6 Questions to Consider Before Choosing SharePoint Server 2013 or SharePoint Online

BY M.R.S. COMPANY LTD

-AN IT CONSULTING FIRM SINCE 1979-

SharePoint Grew up on the Farm

Since 2003, it has predominantly resided on-premises, in an organization’s server

farm. However, new CEO Satya Nadella is not keeping Microsoft’s intentions a

secret, as he proclaims a “cloud first, mobile first” focus.

What does this mean for SharePoint specifically? The 2015 Q1 earnings call

showed a lot of success for Office 365 and, by extension, SharePoint Online.

Though the two products resemble one another, the Online version of

SharePoint differs from the Server edition.

To understand the differences, here are some questions that IT leaders should

ask before deciding on an approach.

Note: The cloud version discussed in this post is referring specifically to public clouds, such as the one available with Office 365 that is hosted on Microsoft’s data centres.

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Where are the company’s

SharePoint users?

#1Question

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Q) Where are the company's SharePoint users?

A) The only connectivity tool needed for SharePoint Online

is an internet connection and web browser. Employees can

access their SharePoint portal through a web browser on a

PC, tablet or phone.

The Server edition of SharePoint is different. Special

configurations of company firewalls, and/or a VPN

connection will be needed to access SharePoint

information remotely. VPN connections may be difficult for

end-users to setup, especially given the current BYOD trend.

#1

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What other systems (ERP,

file-share, email) does the company use?

Question #2

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Q) What other systems (ERP, file-share, email) does the company use?

A) This is important as the cloud edition of SharePoint, while

having the same FAST search capabilities as the Server

edition, lacks some of the more complex integrations to

other systems such as SAP or Oracle ERP and IBM Lotus

Notes email and collaboration tools.

If the company wishes to use SharePoint to acquire data

and information from these systems, only the Server edition

will work. As will be discussed further, the data is not

accessible for business intelligence reporting either.

#2

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Is the Power BI app enough for my company?

Question #3

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Q) Is the Power BI app enough for my company?

A) One feature that is missing in SharePoint Online is the ability to display

business intelligence dashboards. Whereas Server can act as a hub to

display relevant reports and data, Online cannot. This poses a significant

impediment to those with ERP software from other vendors.

Power BI is a replacement app supplied by Microsoft that helps end-users

pull reports themselves, which is useful. The Power BI application also

holds a natural-language processing capability, allowing a user to pose a

question in plain English and let the app determine the best method of

presenting the desired data.

For power users, Power BI may be limiting, however Power BI also may be

the key to convincing business users to pay attention to the data.

#3

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How much customizability is needed?

Question #4

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Q) How much customizability is needed?

A) When using any cloud service, you must play by the vendor’s rules. I have

heard SharePoint described as a Swiss Army knife, where many tools are available to be pulled when needed. As well I have heard it described as a

large piece of cloth: it isn’t a garment in itself, however it can be used to create

many different garments. Each metaphor displays SharePoint’s versatility.

Hosting SharePoint elsewhere, of course, puts many of these options into doubt. Complex custom code cannot be applied to a public cloud, though a degree of customization is possible.

The Cloud version has many easily installable applications through a web store that may offer out-of-the-box functionality that helps users. These applications can be put into a custom store for individual business, which is administered by the IT folks and downloadable by the business users. These apps can also be applied to the on-premises version but of course are subject to Microsoft’s cloud limitations.

#4

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Do we have the infrastructure,

in-house resources and

disaster plan required?

Question #5

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Q) Do we have the infrastructure, in-house resources and disaster

plan required?

A) SharePoint Server requires hardware to run on, talented

people to keep it running and a backup plan in case of a

disaster of some sort. This costs money up front , pushes

salary costs higher and will take up the IT staff’s time

determining the most efficient disaster recovery plan.

#5

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Do we know what we want

from SharePoint/do we have the investment?

Question #6

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Q) Do we know what we want from SharePoint/do we have

the investment?

A) SharePoint Server is fairly costly. Server edition has associated

hardware costs, and either a lot of training for IT staff, new hires or

consulting services.

SharePoint Online, conversely, is a subscription-based payment

model that can be included in the costs of Office 365. Office 365

offers a more flexible way for companies to pay for Microsoft Office

(and always stay up-to-date) so many companies have either

already purchased licenses or are planning to. If this is the case,

including SharePoint Online licenses will offer a cheap and simple

means to evaluate the appropriateness of SharePoint in your

environment.

#6

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About M.R.S.

So Many Questions and M.R.S. Can Help! Contact Us Today to find out how we

can help you with your SharePoint Journey

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