What is SharePoint in Microsoft 365
As with many Microsoft products, the names of the products and tools can often be tricky to understand. As like other Microsoft tools, like Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Viva. There can be a lot of name changes and alternative names. Like SharePoint Online and SharePoint On premises. I have been receiving many questions recently around ‘what is SharePoint in Office 365?’ and ‘what is Microsoft SharePoint?’. For this reason, I decided it would be a good idea to break down the various terms you might hear. And what they all mean.
The History… What is SharePoint On Premises and What is SharePoint Online?
In recent years, there has been one question that caused a lot of confusion with end users. With the introduction of Microsoft 365 (or Office 365), people have asked ‘what is Microsoft SharePoint in Office 365?’ (or what is Microsoft SharePoint in Microsoft 365?). Before this, there was only SharePoint On-premise, which basically meant you had a version of SharePoint installed on your server. If you’re interested in what the SharePoint versions are, a version is brought out every couple few years with upgraded features on the previous version. The first version of SharePoint was SharePoint 2010, then SharePoint 2013, 2016, 2019. The latter versions are still in use. However, as with most digital tools, the introduction of ‘The Cloud‘ has caused companies to seek cloud-based alternatives. So, this leads us to our next question, what is SharePoint in Office 365?
What is SharePoint in Office 365 or What is SharePoint in Microsoft 365
Another key thing to understand when asking the question ‘what is SharePoint’ and especially ‘what is SharePoint in Office 365’. This is the difference between Office 365 and Microsoft 365. These are two terms that may appear to be used interchangeably at first, so it can be confusing to know the difference between the two. Let’s keep it really simple, Office 365 is the old name and Microsoft 365 is the new. Microsoft wanted to bring the online tools closer to the Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel etc). So the suite of products got merged into ‘Microsoft 365’.
Where is SharePoint Now?
Microsoft SharePoint has come a long way from it’s past. The modern world of SharePoint is a sleek, user friendly platform. It acts as a central store and integral part of the entire Microsoft suite of products. The digital workplace is a new concept that allows offices to be more forward thinking how they work. Microsoft have now launched Viva and Microsoft Teams. A central part of their vision of the modern workplace. Neither of these tools could work without Microsoft SharePoint in the background. Which means it is still a vital tool in the modern world of work.
What is the Need for SharePoint Within Your Company
Giving staff the ability to collaborate using digital tools, is the ultimate goal of Microsoft SharePoint. Whether it’s through a company intranet, a document management system, or a full digital workplace. SharePoint offers a way to stay close with your team, event when you are not in the same location.
However, SharePoint can be hard to get started with. That’s where a SharePoint consultancy comes in! We can create you a SharePoint completely customised to your business, giving you a full digital workplace. Or, you can go for one of our SharePoint packages, getting you up and running quickly and easily.
To learn about what SharePoint services we can help you with, see the SharePoint packages we offer here.
