Directory Image
This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using our website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

The SharePoint Roadmap

Author: Nishtha Singh
by Nishtha Singh
Posted: Aug 18, 2017

Today, Microsoft is bringing the SharePoint platform towards the current expectations and requirements.

In a lot of ways, Microsoft today is hitting Reset on SharePoint and bringing it to the current requirements and expectations.

A BOLD NEW PLAN OF MICROSOFT FOR SHAREPOINT

Microsoft has mapped out a bold new plan for SharePoint. It is investing heavily to modernize it to make it work in the Device and Cloud arena as well.

THE SHAREPOINT ROADMAP AND WHAT TO EXPECT

PREPARING FOR A NEW USER EXPERIENCE

The current user interface of SharePoint is based on the early 2000 web technology and it shows. Usability is inferior compared with modern apps and websites, and user interface and adoption suffers. This has been a persistent problem for SharePoint, with users falling back to file sharing apps and emi8al that work well cross all devices.

OneDrive for business has been the attempt of Microsoft to address this issue and it has reiterated its promise to make SharePoint websites work with the new sync client towards the end of this year. Still, this is a very limited solution and although it provides a compliant option to consumer file sharing services, it only addresses a small subset of SP capabilities. Today, Microsoft’s rolling out an entirely new, mobile-ready user experience, which include a new mobile app as well as a complete overhaul of the web user interface of the platform.

PREPARE FOR A NEW MOBILE EXPERIENCE

The mobile device of choice is definitely iOS, which makes Apple devices, particularly pones a desirable option for the enterprise. Microsoft would ship the new SP application there first and is likely to continue the trend. Steer custom development projects to responsive client-side code.

JavaScript widget development is nearer to the new model compared to any of the released development methods of Microsoft. Creating widgets now, even on older

SharePoint versions would save rework when a new page model comes along. Users should have modern desktop browsers.

PREPARE FOR A NEW COLLABORATION EXPERIENCE

A constant challenge in SharePoint is locating the websites needed. A new SP Home Page promises in alleviating this via showing website that the user has used recently or followed, and links to organizational websites as well. Also, Microsoft introduced a new Site Contents page, which includes analytics and a new document library and list UI. It is actually easy to copy and move files, a simple daily action, which has been very hard in SharePoint to date. Collaborative workspaces have been a major part of the platform since from the start, but they did not all the time offer the best capabilities.

For instance, Exchange offers much better calendars and messaging than SharePoint’s equivalents and OneNote offers a better way of sharing ad-hoc information compared to SP Wiki. Now, Microsoft revealed that SharePoint would be a key part of Office 365 groups and that an SP website would be part of every group. This is wonderful news, but not available on premises. SP groups that are based on sites promise to provide the richest collaboration experience possible, thus enterprise with SP on premises may have to consider a hybrid environment with team collaboration websites in the cloud.

PREPARING FOR A NEW DEVELOPMENT MODEL

In SharePoint 2013, Microsoft introduced what’s called now the add-in model, which is a fine way of developing applications that are sold in the storefront, but is unnecessarily limiting to organizations that require to customize Intranet or thousands of collaboration websites. Most users moved to writing JavaScript, which directly runs on SharePoint pages, a technique that is easier and more powerful and even works on older SharePoint versions. Microsoft caught onto this with the Office Developer Patterns and Practices team that recommend a pattern that’s called ‘remote provisioning’, wherein an HTML and JavaScript program directly runs on an SP page, or a script editor or content editor web part.

It was just a matter of time before the ideas make it towards the mainstream product. Microsoft plans of open sourcing the SharePoint framework, following its earlier move to open source the look and feel of Office via Office UI Fabric. Through the combination of these technologies, it would be possible to develop web pages and parts that seamlessly fit with the rest of SharePoint, even as the platform is updated over time.

PREPARING FOR COMPLIANCE FEATURES

Companies, even those who belong in highly regulated industries, are beginning more and more trust the cloud. Some are even starting to believe that Software-as-a-Service offerings such as Office 365 could be more secure compared to hosting on premises. Microsoft adds to this through the introduction of several new compliance features, all of which are ‘cloud first’ and most of which need a Hybrid environment to work with SP farms that are on premises.

This started a couple of months ago when Microsoft has announced Office 365 Advanced eDiscovery. It is a service for managing data in Exchange Online, OneDrive, SharePoint Online and Skype as may be needed in a legal case. Furthermore, they also announced Customer Lockbox what provides customers the ability of controlling the access of Microsoft to Office 365 content during support instances.

Definitely, the future of SharePoint is bright and both users and Microsoft are very excited about the changes. There would be even greater adoption of the platform in the coming years.

About the Author

Nishtha Singh works as a Presales Manager with a software development company named TatvaSoft UK. She relishes writing about various technology trends, management and much more.

Rate this Article
Leave a Comment
Author Thumbnail
I Agree:
Comment 
Pictures
Author: Nishtha Singh

Nishtha Singh

Member since: Jul 17, 2017
Published articles: 10

Related Articles