by Jason Wong

SharePoint: It’s an Application You Can’t Afford to Live Without

WHITE PAPER

ContentsIt’s All About the SharePoint Benefits

Out-of-the-Box vs. Custom Development

Cloud & On-Prem: What’s the Difference?

We’ll Take You Beyond the Basics

We’ve Done This Before

Let’s Work Together to Find the Right SharePoint Solution

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SharePoint: It’s an Application You Can’t Afford to Live Without | © 2018 Datavail, Inc. All rights reserved Page 1

In today’s digital age organizations need technology to increase collaboration for employees, partners and customers. Ideally, a team needs 24x7 access to systems with a centralized and secure portal to remain competitive.

In a report from Gartner, by 2020, 80% of large and midsize organizations in mature regions will have deployed one or more content collaboration platform (CCP) products to implement a content productivity and collaboration strategy.

Microsoft SharePoint is a collaborative platform that is frequently used to create extensive intranets, websites, and extranets for business environments. The application’s primary focus is content management through document management features, but its functionality goes far beyond that through customization.

Like many other Microsoft products, SharePoint supports native integration with Microsoft Office. Approximately 190 million users rely on SharePoint for business processes and workflows. An active developer community empowers businesses through value-added services that allow them to get the most out of their SharePoint investment.

With such a robust platform, companies can gain myriad capabilities that benefit employees, departments, and projects. Keep reading to find out what you can gain from adopting SharePoint, what your implementation options are, and what the differences are between on-prem and the cloud.

SharePoint: It’s an Application You Can’t Afford to Live Without | © 2018 Datavail, Inc. All rights reservedPage 2

Improved Collaboration

With SharePoint, an organization’s content and important resources are centralized into one place that’s easily accessible by all employees. This standardized user experience promotes collaboration throughout the entire company. SharePoint has many features that make it easy to share information and content on a team, department, and cross-department level.

Centralized Content Management

Another benefit of SharePoint is centralization: Everyone in an organization is working with the most up-to-date versions of the content. Inefficiencies that result from people working on older versions of files are reduced. This single version of truth also prevents problems such as using the wrong assets for advertising campaigns and similar issues.

Native Integration with Microsoft Products

Companies that are already using Office 365 and other Microsoft products will appreciate that SharePoint has native integration, making the process smooth and efficient.

Time-Saving Workflows

SharePoint has built-in workflows designed to improve business processes through streamlined and automated functions. Some examples of the workflows in SharePoint include status tracking, publishing approval, document approval, and reminders.

It’s All About the SharePoint Benefits

SharePoint: It’s an Application You Can’t Afford to Live Without | © 2018 Datavail, Inc. All rights reserved Page 3

Data Compliance Maintenance

Organizations that have regulations covering data management and storage can improve their compliance efforts through SharePoint. Audit trails allow companies to track who worked with a document, what changes occurred, and other details that may be necessary to meet regulatory requirements.

Expanded Employee Knowledge and Skills

SharePoint makes it easy for companies to equip employees with the content they need to expand their knowledge and skillsets. When important information is readily available, employees can look up what they need to know and add useful data to the documents as they learn more.

Improved Decision Making with Business Intelligence

Built-in BI functionality empowers employees with the data they need to make better business decisions. BI dashboards analyze data from multiple sources and enable the tracking of key performance indicators and other information.

SharePoint: It’s an Application You Can’t Afford to Live Without | © 2018 Datavail, Inc. All rights reservedPage 4

Out-of-the-Box vs. Custom Development

So, if your organization has decided to make the move to SharePoint you’ve got options. The use case examples below depict an out-of-the-box implementation and a custom development.

Two of the most common use cases for SharePoint are sites that function as a home base for a team, with documents that are necessary for their job duties, and a customized intranet with complex functionality and structure. For the first use case, the team members check this site every day to get the resources that they need to complete a project. It acts as a central hub for their activities. Generally, this type of site is built off of a pre-made template for quick deployment.

The second use case is customized based on the needs of the organization. The business creates an extensive intranet that may involve multiple SharePoint sites, all designed to support the business efforts of various teams, departments or locations. These complex SharePoint deployments have a large code base that is unique to the company and requires specialist support to maintain.

SharePoint: It’s an Application You Can’t Afford to Live Without | © 2018 Datavail, Inc. All rights reserved Page 5

Cloud & On-Prem: What’s the Difference?

There are advantages and disadvantages to SharePoint for cloud and on-prem. Learn the difference here.

SharePoint comes in several versions. SharePoint Online is the cloud version of this platform, which is available as a standalone service or as part of the Office 365 package. Companies access their SharePoint resources by logging in through a web browser. Microsoft maintains the software and the hardware necessary to host it, so organizations do not have an upfront cost to worry about.

SharePoint Server is the on-premises version of SharePoint. An organization would install the software on their own servers. They’re responsible for the cost of the hardware required to support the SharePoint installation, as well as on-going expenses related to its operation. Some companies prefer to host their SharePoint installation themselves, so they have full control of the system and the data that it hosts.

SharePoint: It’s an Application You Can’t Afford to Live Without | © 2018 Datavail, Inc. All rights reservedPage 6

Advisory Services

Businesses that are just getting started with SharePoint can get assistance with an overall strategy for implementing this solution and driving adoption throughout the organization. For companies that are already using SharePoint, Datavail can consult on specific issues and assist with optimization recommendations. We also create end-to-end roadmaps that guide organizations through the entire SharePoint journey.

Information Architecture

SharePoint acts as a central repository for your documents and other content. We help you configure the structure so that information is easy to find, meets regulatory requirements, and improves the collaborative experience.

SharePoint Training

Get all of your users equipped with the training and information they need to succeed with a SharePoint deployment. Training is an essential part of a change management plan, as users need to understand how to productively use SharePoint to get their jobs done faster.

System Integration

Create a seamless infrastructure through third-party integration with the applications and systems that you already use. You can share SharePoint data with other solutions and leverage its content management and collaboration features.

Workflows

Workflows improve productivity and save time and resources by automating common business processes and procedures. We help your organization set up workflows that are customized to the way that you operate and use the advanced features that SharePoint has to offer.

We’ll Take You Beyond the Basics

Datavail offers SharePoint services that cover development, advisory, and maintenance projects. We accommodate ongoing and flexible needs, bringing 20+ years of SharePoint experience with 500+ implementations to the table.

SharePoint: It’s an Application You Can’t Afford to Live Without | © 2018 Datavail, Inc. All rights reserved Page 7

Custom Development

Every organization is different, so it doesn’t make sense to stick with the out-of-the-box SharePoint features when you want to get more out of your intranets, extranets, and websites. We offer custom development services that give you exactly what you need to maximize your SharePoint investment and improve the experience for all users.

Implementation

The initial implementation of SharePoint can be a resource-intensive project for your organization. Datavail assists during this time so you have a successful deployment and adoption without trying to recruit in-house specialists. We follow SharePoint best practices to ensure that you have a stable and reliable platform for your critical business needs.

Documentation

Ensure that you have a complete understanding of your configuration settings, workflows, custom development, and other essential parts of SharePoint so that your in-house team knows what’s going on when they need to make changes.

Migration

Are you currently using another solution for your organization’s content management and collaboration? Transferring data, user roles, workflows, and other assets can be difficult depending on the solution. We ensure that the process goes smoothly and requires a minimal amount of downtime.

Security and Permissions Management

Data breaches are a serious problem, and SharePoint holds a massive amount of important content for your organization. Proper security and permissions management ensure that users only see the resources that they should have access to.

Database Administration

We have highly trained specialists ready to administrate your SQL databases that power SharePoint – avoid downtime and keep your teams productive at all hours of the day.

SharePoint Backup and Disaster Recovery

Every minute counts when vital systems are down following hardware failure, data breaches or natural disasters. Our backup and disaster recovery services give you the peace of mind that your SharePoint content and functionality will be up and running soon after the incident occurs.

Incident Management and Troubleshooting

Get prompt resolutions on incidents through help desk services and expert troubleshooting. Users have their issues addressed quickly so they can get back to their vital job functions.

Fully Managed Services

Do you prefer to allocate your IT resources elsewhere? We can handle all aspects of SharePoint for your organization, including the deployment, administration, maintenance and on-going support.

SharePoint: It’s an Application You Can’t Afford to Live Without | © 2018 Datavail, Inc. All rights reservedPage 8

We’ve Done This Before

Datavail offers SharePoint services that cover development, advisory, and maintenance projects. We accommodate ongoing and flexible needs, bringing 20+ years of SharePoint experience with 500+ implementations to the table.

A Law Firm

1,500 employees and 650 lawyers implemented a SharePoint HR

recruiting website and employee intranet to support their global

collaboration efforts.

They were able to share important documents to support their cases

and other initiatives.

A Large Tech Company

Needed a corporate intranet with marketing management and

SharePoint support.

It has over 5.2 million monthly views and supports 90,000

employees worldwide. The employees use these resources

frequently for their daily duties.

A City Utility Company

Needed to integrate their Oracle databases with SharePoint and

needed a front-end redesign of SharePoint WCM.

We helped them develop a customer portal that served the needs of their customers and

improve their experience.

A North American Utility

A records management solution was built on top of SharePoint.

The solution included advanced search functions and complex

workflows for document processing including records management

integration with OpenText.

There are 7,000 employees who access the new corporate internet.

SharePoint: It’s an Application You Can’t Afford to Live Without | © 2018 Datavail, Inc. All rights reserved Page 9

Let’s Work Together to Find the Right SharePoint Solution

SharePoint is a powerful solution for organizations that are ready for a better collaboration platform that offers intranet, extranet, and website capabilities. Datavail acts as your trusted SharePoint experts and advisors, prepared to serve in any capacity your business needs.

We’re a Microsoft Gold Partner with a deep understanding of how to align technology with your organization’s long-term goals. Whether you’re looking to migrate to the cloud, upgrading, seeking tech support or looking for a full managed services provider, we’ve got options for you. Contact us to learn more.

SharePoint: It’s an Application You Can’t Afford to Live Without | © 2018 Datavail, Inc. All rights reserved Page 10

Jason is Manager of Business Excellence. He brings more than 12 years of experience in IT. His specialties include Microsoft technologies: Office 365, SharePoint; Exchange; SQL Server, Windows Server, Active Directory. Jason’s expertise lies in digital engagement and his work includes leading and delivery on customer centric self-service portals and mobile first public websites. He provides value to customers with his expert problem solving skills combined with creating cost-effective solutions for client’s business challenges.

Biography

Jason WongManager of Business Excellence

About DatavailDatavail is a company of over 1,000 professionals helping clients build and manage applications and data via a world-class tech-enabled delivery platform and software solutions across all leading technologies.

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