SharePoint is a popular platform from Microsoft that’s been around since 2001. It allows companies to integrate a variety of different elements, including their content and documents and make them easier to manage. This intranet connects many different elements of the company, making it fast and easy to find the information they need. This can help the company to improve their effectiveness and productivity, and that means they will be improving their overall profits. When hosting in the cloud, it can make connecting and sharing content even easier for the company. Even employees in different locations will have fast access to the information they need. Again, this helps to increase profits. It’s even possible to share documents with large customers thanks to the ability to set up an extranet.
Who Uses SharePoint?
SharePoint is one of the most popular applications for businesses of all sizes. In fact, an estimated 75% of Fortune 500 companies use the software. Whether a company has 50 employees or 1,500 employees, the benefits and potential to improve profits are the same. The features and options within the software allow companies to have more control and to collaborate between employees. From intranet and extranet portals to file and document management, social networks, and easy search functions, it offers some distinct advantages that help to make the company more productive. This increased productivity is the main thrust behind the improved profits.
Consider some of the following benefits of SharePoint and it will become easy to see just how it can affect the bottom line. The features and benefits help companies of all sizes to make better use of data and cut their overall costs.
Easy Administration
One of the biggest benefits to the software is that it makes management very simple, and system setting changes are nearly instantaneous. Everyone who is part of the company and who has access to the program through the cloud will be working from the same setup. Manage security, restore and backup the system, monitor the data, and more all through one location. This makes it so much easier for the IT department and management to handle. In the past, they would have had to work on updating and upgrading software on all of the individual computers in the business, which was time-consuming and costly. Now, it’s possible to update everything with just a few clicks.
Customize It for Your Company
Because of the vast customization features of SharePoint, it’s possible for companies to create unique setups for their specific needs. Creating specialized components within the system is simple, and it allows the various teams to have access to the tools and features they need to become more productive.
Easy Collaboration
Keeping everyone on the team on the same page, literally and figuratively, is important. It will cut down on wasted back and forth time, and it will eliminate the possibility of dealing with mismatched content. All of the members of the team will have the information they need, as well as access to the most updated versions of files and documents, throughout the course of the project.
One of the drawbacks to having teams working together, particularly teams that don’t work in the same office, is the fact that it’s easy to lose track of the most current files and documents. This leads to several different versions of the project in production at the same time. It can take ages to sort everything out, and the result is lost time and money. Using SharePoint in the cloud helps to alleviate this problem.
Consolidate the Sites
Another one of the wonderful cost saving features is the ability to place all sites under a single platform and manage them for there. It’s possible to have the extranet, intranet, and Internet sites all manageable via SharePoint. This makes it possible for a smaller team to take care of all of the management processes, and it’s a far more efficient method. The chance of losing any data or information is virtually nonexistent when you work with the program.
It’s Easy to Use
One of the reasons that some companies will shy away from programs and software such as this is because they feel that it will be a time sink to try to learn it all. They worry that they will spend so much time and effort trying to learn the system that it will counter the money they could actually save. While that might be true with some types of software, SharePoint is different. It’s actually quite simple to learn, and will be up and running with it quickly. You can learn the elements you need to get started, and then you can learn about the other parts of the system as you progress and need them. You do not need to be a developer, and you do not need to be an IT pro to get it all done either.
The software also happens to be secure, and this is a huge concern for a number of companies today. With hacks and security breaches in the news on a nearly daily basis, having a system that’s safe and secure is important, and this product from MS shines in this area. Of course, companies also need to take responsibility and make sure that only authorized personnel in the company have access to the various parts of the system. People should only have access to the tools and documents they need, not the entire program.
Should Your Business Use SharePoint?
SharePoint is able to offer help with content management, tools for collaborating, search functionality, the intranet and extranet, and much more. However, before companies simply start using the system, they need to have a plan. They should investigate all of the features and compare those with what their team actually needs. This allows them to build a plan that will make incorporating and using the system more efficient. For example, you should know who will use the various features of the system, you should develop a naming convention to make it easy to find all of the files, and you should have someone in charge of ensuring the system is up and running at all times.
While it is not the only program able to offer these types of features and services, it is one of the best on the market. It also combines such an array of tools that many companies find that this becomes one of the only major pieces of software they need. As you can see, the benefits that it offers help the company work smarter and faster, becoming more efficient. That efficiency then translates into dollars saved, which means that many businesses using the system find they have a nice increase in profits. If you are still on the fence about the Microsoft program and whether it’s the right option or not, rest easy knowing that implementing it could be one of the best moves you make whether you have a large or small business.