Technology has made great strides in addressing the challenges faced by remote workers. Information access and sharing, document management and control, and analysis and reporting through the use of mobile technology has enabled organizations to augment their business process efficiency. According to IDC, the number of enterprise applications optimized for mobility will quadruple by 2016, signifying their rampant adoption. By incorporating mobile software, required information is made more readily available to mobile workers, augmenting their productivity while ensuring security and governance.

Microsoft recently announced the release of SharePoint Server 2016 as well as some new changes to SharePoint, calling it “simple, intelligent, and untethered.” They are adopting a “cloud-first, mobile-first” strategy, mirroring their recent changes to Dynamics AX – which has also adopted a cloud-first approach. “SharePoint Server 2016 is a rock-solid release,” said Seth Patton, General Manager, SharePoint and OneDrive, Microsoft. “It’s the most reliable, scalable, high-performance release that we’ve done. It takes the learnings that we have from running SharePoint online in our data centers at scale and brings those learnings to our server customers.”

While SharePoint 2016 has on-premises, cloud, and hybrid offerings, SharePoint Server 2016 will lay the groundwork for organizations to have the flexibility to transition towards the cloud as technology advances their business processes. Currently, more than 200,000 organizations use SharePoint – 40% of which are SharePoint Online users, with 60% of new users implementing SharePoint Online. While a large portion of businesses are still using SharePoint server, it has become apparent that the Future of SharePoint will rely heavily on cloud technology.

SharePoint has been fueling enterprise collaboration by bringing teams together through a multitude of features like document management, BI, search, and enterprise content management. In order to drive operational excellence, Microsoft has released a new feature as an update for SharePoint called Cloud Search Service Application.

What does the Cloud Search Service Application do? It connects on-premises content with the O365 search index, enabling users to perform searches and view results across both environments. This is particularly important in a hybrid SharePoint scenario where some content resides in the cloud while some remains on-premises. This new search capability helps reduce market resistance, especially among enterprises that are overly cautious storing sensitive content off-premises.

No matter the industry, or how big or small your business is, you most likely have an array of dedicated applications for different lines of business (LOB). Businesses invest in purchasing and integrating solutions that best address the needs of their business models, industry verticals, and at the same time meet the distinct needs of their users. LOB systems play an integral role in supporting day-to-day operations, monitoring a wide range of industries including small, medium, and enterprise businesses. The culmination of all your LOB systems together helps create a unique technology environment, enabling you to offer superior services to customers. 

In spite of the success of cloud infrastructure and the popularity of O365, Microsoft is planning to launch an on premise SharePoint Server by the end of the year. According to Microsoft, they are mindful that there are a lot of enterprises across the world who continue to use the on-premises version of SharePoint. In the new release, Microsoft has incorporated some key enhancements and new capabilities that will allow customers to choose from a combination of on-premises, cloud, or hybrid deployment for their business. SharePoint 2016 will help organizations modernize their on-premises deployments and take advantage of cloud innovation, improving speed and agility while enabling new user experiences.

Enterprise collaboration tools enable organizations to increase employee productivity and overall business efficiency. They provide employees unified platforms that facilitate seamless sharing of documents, encourage teamwork and create business efficiencies. Integrating workflows into one central repository and streamlining organization-wide processes aids businesses in ensuring data consistency that enable employees to work faster and more proficiently.

With businesses going global, a large percentage of employees work from multiple locations, which makes collaboration a challenge. Corporate intranets often have communication and integration problems that restrict smooth communication between various departments. Ineffective searches, poor access to tools, and inconsistencies in business data can hamper employee output. By utilizing collaboration tools, organizations can provide up-to-date content to employees quicker.

Most people have heard of SharePoint. In fact, in 2013, Midsize Enterprise Summit’s survey of 100 CIOs rated SharePoint as the top collaboration tool. But not everyone knows the full potential of what SharePoint can do for them and their organization. From creating an intranet or extranet site, to using it as a content management system – there are countless possibilities available in SharePoint, depending on your business needs. Designing, developing, and implementing SharePoint, however, is no small task. It can be a complicated and time-consuming process, putting strain on your internal IT structure and staff.