|
Collaboration and Cost Savings in a Cloud-Hosted Environment – Try it then Buy it
 SharePoint is one of the most widely adopted collaboration and business productivity software services worldwide. Additionally, cloud-hosted environments top the list of technology trends that pique the interest of business decision makers.
With SharePoint and Cloud environments already having such a commanding presence in the business world, it just makes sense to combine forces into one great service that satisfies each: Cloud-hosted SharePoint from Microsoft Online Services.
SharePoint is available from Microsoft Online Services for $5.25 per user per month as a standalone service or as a part of the BPOS Suite of Services for $10 per user per month.
SharePoint Online is also available in the 20-seats free trial from the Microsoft Online Services Business Productivity Online Standard Suite.
Many of the business productivity and collaboration services offered in SharePoint Server are also available from SharePoint Online. But aside from cost savings, the benefits that SharePoint Online brings to the table are unique for business. Some of the top improvements businesses will notice when switching to SharePoint Online include:
- Free upgrades to all future versions of SharePoint, with all upgrade versions automatically installed and deployed in the Microsoft cloud.
- Microsoft-hosted servers have a 99.9% uptime guarantee and are continuously monitored by Microsoft.
- Less expensive cost of migration than with traditional SharePoint data migration.
While SharePoint Online Standard does offer most of the services provided by SharePoint Server, some of the exceptions that SharePoint Online does not offer include Public Folders, which currently not allowed in the Cloud-hosted environment. To determine if SharePoint Online is a right fit for your organization, below are table comparing the different features offered by SharePoint Online vs. other SharePoint options. The complete documentation can be downloaded here: Download SharePoint Online Documentation 
Collaboration Features |
Office SharePoint Server 2007 |
SharePoint Online Dedicated |
SharePoint Online Standard |
Default site templates Team site, Wiki, Document Workspace, Blog, Blank site |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Standard meeting site templates Basic Meeting Workspace |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Surveys |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
People and Groups |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Syncing calendars, tasks, and contacts with Outlook |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
E-mail alerts and notifications |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Issue tracking |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Document collaboration |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Presence |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Mail-enabled lists |
Yes |
|
|
Meeting workspace site templates Blank Meeting, Decision Meeting, Social Meeting, Multipage Meeting |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Social networking |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Standard site templates My Site News site Internet Presence Web Site |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Site admin templates (20) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Server admin templates (20) |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Templates requiring server-side custom code |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Portal Features |
Office SharePoint Server 2007 |
SharePoint Online Dedicated |
SharePoint Online Standard |
Client integration |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Office SharePoint Designer integration |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
RSS content syndication |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Audience targeting Target a SharePoint group |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Site Manager |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Site and document aggregation |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Portal site templates |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Privacy and security |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Document roll-up Web Part |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Audience targeting Target a distribution group Create audiences |
Yes |
Yes |
|
My Sites and Site Directory |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Colleagues and memberships Web Parts |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Mobile device support |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Backup and restore via Office SharePoint Designer |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Aggregate Web Parts |
Yes |
|
|
User Profiles Import Profile synchronization Directory import |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Content Management Features |
Office SharePoint Server 2007 |
SharePoint Online Dedicated |
SharePoint Online Standard |
Document Information Panel and Action Bar |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Content authoring |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Master pages, page layouts, navigation controls |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Retention and auditing policies Document retention and expiration policies, customizable policies, workflow process to define expiration; access control and security; tracking |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Three-state workflow |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Site variations |
Yes |
Yes |
|
High-fidelity Web Site and consistent branding |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Slide library |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
WYSIWYG content editor |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Content staging, publishing and deployment |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Integration with Microsoft Information Rights Management |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Standard business document workflows Approval, collect feedback, collect signatures, disposition approval, group approval, translation management workflow |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Standard enterprise site templates Document Center, Records Center, Site Directory, Report Center, Personalization Site, Search Center |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Standard publishing site templates Collaboration Portal, Publishing Portal |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Retention and auditing policies Logging of all actions on sites, content, and workflows; audit log reporting |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Records repository and legal holds |
Yes |
|
|
E-mail content as records |
Yes |
|
|
Search Features |
Office SharePoint Server 2007 |
SharePoint Online Dedicated |
SharePoint Online Standard |
Search in a site collection |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Cross-site collection search |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Enterprise content sources |
Yes |
Yes |
|
People search |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Search federation |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Business data search |
Yes |
|
|
Business Intelligence Features |
Office SharePoint Server 2007 |
SharePoint Online Dedicated |
SharePoint Online Standard |
Business intelligence dashboards |
Yes |
Yes |
|
KPI and filtering Web Parts |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Report center templates |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Excel services |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Data connection libraries |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Business data catalog |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Business data Web Parts and actions |
Yes |
|
|
Performance point integration |
Yes |
|
|
Business Process and Forms Features |
Office SharePoint Server 2007 |
SharePoint Online Dedicated |
SharePoint Online Standard |
Form libraries |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Custom non-code workflows |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Office SharePoint Server out-of-the-box workflows |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Browser-based forms |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Custom code workflows |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Form libraries |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Features |
SharePoint Online Dedicated |
SharePoint Online Standard |
Site collections per customer |
Multiple |
Multiple |
Vanity domains |
Yes |
No |
Storage |
250 MB per user |
250 MB per user |
Access |
Authenticated access only |
Authenticated access only |
Off-boarding of customer data |
Via partner |
Via partner |
Backup and restore |
30 days |
14 days |
WAN acceleration |
Yes |
No |
Disastser recovery |
Yes |
Yes |
Server-side custom code |
Yes |
No |
Pre-production environment |
Yes |
No |
Anonymous access |
No |
No |
Support for Quest migration tools |
No |
No |
Web Part toolbox |
No |
No |
SharePoint Silverlight Toolkit |
No |
No |
Partner access (extranet access) |
No |
No | |