The company will introduce new SharePoint apps for iOS, Android, and Windows 10 Mobile, aiming to make the service a truly mobile experience.
Microsoft is hitting back against close rivals like Slack and Dropbox with a sizeable overhaul of SharePoint, which will be officially announced tomorrow. The update, which is expected to roll out later this year, will come with new cross platform mobile applications for Android, iOS, and of course Windows.
OneDrive will play a big role in syncing with SharePoint, while Microsoft’s new Flow tool (which automates tasks) will also become integral to the service moving forward.
In an interview with VentureBeat, SharePoint head Jeff Taper (the man who hired CEO Satya Nadella in 1992) said the announcement will be “the biggest news day in the history of SharePoint.”
Much of the changes will focus on shifting SharePoint towards Microsoft’s overall cloud first strategy, with SharePoint Server 2016 now available. The overhaul is the company’s way of protecting the service against rivals such as Slack, and maintaining SharePoint’s position as the go to service for businesses.
For over a decade SharePoint has been the market leading platform in enterprise for businesses to organize documents, manage systems, and build intranet sites. It is used by 190 million, but in the mobile era many rivals have emerged to threaten SharePoint and Microsoft’s update tomorrow will be seeking to make the platform more geared towards a mobile and cloud environment.
OneDrive will now share files between SharePoint, and with a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) on the way next quarter, the cloud storage service is becoming more important to other services:
“In the OneDrive app we have this new view called Discover, where we’ll recommend relevant content to you,” said Teper.
Apple’s iOS will be the first to get the new SharePoint app when is launches in June, with Android and Windows 10 Mobile following later in the year. It is likely that all apps will have the same functionality and feature set, further showcasing Microsoft’s willingness to embrace other platforms these days.
The idea behind all the apps is to make SharePoint a truly mobile experience, allowing users to access all their accounts, content, and sites on the move. Documents will be accessible via SharePoint through OneDrive, while integration with Office 365 Groups is also expected to be available by the close of the year.
