SharePoint Server 2016 is set to be released sometime next year, and Microsoft plans on delivering a more cohesive end user experience throughout all components by ingraining its cloud services into the server. Microsoft senior product manager, Mark Kashman, says this is happening because of inspiration they have gained from Office 365. The company has already begun moving the majority of its technologies to the cloud. Groups, Clutter and Delve are all new Microsoft services that are becoming commonly integrated into the overall Microsoft system for businesses rather than being used as completely separate applications. Office add-ins are another great example of programs that are slowly being integrated into a common Office 365 framework. Kashman explained that Microsoft is taking scalability improvements, along with these technologies, and pushing all of it into SharePoint Server 2016. While some of the technologies Office 365 is using are not considered SharePoint, Kashman pointed out that they still use SharePoint. Office Delve, for example, uses the company’s FAST enterprise search technology and Office Graph technology to show certain organizational information. It works with Clutter, a Microsoft Exchange feature used in Outlook to prioritize emails. Kashman went on to say that SharePoint could basically be Delve, but it could also be your on-premises company portal. Another point Kashman highlighted was that Microsoft is not replacing technologies in SharePoint; they are adding them. Improvements to Search, Files and Next-Generation Portals will also be coming in SharePoint Server 2016.

• Search improvements – These improvements come with Delve. Delve will offer governance controls to network admins and IT departments and will offer end users more personal discovery experiences. Support for hybrid scenarios will also be coming soon, specifically for companies that combine SharePoint Server on premises with Office 365 services.
• Next-Generation Portals – These portals will offer end users simplified administration and will also be more personalized. They will be mobile-enabled and will offer partners extensibility so they can build upon them. Microsoft also has plans to build its “boards” feature, enabling end users to organize content.
• Files improvements – SharePoint 2016 files will gain improvements thanks to OneDrive for Business as well as the addition of data loss prevention capabilities and mobile device management.

As a Microsoft Gold Partner, C3iT has the expertise to help your company unleash its full collaborative potential through the use of Microsoft’s SharePoint Server 2016. Our experts can ensure you get the full value from SharePoint by helping you optimize revenue generating strategies, forecast new opportunities for your business, improve productivity through easy access to information through SharePoint and more. With the help of C3iT’s SharePoint experts, SharePoint Server 2016 can be the next step in allowing your business to grow and thrive.