Microsoft has announced that it is planning to roll out a series of updates that are designed to improve enterprise collaboration on its OneDrive platform and assist enterprises in using SharePoint for internal communications, with the summer of this year having been pencilled in for the launch of these.
Earlier in the month, the software company hosted the SharePoint Virtual Summit, which it primarily made use of to showcase a number of the updates it has in store for the OneDrive and SharePoint services. One of the updates that was previewed at this summit was a brand new OneDrive feature for file sharing that will offer the user superior integration into the Mac and Windows 10 or Windows 7 tools for the management of files built into these systems.
In addition to that update, Microsoft also has plans to release a new sharing feature for OneDrive at some stage during the summer. The user will be able to access this feature whenever they navigate to either a file or a folder in Office 365 making use of the Windows File Explorer capability or the Mac Finder one, which will enable colleagues to transfer files directly to each other. As an alternative to this, web links can be created for those working for other companies that can have a date of expiration added to them, as well as customised permissions set for them.
AvePoint Public Sector division CTO and CMO, Dux Raymond Sy, told eWeek that he was confident that the new features planned by Microsoft will make the process of sharing data among co-workers seamless and more secure. He said:
“The innovation within OneDrive is what I call collaboration on my own terms – people can connect anywhere, anytime with anyone. I also anticipate that customers will see value in the updates Microsoft has made to OneDrive’s sharing experience. Permissions will be tightened up, and end users will be able to easily view and modify who has access to certain documents.”
Microsoft is also intending to roll out communication sites for SharePoint, which will be a team sites alternative, during the summer. Users will be able to deploy these for the widespread distribution of content throughout an enterprise. Able to be put together very quickly, these communication sites are designed to enable information to be spread widely and rapidly.
Another of the planned SharePoint updates will be the addition of what the company is calling ‘approval flows’ that will be built into the product and are based on Flow - the platform for automating workflows. These are intended to make the approvals process faster and more efficient for enterprises. There will also be a revamped SharePoint admin centre launched towards the end of the year, with notifications and alerts shown in a Message Centre and interactive usage reporting.
It sounds like it will be an interesting summer for users of these services. To find out how our services could assist your company, call WM Reply today.