow staff to install Office applications on their mobile or tablet device. Again this is a great way to improve flexible working for staff who require this option.
As you can see from this blog, SharePoint online as part of an Office 365 subscription is a great way to reduce business risk whilst introducing the concept of working flexibly for your staff.
Contact MindPoint to discuss in more detail how Office 365 and SharePoint online can improve ways of working within your business.
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