In this industry, if a tech stack or a tool starts trending, there’s often widespread implementation. In this process, there are often many products that aren’t given their fair share of usage. Microsoft SharePoint is one such product.
SharePoint is primarily a document management and storage system, which is highly configurable and offers much flexibility to the developers.
Listed below are some helpful SharePoint features that are commonly underutilized.
1. Research and Analytics
That familiar Research Task Pane that users can find on other Microsoft Office products is also available in the SharePoint Server.
Though some users say that the search option in the SharePoint isn’t yet up to the mark, you can still get site collection analytics in the Site Settings menu. In the Search Settings section, if you visit the SharePoint Central Administration site, you’ll be able to access search analytics as well.
2. Email Organiser
For people using the Exchange Server for email management, SharePoint can be used to create a site which will act as a single point to receive Exchange Transfers.
3. Create Blogs and Wikis
Blogs and wikis are an important part of knowledge sharing, yet often ignored. Both of these features are easy to create, update, and delete based on your requirements through SharePoint.
4. Internal Social Networking
SharePoint gives you a social networking platform within your company. If you want to follow your boss or someone from another department within your company, SharePoint makes it easy for you to do so.
When blogs are created using SharePoint like mentioned above, and content is posted, you can choose to follow people within and outside your department.
5. Collaboration Tool
At the heart of its creation, SharePoint is basically a content sharing tool. The best aspect about SharePoint is the fact that it’s highly scalable depending on your collaboration needs.
Once the number of employees or departments in your company increases, SharePoint can easily adapt with those changes to ensure a smooth and hassle-free scale up.
6. Data Connection
SharePoint makes database connection easy for everyone, regardless of tech savvy. For local Excel analysis and other work, employees who aren’t able to locate the files can make use of the data connection library established using SharePoint.
This data connection library creates a trusted and managed location for storing all the data connections, thereby making it easier for employees to access the libraries.
7. Site Backup
Backing up websites and exporting them element by element is a hassle that’s painstaking and time-consuming. Thanks to SharePoint, you can now move an entire website in just a single operation.
Even with all its features, adapting to SharePoint can be daunting compared to traditional methods that your company is already familiar with. But as SharePoint is a sophisticated application with a wide range of uses, the pros vastly outweigh the cons.
Continue reading for more information about the many different faces of SharePoint.