The release of SharePoint 2013 has been considered a great launch from Microsoft’s closet. It is derived from the earlier editions of SharePoint launched in 2007 and subsequently in 2010 to offer better support for mobile users, big data and public-centric websites. Let us probe into some crucial aspects of this latest release of Microsoft that all IT professionals need to know.
What’s so stunning about SharePoint 2013?
- Enhanced branding for better web presence: Gone are the days when lots of time had to be spent brooding over confusing designer assets, complicated style sheets and complex packages. The process has now become much more convenient. Presently, any web designer having adequate skills in CSS, HTML and JavaScript will be able to brand a public-facing as well as internal SharePoint site within a short span of time. This in turn leads to the reduction of expense for internal support. Moreover, the utilization of SharePoint as a platform for public-centric websites becomes much more cost-effective.
- Improved hosting for public-facing websites: Previously, it was indeed difficult to host a public-facing website over the SharePoint 2007 platform. The same site could be hosted on SharePoint 2010 with more convenience and with the brilliant capabilities of SharePoint 2013, the process evolved significantly. The latest release incorporates the ability to dish out pages for a variety of devices such as tablets, mobile phones and so on. The latest version of SharePoint also includes a large number of features with respect to search engine optimization, such as friendly URLs, XML based sitemaps, SEO setting by a variety of site collections as well as robots.txt support in order to delineate areas outside the boundary of search engine crawlers.
- Augmented business intelligence: SharePoint 2010 started off with a brilliant platform for big data reports and business intelligence and the capabilities witnessed considerable expansion with the release of SharePoint 2013. Now, SharePoint is equipped with the tools to provide enhanced business analytics and insights. The assimilation between Excel and SharePoint has also become tighter. Moreover the latest version also comes with a potent PowerPivot program which allows you to work with a plethora of columns and rows directly within the memory. Again, features like Dashboard Designer, Visio Services and PerformancePoint Services all function in unison to present a handsome picture of business metrics and health.
- End-user training: The latest version of SharePoint is equipped with an innovative feature that enables a particular group of site collections to operate under the 2010 version during installation of SharePoint 2013 code. In other words, the SharePoint 2010 code is being run within the 2013 version, which facilitates compatibility maintenance and testing with all applications and custom codes built over SharePoint.
- Enhanced mobile support: As SharePoint sites were being utilized in different categories of businesses, the issue of poor SharePoint performance in mobile devices was something that Microsoft had to cope with, so far as the earlier editions are concerned. Presently, we have the HTML5 coded view alternatively called the “contemporary” view which is tailor-made to ensure rapid access across BlackBerry, Android, iPads, iPhones and Windows Phone devices. New support is also available for push notifications, therefore the 2013 version can conveniently reach out as well as push any message into the device depending upon a number of factors.
- Machine translation services: This is one of the most innovative features of SharePoint 2013, which performs content translation automatically. In case an individual or entity requires content to be translated over and over again into several languages, then this Machine Translation Service is of immense help to the content creators.
- Simplified licensing: This facilitates the accessibility of features that were earlier allowed only after payment of extra license fees. An important feature, Fast Search, was available at additional price with the 2010 version but now it is assimilated within the 2013 edition and comes at no extra fee or license.
- Cloud readiness: The 2013 version of SharePoint is developed to make room for cloud services. It can operate totally in the cloud by means of Office 365 and constitutes all the major aspects of SharePoint on-premises.
A couple of concerns about SharePoint 2013
- Migration: It is a known fact that migration towards anything new has its own woes. When it comes to SharePoint 2013, you cannot adopt it unless you are already operating on the 2010 edition, until certain third-party tools are purchased.
- Distinct product editions: To maintain the cloud readiness, Microsoft has come up with two flavors of the product: SharePoint Server, that can be installed on own datacenter and premises and Office 365, which operates within the cloud (in Microsoft’s datacenters). This leads to a series of overlapping elements with respect to the capabilities and features, but Microsoft hopes to cater to all categories of client requirements.
Like every product that is launched into the market, SharePoint migration 2013 might bring with it a few worries. However, keeping in mind the striking and beneficial features of SharePoint 2013, the product indeed has a long way to go.
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