Microsoft SharePoint is a document management and collaboration platform that aids organizations in managing and working with various content types important for their business operations. It benefits various industries and specific departments within those industries by enhancing enterprise management and boosting productivity through collaboration functions.
SharePoint equips users with customizable team sites to distribute news, data, files, links, and more. The platform allows administrations to handle the SharePoint environment via a centralized web application, while end users engage with its features via web browsers. It offers capabilities for content and site structure adjustments, site creation and deletion, feature activation and deactivation, basic workflow configurations, and analytics management.
SharePoint enables seamless organization, access, and information sharing within an enterprise. Users can connect to SharePoint resources through any device compatible with a supported web browser or via the SharePoint mobile app, enhancing flexibility in interacting with site content.
While SharePoint supports a diverse array of functionalities, essential core capabilities that underline the solution include:
Microsoft also offers a variety of additional features and resources that are beneficial for SharePoint users and customers, including training materials, customization options, and developer tools.
SharePoint can be utilized as either an on-premises software product or a cloud-based service. It’s also possible to configure SharePoint in a hybrid manner that uses both deployment models.
Microsoft launched the on-premises version of SharePoint in 2001. It has evolved over several versions since its inception, introducing new features with each version. The most recent version is the SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, which was released for general availability in November 2021.
At that time, SharePoint Server 2019 was still under active support. However, as of January 2024, SharePoint Server 2019 transitioned to Extended Support, thus only receiving security updates without new feature or quality improvements. SharePoint Server 2016 entered Extended Support in July 2021. Extended Support for both versions will end on July 14, 2026, after which they will no longer receive any updates, including security updates. Support for these products will completely cease at that time.
Organizations using SharePoint Server 2019 need to plan for the future as this version will eventually lose support. Currently, they can choose between SharePoint Online and SharePoint Server Subscription Edition.
Microsoft promotes transitioning to SharePoint Online, despite offering ongoing updates for the Subscription Edition, which mainly focus on security and critical customer issues. Nonetheless, the company’s main investments in SharePoint are aimed at enhancing SharePoint Online, which will widen the functionality gap between the two options.
Nonetheless, some organizations may still prefer the onsite version, and thus Microsoft maintains updates for the Subscription Edition. At its launch, it already featured upgrades over SharePoint Server 2019, including:
Since launching the Subscription Edition, Microsoft has consistently provided feature updates. A notable update, Version 24H1, introduced capabilities such as custom branding in the Suite Bar, improved vertical options in search results, OpenID Connect support for SharePoint certificate management, and a new feature for gathering feedback directly from SharePoint farm administrators.
Originally developed as an on-premises solution, SharePoint has shifted significantly towards a cloud-based service under Microsoft’s direction. Now predominantly known as SharePoint Online, it is also recognized as part of Microsoft Office 365, or simply SharePoint, depending on the context. Microsoft promotes its online version as the superior SharePoint experience, enhancing it continually with the newest features in productivity, security, and user-friendliness.
As a standard part of its subscription offerings, SharePoint Online is incorporated with OneDrive and Microsoft Lists. It is also included in various Microsoft 365 business and enterprise plans like Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Business Premium, E5, and F3. Additional Office 365 plans, including those tailored for government and nonprofit entities, feature SharePoint Online too.
The development of SharePoint Online is ongoing, with significant upgrades aimed at improving intranet publishing, content creation, user interaction, and overall platform adaptability. Microsoft is focusing on introducing functionalities such as simultaneous page co-authoring for real-time collaboration, enhanced tool accessibility through the page toolbar, and a content panel that displays pertinent tools for content developers.
Since its launch in 2001, SharePoint has evolved and expanded its user base to include more than 190 million people across 200,000 organizations, as reported by Microsoft. Over two decades, various versions have been released, though the first enterprise version, SharePoint 2010 Enterprise, was not available until 2010.
SharePoint Server 2010 was closely integrated with Microsoft Office and Active Directory. It enabled organizations to quickly develop and build websites without programming knowledge. The websites could then be used to manage collaboration tools such as document libraries, discussion boards, shared task lists, shared calendars, blogs, wikis and surveys.
SharePoint 2013 was released as a collaboration platform for customized webpages in November 2012. The initial release of SharePoint 2013 offered a simplified user experience, as well as new enterprise social media capabilities. The 2013 edition expanded upon previously offered capabilities for website management, including shared calendars, blogs, wikis, surveys, document libraries and shared task lists.
SharePoint 2013 also launched with a community forum for users to communicate with each other and categorize discussions. It included microblogging and enhanced search capabilities, as well as e-discovery functionality, claims-based authentication and mobile support. The business intelligence (BI) tools in SharePoint 2013 enabled users to organize goals and processes and create customizable data models, reports and dashboards.
SharePoint Server 2016 shared much of the same code as SharePoint Online. As a result, on-premises customers received the same support and performance capabilities for their SharePoint server farms because there were few architectural differences. SharePoint Server 2016 is now in Extended Support, which ends July 14, 2026.
SharePoint 2019 was the last version of Microsoft’s SharePoint Server product sold without a subscription requirement. This edition introduced additional cloud-based functionalities and offered varieties of hybrid architecture. Currently, SharePoint Server 2019 is under Extended Support, set to expire on July 14, 2026.
The ongoing version, SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, now stands as the sole fully supported on-premises product in Microsoft’s suite. This version follows Microsoft’s modern engineering framework which means it regularly receives updates including new and enhanced features.
Despite SharePoint’s dominance in document collaboration and management, it faces competition from various cloud-based alternatives such as Box, ClickUp, and Google Workspace. Competitors in the web content management segment include Sitecore, Atlassian Confluence, and WordPress.
The market for collaboration software has also seen growth, with tools like Salesforce Slack, Salesforce Chatter, and Aurea Jive gaining popularity. Recognizing this trend earlier in 2017, Microsoft launched Teams as a complementary tool to SharePoint 2016, which continues to be integrated with SharePoint.
Learn more about Microsoft SharePoint in this overview. Also, SharePoint integrates with several different collaboration tools. However, some businesses might find alternatives more useful, especially for easier migration to the cloud. Learn 10 alternatives to Microsoft SharePoint.