So… What is SharePoint?
SharePoint is a cloud-based document management and collaboration tool that is included as part of your Microsoft 365 subscription. It allows you to safely store, organise and share information with others across multiple devices
Benefits of Using SharePoint
Centralise Your Information and Make Accessible From Anywhere.
SharePoint gives your business a centralised location to share files, news and even project status information that is easily accessible from any device. It is like moving your company file server online, so it is simple for everyone to save and access information no matter where they are.
Driving to the office or slow VPN connections are a thing of the past!
Real Time Collaboration.
Imagine 5 people working on one document and all sending their edits to realise the document does not make sense from all the changes, or more commonly, the document is locked because someone else is adding information preventing you from adding to it.
With SharePoint, all changes are automatically synchronised and saved so you are never dealing with a different version. There is also a revision history if you need to roll back the document to a previous edit.
The ability to simultaneously edit a document as a team in real time all in separate places is one of the best features of SharePoint. Yes – you can all work on the same document at the same time!
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Effective and Efficient Processes
Instead of emailing a team member when you need them to do something, you can assign tasks and check the status of the document or project within SharePoint.
You can receive notifications when any changes to the document or project are made so there is no need to go searching or emailing for updates.
You can also have control over document approvals and can collect online signatures which saves time with invoices or time off requests
Searching For a Lost Document
Spending unnecessary time scrolling through hundreds of documents trying to find the one you are looking for can be pretty irritating.
It can result in reduced productivity and can cause major headaches. SharePoint has a feature that allows you to search all types of information including content, files, and metadata for what you are looking for and it is super-fast!
Security and Protection
Microsoft SharePoint’s security benefits include advanced security settings and compliance features that keep your business data safe.
Robust data encryption and cloud backup services safeguard your data in transit and once stored.
SharePoint also gives you extensive control over how to store your data and who has access to it. An IT management service provider such as us can help you set up Microsoft SharePoint with the appropriate settings for data storage and access ensuring that your data is safe and your GDPR compliance team can sleep easy.
Customer Access
One of our favourite benefits you gain using Microsoft SharePoint is that you can create exclusive communication sites for customers, vendors, and more.
An good example would be if your business takes on projects for customers, you can create a customer-only site where they can log in to see documents, resources, and notifications explicitly related to their projects and orders.
Summary
As you have probably gathered we are a big fan of SharePoint at Norfolk Computer Services. We use it ourselves and have our client portals set up for the growing number of businesses we support.
Contact us at www.norfolkcs.co.uk or 01953 857980 for a free audit and friendly discussion on how we can help.