Intranet with SharePoint Online & MS Office 365
SharePoint Online is an ideal solution when it comes to enhancing workplace collaboration. The platform provides great work options when used as an intranet and in blend with other MS Office 365 apps. This blog post explains how you can plan and deploy a SharePoint-based corporate intranet effectively.
Wide-Ranging Design Options
When riding over your intranet platform, you must consider the associated user interface and usability. SharePoint’s CMS provides great options, when it comes to creating, sharing, and editing content. It also offers an extensive kit of modern and easy-to-configure web parts to customize the platform. You can use these customization options to fulfill your unique or complex requirements. For instance, developing a user-defined web search page by using PnP Modern Search web parts.
You can also integrate SharePoint Sites and Lists easily into the page context. This helps in delivering a seamlessly advanced and dynamic intranet experience. It is also very convenient to use structured data and documents without creating any additional user interface for the intranet.
The integrated ‘Enterprise Search’ option also works great and makes the process of searching for relevant information easier. This option works great if you have a complex intranet infrastructure.
However, it is equally important to mention that there are some features and functions that we cannot use directly in their basic form. Our next section is about how you can attain your desired requirements.
Pitfalls – What Works & What Not?
SharePoint Online is a part of MS 365 Cloud and MS SharePoint Evergreen Model. This model intends at continuous advancement of MS Services offered in Cloud 365. It means that users of SharePoint Online get automatic updates to their system without any interruption in operations. Above all, these updates come with complete stability and security.
Also, the scope of SharePoint adaptability is not unlimited, and the latest updates do not provide a complete guarantee. Hence, design adjustments and modifications will only be possible to a certain extent or require minimal configurations. Adaptation of the integration logo, color scheme, and display options will be possible without any problem.
Also, when it comes to standard functions of SharePoint Online, they go their own way despite being a part of MS 365 Cloud.
There are many missing features in the latest version of Modern SharePoint Sites; which were once a part of SharePoint CMS. For example, you cannot find wiki templates or explicit blog features in the latest version.
Growth & Extension Options
One thing that you will surely miss after switching to SharePoint Online will be the intranet designing options offered by SharePoint Server. An ideal example to explain this is the ‘Enterprise Search’ option which configures the predefined standards to a certain extent. You can also use PnP Modern Search Web Parts to manage these drawbacks, but after activating and adding freely available apps. These web parts are equally useful to design searches for independent and internal SharePoint pages.
You can also customize solutions to attain your required functionalities. All you need is SharePoint Framework, which is an ideal solution for mapping complicated use cases. SharePoint also has a very established community of developers; that can be helpful to expand your understanding of the platform or for finding a solution to a complex problem.
Ingeniously Combined Integrations
When it comes to feature integration, MS Azure and MS Office 365 offer a wide range of service options. It provides SharePoint Online users with a better assortment of applications to enhance their integrations. It seems ideal, especially when you want functions that you cannot directly integrate into SharePoint Online. And, for that, you can look at the several apps available in MS Office 365 Cloud.
For example, MS Forms is a simple tool in MS Office 365 that enables quick and easy designing of surveys. You can easily integrate your customized forms with MS SharePoint Online with the help of ‘Embed’ web parts. Another great way is to use the MS Power Platform. Another great way is to use the MS Power Platform. The platform also allows easy implementation of complex use cases with minimal coding requirements. You can use automated processes and form-based apps for assistance. Another example is the creation of interactive reports and dashboards; that you can develop with the Power BI platform.
Nevertheless, these examples are just an overview of how functionalities of a SharePoint-based intranet blend and integrate with other cloud services. And, these possibilities also expand to MS 365 Cloud Apps and other third-party apps. You can also explore the service integration options provided by MS Azure Cloud and other third-party solutions.
Conclusion – What Does the Future Hold?
Microsoft is highly futuristic and vigorous in its technology development. This makes it very difficult to precisely predict about the feature and functionalities that Microsoft will add to the next release of SharePoint. The company is continuously spending to expand the features and functionalities of Microsoft SharePoint.
There is still a lot of scope for advancement in intranet administration and implementation options. There are many functions that users are already missing in the existing version. Especially, with the customization options and web-part available for web-designing, interface settings (for data and service integration). But, we will surely be seeing the development and advancement of SharePoint Online as content management and collaboration platform in MS Office 365.
However, there is still a lot of scope for advancement in terms of intranet administration and implementation options that are likely to be added that are sorely missed by users in the existing version. Especially, with the customization options and web-part available for web-designing and settings of interfaces for data and service integration. But, one thing is for sure; that we will continue seeing the development and advancement of SharePoint Online as a supporting content management and collaboration platform in MS Office 365. Call now for how a SharePoint can help you achieve your productivity and business goals. If you want to connect with Code Creators Inc, contact us now to set a free consultation appointment. Connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, and Codecreatorsinc.com
