O365 Collaboration Options

Dirk Diggler · 4 Jan 2019 at 19:15

I work with a couple of colleagues and we have historically used a network drive to access files that are common to us, reports etc.. IT dept is now informing me that this is a legacy solution and that we need to move to an O365 solution. Having looked at the available apps, it looks like SharePoint is the best option?

What do you use for a single storage solution where multiple users will need to create and edit office documents?

Dirk Diggler · 7 Jan 2019 at 12:36

I've got a SharePoint site setup and it's looking quite powerful, to be honest. There's a document directory and a permissions system which is ideal. Being able to have team members request access, and being able to place them in user groups is also very handy for emailing departments and such.

I'm still playing with it, but it looks to be a contender.

Dirk Diggler · 13 Jan 2019 at 10:17

Having done some digging, I can see that the document library on the SharePoint can be synced to any PC and used like a "normal" folder. This is probably going to be 99% of the use case, after all this service is replacing a legacy network drive system.

The online interface is something we might eventually get round to using, but this team is not a team of IT geeks and the simpler it is the better. Some of these guys need help with basic IT skills, so I'm not really looking to complicate things initially, even if the facilities are really useful.

Dirk Diggler · 25 Jan 2019 at 16:23

Something beating me here; when I've edited an Excel file via the online interface (it's a SharePoint file) I am trying to send the Excel document as an Outlook file attachment but all I can see is the option to share which provides a link to the file?

Dirk Diggler · 25 Jan 2019 at 17:23

OK, going to answer my own question here... best way seems to be simply download a copy and then attach in the normal way.

Dirk Diggler · 25 Jan 2019 at 18:06

Orifice said:
SharePoint is designed for collaboration, the theory is the file should always stay in the SharePoint library for version control and security. As soon as you start emailing actual copies of the file, it removes the point of having it in the library. Hence why when you share it generates a link, which allows read/edit/specific user access etc. Its quite useful and means you always have only one version of the file.

Yea, I understand. This is just one particular file that gets distributed on a daily basis as file attachment, and it changes every day. It gets emailed out to a distribution list and will be read and discarded.

Dirk Diggler · 25 Jan 2019 at 22:38

Django x2 said:
Completely bypassing the entire purpose of SharePoint. Send a 5kb email with a link rather than 10mb attachment

The link is useless as it can only be viewed from within the company/organisation, this file gets distributed to recipients outside the company.

Dirk Diggler · 26 Jan 2019 at 09:58

Django x2 said:
No the link is fine, you need to configure external sharing, it's a one click button in the tenant settings. You can even whitelist or blacklist domains, then just share the document library. That is the entire essence of SharePoint and has been dones 2003 .It's a collaborative tool. You can even coauthor documents live with external parties. You're probably scratching less than 1% of its capabilities at the moment.

There's restrictions on the admin functions, it's all permissions based. We can't collaborate out with the company; only people with a company specific login can view any of the SharePoint and only if they have had permissions allocated. In any case, this particular file has no requirement for collaboration as it's a daily progress report and will never be used again after it has been distributed at the end of the working day.

There are documents that we will collaborate with the team, and we do this by syncing the SharePoint to the Desktop via One Drive and we just use the files like a traditional office document.

I would estimate that 95% of our files are simply document storage. The biggest challenge I am seeing is trying to use all the online apps in place of the Desktop software.

Dirk Diggler · 26 Jan 2019 at 13:02

Django x2 said:
This is a very sad, and short sighted place to be in with SharePoint .It will do exactly what you want, much easier than your current method, but it's already been restricted with permissions. Don't get me wrong, permissions are important, but the right wrong design of those permissions will make SharePoint a headache for you going forwards. External sharing should be on and then simply controlled by whitelist and permissions. Easy

Totally agree, I'm already having a headache with simple tasks. It's the usual corporate IT approach; implement it half baked and watch us all spend endless hours hunting for workarounds.

Dirk Diggler · 27 Jan 2019 at 19:03

OMG!

Excel online: I can't select multiple cells if they aren't adjacent, I can't make part of a sentence bold or italic... It's so limited that it might as well be read only. :mad:

Dirk Diggler · 11 Jun 2019 at 15:23

I've progressed to using Teams and would appreciate some help if available.

I'm looking at Planner and I can create tasks for a particular day and allocate it to a team member; is there any way to export the days tasks as a PDF etc. So that I can print off and use in my meeting?

Hope that makes sense.