Last week Microsoft released a range of updates and information on the future of SharePoint at a live event with fanfare and hype normally reserved for a iPhone launch. Team Orange have been reviewing the blogs, videos and information released to date and we are excited, business users should be also. The modern SharePoint features are great.
Mobility
While SharePoint looked ok on a mobile device, it lacked an app. Support for SharePoint documents on the OneDrive App is available now. A SharePoint App that supports pages, news and documents will be available in a few weeks.
Consistency for Document Libraries
It’s frustrating when the same thing looks different in different environments. SharePoint document libraries will now look the same across OneDrive, OneDrive for Business and SharePoint. Awesome news, train it once across any environment!
Consolidation of New Cloud Features
There has been an explosion of new cloud features in Office 365, including Groups, Power BI, Planner, and Power Apps. SharePoint has missed out.
These features are staying but are being integrated into SharePoint, again providing one place for business users to operate from. New cloud tools provide some real power for business users, enabling them to very quickly create a process flow or analyise data.
The changes happening in this area are significant and will empower business users as much as the release of Pivot Tables did in the early 1990’s
New Page Design for Intranets
One of the biggest complaints on SharePoint is that it’s hard to find anything. SharePoint will have a new look page designer to guide users to create pages that work on the web and mobile. Yes this means following a structure Microsoft prescribes, but the payoff is using intelligent features to highlight documents and content that are relevant for users.
Lists
An often overlooked feature in SharePoint, lists can replace static spreadsheets and add process and automation. Lists are getting a refresh and will now link with Microsoft Flow and Power Apps to make it easy for Business users to automate.
Team Orange are excited about these changes and getting to know more about them over the coming weeks. Contact us today to discuss how your organisation could take advantage of these changes.
References:
There are a variety of blogs and videos on the changes, below are some of our favourates;
Official Release:
Official Release: Just want the cliff notes, this is a good read SharePoint—the mobile and intelligent intranet, with a good video of the whole experience