To answer simply, SharePoint is Microsoft's version of cloud storage. SharePoint functions slightly differently than competing cloud storage platforms, however, so it's helpful to know about these differences, especially if you're planning to move an on-prem file server to SharePoint or migrate from another provider. So what is SharePoint exactly, and how does it differ from other options?
What exactly is SharePoint?
One of the most popular cloud storage platforms is Microsoft SharePoint, a storage platform designed for businesses and large organizations. SharePoint works as a team’s intranet to communicate, share, and collaborate.
Teams use SharePoint for a lot of reasons. Community message boards. Policies and procedures. Document management. In larger organizations, different sites act as hubs for different groups and are sometimes large enough that there are hubs devoted purely to communicating within specific departments internally. With its seamless integration with Microsoft products, SharePoint is an excellent cloud storage platform for organizations that prefer Microsoft apps or are already in the Microsoft ecosystem.
As a cloud storage platform, files are accessed on the site level. Within a site, users can view and download files and share them with a wider group using the sharing options. Share links are another way to share files, with default options being people in the organization, people who already have access, anyone, or a custom group. Share links include access and editing options like edit, view, and view without download.
Many cloud storage platforms can be used for similar reasons, but it's the architecture of SharePoint that sets it apart from others in the space.
SharePoint architecture
Since SharePoint is designed to be an intranet, it’s set up with Sites, which are a lot like they sound, “websites” with limited access. SharePoint breaks Sites into 2 categories: Team sites are private spaces meant for individuals and small teams, and Communications sites are meant for large groups sharing information with a wide audience. Within those categories are Channel sites, which are sites associated with a specific Teams channel, and Hub Sites connect multiple related sites together.
Within a site, admins can create subsites, which inherit properties of the parent sites. Subsites function the same as parent sites and are simply another way to organize information.
All site types have prebuilt templates designed by Microsoft to cover the most common use cases, but sites can also be designed and built from scratch. Depending on the use case and whether or not the site needs to be shared with different departments and groups, a Team site or Communication site might be the best approach.
Team sites
Team sites are designed for teams or departments to store and share resources. A team site integrates with other Microsoft 365 products like Office 365 for file sharing and collaboration.
Within a team site, all members are considered content authors, meaning they can create and edit content by default. Of course, site admins can restrict access to specific folders and add/remove permissions as needed. Members of team sites can easily collaborate with the wider team to create and edit assets and share them with the wider group.
Communication sites
Communication sites are designed for sharing and broadcasting information to a wide group of people. With communication sites, only a small group of members can create and edit content, while all members can view content. In a communication site, the limited members create and share content such as updated policies and procedures with the organization or a wider team.
Channel sites
A Channel site is a SharePoint site that is directly connected to a specific channel in Microsoft Teams. You can connect a channel site to either a private or shared channel. The idea behind channel sites is that all assets and resources connected to the Teams channel can be stored and accessed in one place.
Hub sites
Hub sites can be either a Team Site or a Communication Site. These sites connect multiple sites together through a shared navigation, creating a collection of sites for a shared purpose. Hub sites provide greater flexibility compared to subsites, as different sites can be added or removed by a user with special permissions to create and manage hubs.
Hub sites share navigation and can also share content. This allows for streamlined searches and collaboration, as users in Hub sites can find the content they need without necessarily knowing which specific site it is a part of.
Document libraries
Every site in SharePoint needs 1 or more document libraries, which are the file repositories. In SharePoint Online, a single site has a maximum storage capacity of 25 TB, and one organization can have a maximum of 2 million sites.
Document libraries are designed to hold related files for a project within a site. As a result, different document libraries can have different sharing permissions to ensure that the correct people have access to relevant files.
While files inherit the permissions from the document library, Individual items can be shared with more or fewer restrictions. SharePoint will show a warning when such a condition exists, or if access may be limited in unexpected ways.
What is the SharePoint umbrella?
The term "SharePoint" can refer to two different products that fall under the SharePoint umbrella: SharePoint On-premises, and SharePoint Online.
SharePoint On-premises
SharePoint on-premises was the original version of SharePoint. "On-premises" in this case refers to SharePoint being installed on an on-prem file server. Originally, SharePoint was designed to be an organization's intranet, and was usually managed by an organization's dedicated IT team.
"Legacy" SharePoint is any version of SharePoint that is no longer being updated. These versions of On-prem SharePoint still function, but they're also prone to risks because they are no longer patched, and won't be able to use newer features like Microsoft Copilot. Most experts recommend migrating from legacy SharePoint as soon as possible due to security concerns.
Nearly all SharePoint on-prem versions are going to be retired by July 2026, but that doesn't mean the on-premise version of SharePoint will be going away. Instead, Microsoft is pushing customers towards SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, which is an on-premise version of SharePoint with ongoing security and feature updates. The plan going forward is to focus all efforts on this one version of SharePoint and release two major updates a year.
SharePoint Online
Basically, SharePoint took the local intranet idea of connecting an organization and its devices and users together and expanded that to work online and give users access no matter where they are in the world.
An intranet using the internet.
SharePoint Online takes the idea of SharePoint on-prem into the cloud with a fully managed solution. Organizations get all the benefits of SharePoint without having to do manual updates and patches.
SharePoint Online is the version where Microsoft is putting the most effort because they can push updates and changes on a large scale. While on-prem versions are being deprecated and reaching their end-of-life, the online version of SharePoint is regularly updated and has several different plans for organizations of different sizes and needs.
OneDrive vs SharePoint
OneDrive and SharePoint are both Microsoft’s version of cloud storage. At first glance, that might make it seem like they’re the same thing, but they’re separate applications with different use cases.
In Microsoft, OneDrive refers to an individual's personal drive. It is designed to hold files and folders for the individual and be accessible across multiple devices. These files and folders aren't shared by default, but can still be shared with others if needed.
SharePoint, on the other hand, is designed for organizations. Content saved in SharePoint belongs to the organization, which has full control over how data is handled.
SharePoint migrations with Movebot
Whether your organization wants to move files into SharePoint or move from SharePoint to another cloud storage platform, Movebot can help by making the migration fast, simple, and reliable with our three-step PAC migration process.
Start with Plan, the first step of any successful migration. Decide what you want to move and where you want to move it. Movebot lets you break down moves to the folder level, and you can use filters to isolate content you don't need. Then, connect SharePoint and your other platform and set up your transfers. You can split your migration into as many smaller transfers as you want, and run multiple at once to make sure you have the most critical files first.
Next is Advance, when you start running transfers. Whenever a transfer is in progress, you'll have access to the Performance Tracker, which gives you live stats about your ongoing transfer like how many files and how much data has moved. Keep running transfers until the bulk of the data is moved over.
The final step is Cutover, where you make sure everything on the destination is up to date. Run delta migrations to pull over new and updated files until you have everything moved across. And that's it!
SharePoint migrations have never been easier thanks to Movebot. Whether you're moving to or from SharePoint, between tenants, or even reorganizing the same tenant, Movebot has you covered. Find out for yourself how easy migrating SharePoint can be by trying Movebot with 50GB free, with no credit card or demo required. Register for your account now to get started.
