When to use SharePoint vs Shared Drives (2024)

FAQs

When to use SharePoint vs Shared Drives? ›

While there is nothing intrinsically wrong with a standard network file server, there are inherent limitations. Your server can store files and make them accessible to people on your network, but that's about it. SharePoint's Document Center, meanwhile, provides a more advanced system to store your company files.

While there is nothing intrinsically wrong with a standard network file server, there are inherent limitations. Your server can store files and make them accessible to people on your network, but that's about it. SharePoint's Document Center, meanwhile, provides a more advanced system to store your company files.

SharePoint Online stands out as an exceptionally powerful tool for businesses in need of comprehensive shared network drive solutions. With each SharePoint site boasting the ability to store up to 25TB of data, it meets the vast storage requirements of modern organizations.

If you have a limited budget for installing, running, and maintaining your intranet, then SharePoint is not for you.

OneDrive is used for personal storage: work-related files that you create and work on yourself and sometimes share with others. SharePoint is used for shared storage: work-related files that are meant to be collaborated on, or viewed, by your group upon the file's creation.

13 Alternatives To SharePoint. Potential alternatives to SharePoint include ClearPoint Strategy, ClickUp, Glasscubes, Huddle, Samepage, Liferay, Nuxeo, Confluence, Source by IC Thrive, Jostle, G Suite, Redbooth, and Slack.

Unlike a Windows file server, which is just a place to share and store data, SharePoint Online offers a cloud-based file server setup that allows automatic synching in real-time so multiple users can be working on the same document at the same time without any duplication.

Simply go to the SharePoint document library where you want to sync the content from OneDrive. From there, you'll see an option to "Sync." Click on that, and it will open your OneDrive application. Confirm the synchronization, and your OneDrive folder contents will be mirrored in the SharePoint document library.

SharePoint is always there, helping manage and protect your files, and powering content collaboration across Microsoft 365. And beyond files, SharePoint enables portals, news, pages, lists, and a platform for business apps. With both OneDrive and SharePoint in Microsoft 365, your files are stored in the cloud.

What is the downside of SharePoint? ›

SharePoint has many features, extensive customization, and various uses within a single company. While this makes it a powerful tool, it can also result in challenges with long-term use. Most companies use customization features to get the most out of SharePoint but risk erasing those customizations during updates.

So we know SharePoint isn't obsolete, but on-premise versions are reaching their end of life. However, there is still confusion about whether Microsoft plans to retire SharePoint completely and replace it with Microsoft Teams or Microsoft Viva.

According to Microsoft, more than 200,000 organisations and 190 million people have SharePoint for intranets, team sites and content management. With SharePoint, you can create a central information hub for your business, so everyone can tap into the same documents and resources. Anytime, anyplace, anywhere.

Organizations use Microsoft SharePoint to create websites. You can use it as a secure place to store, organize, share, and access information from any device. All you need is a web browser, such as Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Chrome, or Firefox.

Its chat histories are stored in Microsoft Exchange and the Files passed between users in meetings are stored in SharePoint libraries. Now that Teams is promoting “Lists”, It's easy to guess where they are stored. That's right, in SharePoint. Rather than replacing SharePoint, Teams is completely dependent on it.

SharePoint offers more business features, while Google Drive is also cost-effective. The plans for Google Drive are cheaper than SharePoint. However, this is possible due to the fewer features that Google Drive offers.

SharePoint vs Google Drive: Security

Besides, SharePoint provides many advanced security protections with flexibility for businesses to control users within their tenants. On the contrary, because Google Drive is tied to individuals, it may present significant security issues for organizations.

OneDrive provides a consistent, intuitive files experience across all your devices, including web, mobile, and the desktop of your Windows PC or Mac. Behind the scenes, SharePoint in Microsoft 365 provides the content services for all files in Microsoft 365, including files you work with in Teams, Yammer, and Outlook.

SharePoint offers a central repository where users can store and collaborate on business content. The tool's benefits include improved efficiency, scalability and compliance.