Top 10 Reasons for Choosing SharePoint Hosting

With so many options for hosting platforms, it is often a difficult decision to make. Here are the top 10 reasons why you should choose SharePoint hosting:

1. Communication. SharePoint sites make it easy to communicate with other team members or key contacts and personnel. Users are able to set up alerts that will notify them as soon any documents or information are changed, as well as to let them know when any new documents have been added. Team members can communicate using audio or video, by email or instant messaging. SharePoint sites also include discussion boards, which can serve as topic forums for team members to exchange ideas or propose activities. In addition, the sites allow for audience targeting, so members in the same department or with the same role can be targeted to receive the important messages that pertain to them.

2. Sharing. SharePoint sites make it easy to share information. Individual departments or team members can upload documents and information that can be accessed by everyone else. Authors decide how documents are distributed and how they are used by others. SharePoint sites come with built-in lists for sharing information, contacts, tasks and announcements, and users can add lists for other types of information they need to share. Users can create photo libraries to share project-related graphics and photos, as well as document libraries to share project documents. All information on the SharePoint sites is searchable, also, making it even easier for users to find the documents and information they need.

3. Empowerment. SharePoint sites empower the individual user by putting them in control. Individual users can create sites, as well as control membership and monitor site usage. Users can create site templates and share them with the other members. In addition, SharePoint sites offer a personalized view, allowing each user to completely change parts of the site to suit his/her needs, but the changes have no effect on what other members are viewing.

4. IT Tools. SharePoint sites give IT the tools they need to manage the site. Quotas can be placed, and enforced, not just for sites, but also for users and storage. Sites can monitored to see how often they are used, and those that have been unused for a long period of time can be deleted. Managers can even block certain types of files from being uploaded, adding to the protection for users.

5. Ease of use. SharePoint sites are fully compatible with Microsoft Office. Users can add members, assign tasks, and edit documents for SharePoint sites using the programs in the Microsoft Office System. For example, calendars and address books can be copied from SharePoint sites to Outlook, and vice versa. In addition, SharePoint sites offer templates to help users create sites and documents with ease. Users can also create and edit sites using FrontPage software. New users can be added through an email invitation

6. Accessibility. All documents and information on a SharePoint site are accessible from one password-protected site. That site is accessible 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, from any internet connection.

7. Increased Productivity. Important documents and information are available from one SharePoint site. Team members will not have to waste time searching for documents, and inboxes are no longer clogged with dozens of attachments, making the entire team more organized and efficient. In addition, SharePoint documents are automatically marked with the newest version number, eliminating the need to wade through countless versions of the same document in search of the latest version.

8. Expansion. Whether you are a small business owner with less than five employees, the CEO of a major corporation or a soccer mom looking for ways to keep the other moms informed, SharePoint can adjust to your needs. SharePoint grows with you, and adding users can be done with minimal time and effort.

9. Enhancement Capabilities. SharePoint sites can be enhanced with the use of Web Parts. Web Parts add features to the sites already in use. Developers can write Web Parts for data access, applications and content, or Web Parts can be obtained from a large number of independent SharePoint support sites on the internet. In addition, there are several templates available for document creation, plus users can obtain new templates directly from Microsoft’s SharePoint web site. Users can also use FrontPage to customize or create their own templates.

10. Organizational Structure. With so many documents and individual sites for a project or company, there has to be a way to keep them all organized. SharePoint sites work with SharePoint Portal Server, which connects the individual sites to teams and applications. A portal is created and, from that portal, users have access to site navigation, content search, company-wide alerts, and targeted news and content. The individually productive places are networked into one large productive place, making collaboration and teamwork more efficient.