What is SharePoint Software and Why Migrate to SharePoint Online?

SharePoint has occupied a noteworthy market over the past decade, with more than 200 million active monthly users on the cloud. It is one of the document management systems and collaboration platforms preferred by top-rated companies, including Fortune 500. SharePoint is available on-premises and cloud storage with SharePoint Online (cloud-based) being the latest version available within Office 365.

If you want to learn about what is SharePoint software and why do you need to migrate to SharePoint Online, this article is the perfect guide for you.

Table of Contents

What is SharePoint software?

SharePoint software is a collaboration platform that facilitates storing, organizing, and sharing information among members of an organization. It helps in promoting teamwork, document management, communication, and productivity. A few advantages of SharePoint include the following:

Intranet communication: With the intranet sites, SharePoint helps in promoting loop-free communication among the teams.
Better project management: With the help of SharePoint software, keeping all the team members on the same page working on a project is quite easy.
Workflow automation: Improve business efficiency by easily streamlining tasks through business automation.

What is SharePoint Online?

SharePoint Online is the cloud-based version of SharePoint that comes as a part of Microsoft 365. It is a subscription-based service, and the license is available on a per-user basis. With this cloud-based platform, you do not need to install the infrastructure in your premises, saving you the cost of resources like servers, maintenance, and architecture.

Why should you migrate to SharePoint Online?

SharePoint Online allows easy access from anywhere and on any device with just a stable internet connection. When it comes to choosing a suitable cloud-based service for your business, SharePoint Online is what you should consider over others. There are a lot of benefits of moving from on-premises SharePoint to the cloud and some of those are mentioned below:

Budget-friendly: With SharePoint Online being a cloud-based platform, there is little to no need to maintain the environment. Unlike on-premises SharePoint, it requires you to buy the subscription plan only according to the number of users in your organization.
High security: SharePoint Online platform is embedded with advanced security features that ensure only authorized users can access the sensitive information stored within the SharePoint sites and lists. Data integrity is maintained, and it also allows managing access at site, document, library, or folder level.
Integrated with other apps: SharePoint Online can easily be integrated with other Office 365 apps, such as Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, Planner, Word, etc. You can access it over a range of web browsers, including Chrome, Mozilla, Safari, Internet Explorer, and others providing a seamless experience on your PC.
Regular updates: With the cloud version of SharePoint, there is no need to set reminders for manual updates and installation. The platform updates automatically according to the latest versions released and offers users advanced features and security updates.
Multi-purpose: Apart from being a document management and collaboration platform, organizations implement the SharePoint site as an intranet communication website where all the information is displayed. From announcements to project management and social interaction among employees, all can be done using SharePoint Online.

Conclusion

Migrating from on-premises SharePoint, OneDrive, Google Drive, or other cloud storage to SharePoint Online is not difficult if you do proper planning and strategizing. There are not many native methods available to perform the migration, with Microsoft SharePoint Migration Tool (SPMT) being an efficient tool to migrate to SharePoint Online. However, there are chances of business downtime and data loss. This explains why most businesses these days look for a third-party tool, and Kernel Migration for SharePoint is one of the efficient tools to migrate to SharePoint Online while preserving all the hierarchy and metadata.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the SharePoint migration tool move or copy?

SharePoint migration tool simply copies data to SharePoint while keeping the content at the source unchanged. So, whenever you migrate to SharePoint Online using this tool, all your files, folders, documents, etc., are available at the source post-migration.

Does SharePoint migration tool overwrite existing files?`

No, the SharePoint migration tool does not overwrite existing files; rather, it only transfers the data that is not available at the destination. The tool ensures there is no duplicity of data at the destination.

Does SharePoint migration tool delete files?

There is no deletion of files both from source and destination when you migrate data between SharePoint tenants using the SharePoint migration tool. The tool performs incremental migration and moves only the latest items added to the platform.

Is SharePoint migration tool free?

With the free SharePoint migration tool version, you can transfer only 5 files per folder or 5 lists or libraries. To migrate more data, you will need to buy a full version of the tool.

How much is SharePoint storage?

The amount of SharePoint storage completely depends upon the subscription plan you’ve taken. Standard storage offered in SharePoint is 1 TB per organization with 10 GB additional per license.

Why is SharePoint good?

SharePoint is a reliable cloud platform that streamlines document management and promotes collaboration while providing centralized storage to store, organize, manage, and share documents, files, folders, and more. It helps in making it easier for the teams to work together on a project.

What is SharePoint Software and Why Migrate to SharePoint Online?