Many organizations make use of Microsoft’s SharePoint Online service to meet their business requirements. SharePoint customers are often challenged with effectively managing storage consumption. This post will discuss using Archive360 as an efficient and cost-effective alternative to purchasing additional space from Microsoft for a company’s SharePoint online storage needs.
What is SharePoint Online?
Microsoft SharePoint Online is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering designed to facilitate the storage, sharing, and management of an organization’s digital information. SharePoint Online combines multiple web and cloud-based technologies into a comprehensive solution that addresses the need to efficiently access data remotely.
SharePoint Online is comprised of three major components. Newsfeed, Sites, and OneDrive form the foundation of SharePoint. The platform also supports collaboration between employees, customers, and vendors. SharePoint can be obtained as a standalone solution and is also available in Microsoft’s Office 365 suite of business applications.
Why do Businesses Use SharePoint Online?
SharePoint Online is used to address a wide variety of business requirements. Organizations can take advantage of the offering’s subscription pricing in which they only pay for the specific licenses they need. Companies already invested in Microsoft products are very likely to make use of SharePoint.
The following features and benefits are the reasons many organizations use this service for critical business processes.
- Document management is facilitated by the ability to create sharable document libraries. The service provides features such as calendars and team sites that make it easy for colleagues to collaborate and communicate.
- Collaborative tools are essential in today’s agile business environments. The cloud-based nature of SharePoint’s document storage facility lets employees collaborate on a document from anywhere with an Internet connection.
- SharePoint integrates with other Microsoft applications which can improve team productivity and reduce software licensing costs.
- SharePoint is a secure platform that is designed to control access to sensitive data resources. Security is a critical concern when storing data in the cloud.
- Mobile devices are supported by SharePoint, making it a good choice for companies with a remote workforce.
Why Do Companies Need More SharePoint Online Storage?
The diversity of ways that companies use SharePoint Online provides a clue as to why they may need additional storage capacity. There are many ways SharePoint can be used in an organization that can quickly use up allocated storage resources. Some of the most popular Microsoft offerings, such as Teams, are storage-intensive products that can strain an organization’s capacity.
The increasing business importance of a remote workforce is another reason that additional storage may be needed. It can be difficult to manage the usage patterns of remote workers without enforcing document deletion standards that can negatively impact productivity.
The increasing costs of providing adequate storage for SharePoint Online can negate some of the benefits of using the platform. Customers are faced with making the unpleasant choice between purchasing more storage space from Microsoft or limiting the amount of content its users can store in the environment.
Archive360 provides an Efficient Alternative for Storing Online SharePoint Data
The amount of Microsoft SharePoint Online storage for your organization is based on your number of licenses. Your organization has total storage of 1 TB plus 10 GB per license. Should your organization exceed that limit, you can purchase additional SharePoint Online storage. However, additional storage is costly. Archive360 ConnectTM for SharePoint Online offers an efficient method of reducing the cost of adding SharePoint Online storage. In addition to helping control storage costs, Archive360 provides increased security, facilitates end-user access to SharePoint data, and offers powerful analytics to help companies understand how they are using the platform.
Archive360 aids productivity by facilitating access to archived files from directly within SharePoint Online for a minimal impact on end users. This is major factor that increases efficiency and sets Archive360 apart from the competition. SharePoint users can seamlessly access archived files without exiting SharePoint using record links and native SharePoint search capabilities.
Archive360 extends your SharePoint storage capacity by making use of the less expensive space available in the Azure Cloud. These costs are dramatically less than directly purchasing SharePoint Online storage. Combined with Archive360’s other excellent features, the platform offers customers an alternative option for managing SharePoint Online and controlling costs.
Main Features of Archive360 Connect for SharePoint Online
Archive360 provides companies with the following features designed to reduce costs and streamline the management of SharePoint Online data.
Extending SharePoint storage
Archive360 automatically manages your SharePoint Online storage. When additional storage is required, it is obtained from the less expensive Azure Cloud. Inactive SharePoint data is securely archived to Azure to save capacity while still providing end users with access to their content.
Controlling storage costs
Archive360 allows companies to stop the cycle of purchasing high-cost SharePoint storage to address capacity demands. The platform automatically moves inactive or infrequently accessed data to your private Azure environment per your company’s policies.
Analyzing SharePoint usage
Archive360 SharePoint Online storage consumption report enables organizations to gain a deeper understanding of the information they store in SharePoint. They can analyze content across multiple data points including existing SharePoint site storage statistics by site, file type, usage dates, author, projected growth rate and Azure cost savings.
Streamlining investigations
The tool enables SharePoint Online users to use SharePoint search to find and retrieve files from SharePoint AND the archive in a single search.
Improving data security
Archive360’s platform provides unmatched options for protecting your valuable data assets. Your data is stored in its native format, rather than a proprietary format, so you can easily remove your data from their archive without it being held hostage. Record access is controlled through role- and attribute-based access controls and their platform provides additional layers of data protection through encryption, offering several encryption key management options to ensure that only authorized individuals have access to sensitive information.
Archiving data
Data is archived in the Azure Cloud to reduce storage costs. Archived data inherits the permission and sharing model from SharePoint Online. SharePoint data is archived to meet data residency and disposition requirements. Archive360 supports policy-driven tiered and immutable storage for regulatory compliance.
Partnering with VAST to Implement Archive360
VAST has extensive experience with Microsoft products such as SharePoint and the Azure Cloud environment. Partnering with VAST is an excellent move for companies looking to optimize their use of SharePoint and Microsoft’s cloud services. VAST can help your company implement and manage Archive360 to help control storage costs and get the most out of your SharePoint Online investment.
VAST has your back and understands the need to reduce costs while maintaining productivity and security. Talk to the experts at VAST and find out how easy it is to integrate Archive360 into your environment to avoid potentially excessive storage costs associated with SharePoint Online.
