Abstract
After carrying out number of SharePoint migration projects,
collecting the real time experience and new learnings, now we are in very good
shape to execute any migration (on
premises SharePoint old versions to
SharePoint new versions, SharePoint on premises to SP online and other
technology domain to SharePoint technology) kind of projects in SharePoint.
During this journey
we have learned lot of new things and that is now helping us to move
confidently to crack any challenging migration project. We have various plan
and sub plans as per the migration types and all those plans are tested on real
time scenarios with years of continuous practice. My main objective here is to explain
organization decision makers and tell them that how SharePoint can help them to
grow vertical as well as horizontal in very short time. I tried to educate them
by asking key questions related to SharePoint with the most appropriate answers
like a story concept and I am sure this will help them take the right decision on
migrating to SharePoint.
What is SharePoint?
By reading big definitions from internet about SharePoint
has confused all the readers about it. If you see on internet you will see lot
of different definitions related to SharePoint, like given below.
·
Microsoft
SharePoint is a browser-based collaboration and document management platform
from Microsoft - Wikipedia
·
Microsoft's
content management system. It allows groups to set up a centralized, password
protected space for document sharing. Documents can be stored, downloaded and
edited, then uploaded for continued sharing. - SAIT Polytechnic Teaching -
Glossary
·
SharePoint
is a web-based intranet that can help improve your organization's effectiveness
by streamlining the management of and access to data. - Creative
SharePoint
·
SharePoint
is an enterprise information portal, from Microsoft, that can be configured to
run Intranet, Extranet and Internet sites. - SharePoint HQ
·
{..} SharePoint
is a sort of sharing/blogging/wiki-style server that mainly provides a back end
to Microsoft Office - Jack Schofield, Technical Writer Guardian newspaper,
UK.
In my words, SharePoint definition is very simple and
straight forward, I define it in just two words. It’s Point (Place) to Share. In all above definitions you will observe
some keyword words like collaboration, communication, information, content and
security etc. when we relate all these words for achieving defined goal then
SharePoint is the proper platform for it.
How Rich and Effective is the SharePoint?
Microsoft has developed the SharePoint by considering all
the business scenarios and needs. Every industry and each vertical can use it
to make their day to day work life simpler. By default SharePoint come up with
big set of ready to use features and after getting some knowledge of it any
business user can easily use it.
SharePoint 2016 is the latest version introduced by
Microsoft and it comes with below listed main features. I am not going to
explain each feature here because you can easily get the required information
from internet for each one of them. My main intention is to walkthrough you
with these story type questions and tell how SharePoint 2016 can be a better
platform for all other cross domain as well as old SP versions.
Main Features introduced in SP 2016:
·
Office Graph -- a back-end tool in the Office
365 Suite that facilitates search across integrated applications
·
Sway -- a presentation tool in the Office suite
·
Business Intelligence- SharePoint
Server 2016 now supports SQL Server 2016 CTP 3.1 and the Power Pivot add-in and
Power View
·
Project Server-New Project Server features are
available in SharePoint Server 2016.
·
Mobile experience-SharePoint Server 2016 offers
an improved mobile navigation experience
·
Hybrid in SharePoint 2016- Hybrid in SharePoint
Server 2016 enables you to integrate your on-premises farm with Office 365
productivity experiences, allowing you to adopt the cloud at your own pace.
Apart from above there are some more services introduced in
SP 2016 which made it one of the scalable and flexible collaborative platform.
Why organization should use SharePoint?
I am observing from very long days that all industry
organizations has implemented ERP, CRM,
Accounting, HR and other process using
IT solutions to bring more automation in the work and to make their day to day work simpler and
quicker and qualitative. These department
wise induction of IT solutions have helped them to meet their specific
department needs but there is no single platform available which can help them
to share their information across the departments within the organization and I
am very much sure that SharePoint fits in there.
As defined above SharePoint is a platform which supports for
collaboration and communication very effectively. Any information has value
when it is used to solve the problems and help in taking complex decisions. And
it’s more important that this information has to be flown to related
stakeholders on right time with secure and presentable way then only it makes
more sense to its recipients. SharePoint is kind of platform which supports all
these features and day by day its becoming face of the organization. The
intranet solutions provided on SharePoint has become the starter place for
employees and their day starts from taking the inputs from intranet.
Some of the surveys made by Gallup (gallup.com) has proved
that only 15% employees are engaged of the total employees all over the world.
Also only 5-10% of employees are connected and rest of them either work in
silos or are in disengaged mode and this is very critical which is directly impacts
on organizations growth.
So, in order to keep your employee engaged, easy to share
the data across organization, communicate in secure way with your colleague and
remaining connected by 24*7 time – SharePoint is the only platform.
Who can migrate to SharePoint?
This is one better question and it’s important to know who
can migrate from their current old SharePoint versions, from on premises to
SharePoint online and from other technology domain to SharePoint. Below section
explains who can migrate with what SharePoint platform.
I have divided it in three main broad categories.
1. Migrating from old SharePoint version to
new SharePoint version:
We are living in the world where technology
is changing very frequently to make our day to day life more easy and
automated. It is us to decide when to upgrade our self to new technology by
evaluating our current needs, new technology features for value creation and
impact on commercials. These are very
important factors that every organization must think before starting on
migration. It’s also important to migrate one day to new technology though your
score is not critical for above factors because the platform support from
Microsoft will not be there for many years and it’s always risk to run the
business on non-supported platform. Also, new technology comes with advanced
features and it’s definitely bring more value to the business. So it’s always
better to move to new versions after doing the proper analysis of your business.
2. Migrating from on premises SharePoint
server to SharePoint online (Cloud Platform):
Microsoft has provided another flavor to
SMB firms to start with SharePoint cloud platform which is very cost effective.
Here you don’t have to invest in its hardware infrastructure or the support and
maintenance cost as it’s taken care by Microsoft.
SharePoint Online platform have
subscription based model so according to your business need you can choose your
plan and utilize the SharePoint strength to boost your business. SharePoint
online platform is implemented on Microsoft Azure platform and it is very
secure, robust scalable and reliable platform.
Any new organization can start with fresh
utilization of this platform and others who has cost issues with the
infrastructure, support and maintenance can migrate them to this platform.
3. Migrating from other technology platform to
SharePoint platform
There are some organization who has started
with other collaboration platforms in past and now finding it as limited, unsalable
and rigid for their business can migrate them self to any of the SharePoint
platforms (SharePoint online or SharePoint on premises) Generally there are
Lotus notes, IBM Connect, Igloo, ASANA and other small and medium platforms
which were in use by these organizations and now moving to SharePoint platform.
Conclusion
My main intension with this blog is to push it to CXO level
audience who are the key decision makers of their business and their decision
has major impact on business. I think this can definably help them to get
higher level SharePoint knowledge along with its capabilities. This blog will
also help them in choosing the right platform for SharePoint technology
migration.