Things move fast online. Data can be sent and received in the span of seconds. Collaboration and organization have never been more important – crucial, even – to a business operating smoothly. Luckily for employees and employers alike, there are a wealth of options available to the public that allows them to stay connected to everyone from cross-continental far-flung team members to a co-worker operating remotely from their home while minding their sick child. That’s what makes SharePoint so vital.
One of the oldest and most reliable platforms for data storage, document management, communication and various other applications, SharePoint is Microsoft’s answer to the busy world of today.
With more than 75,000 customers and 160 million users, SharePoint (alongside OneDrive) is one of the most widely used and best suited programs to help keep your business in line. SharePoint is looking to only further increase its capability. Considering that SharePoint and OneDrive was registering 200% monthly growth rate in active users a little over a year ago, and you have all the evidence you need to demonstrate that many see SharePoint as a huge next step in business connectivity.
And people need to catch up. A recent AIIM study, ‘The Impact of SharePoint – 2016’, surveyed business executives about how they use, plan to use, and understand SharePoint. The answers were quite revealing. They found the major reasons a project stalled or failed was because of inadequate user training (67%), difficulty in use (66%), and lack of senior management support (64%).
SharePoint in 2019 is looking to address those issues and bring the platform up to speed with what users and customers demand from it.
With that being said, let’s delve into the top five reasons to use SharePoint in 2019.
1. Data Analytics
Microsoft is constantly trying to update SharePoint to make sure that it encompasses all the latest trends and business tools that the platform can support in order to help its users. A key feature that was added last year and was improved upon with SharePoint is the Delve Analytics.
This feature includes organizational analytics software that can reveal information like how long an employee spent time reading emails or attending meetings. It’s this sort of day-to-day analytics that can help you keep your business sharp and running in top form.
Not to mention that Big Data is only becoming more important to the business world.
2. OneDrive
Being able to store data safely and reliably so that your entire team has access to the most important information at all times is key to running a company in 2019. With that said, OneDrive offers one of the best data storage services around.
Its integration with SharePoint is only becoming more seamless, and will allow ever easier connections no matter the distance separating your team.
3. Better User Experience and Control
The user interface and overall intuitiveness of a platform is integral to a tool’s performance. After all, if you’re stuck on trying to sort out which feature does what, you’ll hardly be able to effectively complete the task that you were working on in the first place. At least not without investing a good bit of time getting over that learning curve.
SharePoint is always on the lookout to increase user control and ease of use. Tight integration with familiar client apps leads to better document review and issue tracking processes.
Alongside the ease of use comes the enhanced control granted to users. Using the Central Administration, managers have more power than ever to control the entire platform easily. Accessing app management features is a synch and being able to keep an eye on SharePoint farms, manage security settings and futzing with system settings as required is more user friendly than ever. It’s these experiences that SharePoint is looking to improve in order to better the results we saw in that AIIM study.
4. Security and Integrity
With the sheer amount of data flying back and forth these days, and the importance of that data to day-to-day modern business dealings, you need to make sure that it’s secure. Information can quickly go from being your best tool to a liability if it’s compromised. With that in mind, SharePoint looks to erect better defenses so that you can be sure your data is in safe hands when collaborating over the internet.
After all, data breaches, hacks and leaks have led to some pretty alarming developments in recent times. Such an event can be disastrous on businesses both big and small. With that in mind, data security is a top priority for most companies in 2019, and SharePoint doesn’t let them down with its increased and renewed focus on keeping your files and data safe from would-be hackers.
5. Saves You Money
Whether you subscribe or use the free version, either way, SharePoint provides your business with a means to cut costs by reducing the need for middlemen, saving time and creating smoother lines of communications that impact whatever it is you’re selling.
Spending less time on organizing collaborations means more time spent on the product itself and getting your business where it needs to go. Not to mention that all the aforementioned reasons also help you avoid numerous – and often times costly – headaches. From data breaches to data analytics to secure online storage, the breadth and depth of SharePoint features allows you to put more time, money and focus on your business itself rather than getting caught in confusing IT webs.
Why Your Business Can Benefit From SharePoint
For a company in 2019, so much of the work takes place online that to not have the most up to date platform to manage that realm is a detriment to your business, no matter what you do.
With a bevy of new and improved features coming every year – and 2019 is no exception – SharePoint not only allows you to stay modern and keep your business firing on all cylinders today, but gives you the foundations you need to build your business for tomorrow.
