Microsoft SharePoint

From intranets to document and content management, allow all your users to work and access key information in real time with Microsoft SharePoint.

What is Microsoft SharePoint?

Microsoft SharePoint is a secure environment where organisations can order, store and share information and files across all devices.

SharePoint has been recognised by Gartner as the leading tool for building business intranet sites, portals and content platforms. SharePoint’s flexibility means that it can be customised to streamline work processes and generate efficiencies, while the cloud hosting means team members can work collaboratively wherever they are.

With the advent of Microsoft Office 365, SharePoint can be delivered either on-premise on your own server or as a hosted application.

• SharePoint Online – A cloud-based service, hosted by Microsoft, for businesses of all sizes. Instead of installing and deploying on-premise, any business can subscribe to an Office 365 plan or to the standalone SharePoint Online service. Your employees can create sites to share documents and information with colleagues, partners, and customers.
• SharePoint Server – Organisations can deploy and manage SharePoint Server on-premises. It includes all the features of SharePoint Foundation. And it offers additional features and capabilities, such as Enterprise Content Management, business intelligence, enterprise search, personal sites, and Newsfeed.

Akita’s Sharepoint Services

Akita has implemented SharePoint solutions for customers across a wide range of industries. Our services include:

• SharePoint Consultancy & Scoping
• SharePoint Development
• Project Management
• SharePoint Hosting (for on-premise)
• Backup (for SharePoint Online and Office 365)
• SharePoint Integration & migration
• Microsoft licensing
• Ongoing Support

Our team of consultants will be able to work proactively with you to get the most from your SharePoint instance, ensuring it fits with your business model and the way you work.

Key Features & Benefits of Microsoft SharePoint

Branding & customisation
SharePoint has improved its design features resulting in richer themes, background images and allowing far more control over its look and feel. Web content management is also significantly easier than in previous versions.

Streamline tasks
SharePoint simplifies task management and, as a result, collaborative project work. Features to support this task tracking, visual timelines, to-do lists and the ability to view both SharePoint and Outlook tasks in one place.

Improved mobility
SharePoint offers optimised viewing for users across a variety of mobile platforms for true on-the-go usage. Akita can render a single SharePoint published site in multiple formats for different devices, even adding SharePoint push notifications for smartphones if required. Data can be synced for offline use with Office web applications also benefiting from enhanced viewing on mobile browsers.

Collaboration
One of SharePoint’s key features is the collaborative nature of the software. Users are connected with the information and tools they need, when they need them and wherever they are. Shared workspaces, calendars, documents, notifications and alerts can be created while offline synchronisation capabilities improves team productivity.

Search
SharePoint’s search capabilities make finding documents straightforward. Through the search box, SharePoint will let you know whether the information is available within the existing document library.

Security and Integrity
SharePoint’s document management features ensure the integrity of documents. These include requiring users to check out documents before editing, viewing revisions, restoring previous document versions and the ability to set document-level security.

Compliance
SharePoint allows businesses to adhere to stricter compliance demands. Retention policies can be created and managed and applied to sites and associated Exchange mailboxes.

Apps Stores
Microsoft has introduced a SharePoint apps store which provides a multitude of add-ons and additional features.

Common Uses For Microsoft SharePoint

Intranet
SharePoint provides the ideal platform for creating and managing intranets (effectively internal facing websites). This allows companies and authorised employees to easily communicate important internal information such as company announcements, company policies, employee notices and so on, as well as store all documents that staff may need in their day-to-day business.

Team websites
SharePoint provides a cost-effective way to create professional-looking websites with a range of useful features. These are ideal for sites which are knowledge-intensive or for those requiring collaboration.

Extranet
An extranet is an external facing portal where authorised individuals can login and gain access to select company documents or see notifications. This allows for external communication through a secured and monitored system. Extranets are useful for storing customer reference documents, or for HR to give access to training material for new staff in the process of on-boarding with a company.

Project management tool
Teams can create a SharePoint site for projects, with easier and more efficient management. For those using MS Project, this seamlessly synchronises. By providing team-members with the most up-to-date project information and making it far it easier for them to control, share and collaborate, it is an incredibly powerful project management tool.

Business search engine
Using SharePoint to organise documents makes it easier for employees to find information that would otherwise remain inaccessible, for example that held on a local computer or secured folder. However, it goes further than simple document searches as employees can also quickly find users, conversations, announcements, etc.

Document management
By creating Document Library folders, users can upload any files to SharePoint, whether or not they are standard Office files. However, through its’ integration with Microsoft Office programs users can share and collaborate using the application itself, seamlessly saving to document libraries for Excel, Word, Visio, etc. Synchronisation between programs is, as you would expect, a strong feature of the product. For example, Microsoft Office calendars and contacts can be synchronised with your team’s site.

To discuss an upcoming Microsoft SharePoint project, upgrade or other service, please get in touch.