SharePoint is a very important collaboration tool. It is a part of the MS 365 suite. You can use it securely storing, sharing, and organizing your information. It also includes various collaboration and workflow tools. These tools will help you in streamlining processes. Thus, it will help you in improving your team productivity.

SharePoint will create a private and secure intranet for your company. You can use web browsers for accessing it. However, it is different from the actual internet as all the websites are public on the internet. Your SharePoint intranet will be private. Therefore, only your team members or some other external users can use it. You can combine SharePoint with other MS 365 tools for improving the productivity of your employees. It will ensure that your team can easily work together. In this article, we are going to talk about the advantages of using MS SharePoint for SMBs.

Centralized data

Most companies are using a company server for saving their work documents. They are saving all of their work documents on their company server. However, there is a problem with this. You can only access files when you have physical access to your office. Your employees might be saving their documents on their personal computers. Thus, you don’t have access to these documents. Also, your employees are not going to back up this data.

MS SharePoint will provide a centralized place for your employees. Your employees can share documents and news. You can even your project status information in MS SharePoint. This will ensure that all your employees can access this information from their devices. It is similar to moving your entire file server to a website. Thus, everyone will have access to your information. They can use their local devices for completing their work. Your employees don’t need to worry about driving to your office for accessing their files. Also, they don’t need to slow VPN connections for accessing your files.

Real-time and seamless collaboration

The process of working on a document can be messy sometimes. Your employees might be sending different versions to you. Sometimes they will forget to track the changes that they have made. You might try to update some locked files. Sometimes your employees can edit your files without proper permissions.

MS SharePoint will help you in solving all these problems. It will automatically sync the changes that you will make to your documents. You can rollback changes in case of some mistake.

The best thing about SharePoint is that it will allow multiple people to work on some document. Thus, your employees can collaborate in real-time. This is a blessing for SMBs as most of their employees are working remotely now. Your employees can work together from their home now.

Streamlined processes

Many companies think that SharePoint is only used for sharing files. However, it can actually help your team members in coordinating with each other. Therefore, your team members can quickly complete their projects. SharePoint will help you in creating workflows that will help you in streamlining your entire business processes.

For example, you don’t need to email your team members just because you want some information. You can use SharePoint for assigning tasks to your team members. Also, it will help you in tracking the status of your project. You will get notifications when your employees will change your documents. Thus, you don’t need to worry about missed updates. Also, you can quickly search through the documents. You will have control over the document approvals. If you think that some document needs to be edited again, then you can disapprove it. You can also collect online signatures which will ensure that you don’t need to waste your time in making quotes and vacation requests.

Searchable

Sometimes you might lose access to some document. Therefore, you might spend hours finding that file. SharePoint already has a very powerful search feature. This search feature will help you in scanning through the entire intranet. You can search by using metadata, file contents, and file names.

It will even allow you to add additional metadata to your files. You can search by using account numbers, ID numbers, and other identifiers. These identifiers will be unique to your business.

Security

Every business needs to protect its data from attackers and natural disasters. Thus, it is important to regularly backup your data.

MS SharePoint comes with advanced compliance features and security settings. These security settings will help you in protecting your data from attackers. You can use advanced encryption algorithms for protecting your data. Also, you can use cloud-based backup services for safeguarding your data from attackers.

Customer Portals

You might think that SharePoint will only act as an internal tool. However, it can even help you in creating communication sites for your vendors and clients.

You can create a separate site for your customers only. Your customers can use this site for seeing their documents and resources. They can also check notifications related to their orders and projects.

Customizable

Every business will have different needs. The best thing about SharePoint is that you can customize it according to your business needs. It is similar to a standard website. You can customize the intranet site with your own design, navigation, and content. The user-friendly interface will ensure that all of your employees can access your data. You don’t need to call IT support for making small changes.

You should try to use SharePoint with other MS products. However, SharePoint is very flexible in nature. It will even work with other project management, CRM, and ERP tools.

Conclusion

SharePoint is one of the best tools provided by MS. You can use it for increasing the productivity of your employees. It will help you in storing your data in a centralized location. This is perfect for SMBs as most of their employees are working from a remote location. You should also consider using MS 365 suite for your business. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you in finding the best IT solutions for your business. They will help you in finding the tools that are perfect for your business. If you need more information regarding MS tools, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™ services and solutions in how we can help your business.