Before deciding if SharePoint is the right solution for your company, you should know what the costs will be. This review covers everything you need to know about SharePoint before making any decisions, including the costs of implementation, customization as well as hidden costs.
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See A DemoIn the modern world, businesses need all the help they can get to remain competitive. Collaboration software is one area where technology has made a big difference. Google Apps and Microsoft Office 365 are widely used by businesses as part of their digital collaboration strategy, and a relatively large number of businesses use Microsoft SharePoint as a collaborative platform.
However, SharePoint online isn't an out-of-the-box solution and often, it requires additional maintenance and customizations to make it work the way your company needs it to. As such, it's important to consider all of the costs associated with SharePoint before determining if it's the right choice for your mid-size business.
Microsoft Sharepoint pricing has three tiers, each with different price points and features. As of 2022, Microsoft SharePoint offers were as follows:
Plan 1, which is the least expensive of Microsoft's SharePoint plans, is available at a price of $5 per user per month. The subscription needs to be paid annually and auto-renews. It includes various features, such as:
The Plan 2 SharePoint licence cost is $10 per user per month. It includes the same features as Plan 1, as well as:
The Office 365 SharePoint package costs $23 per month per user. As with other plans, this is billed annually, which means that a company of 200 people would pay more than $55,000 per year to use this version of SharePoint.
It includes the same features and access as SharePoint Online Plan 2, as well as access to web versions of familiar Microsoft office apps such as Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and desktop versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and Plus—provided you're a PC user.
While the initial cost of SharePoint seems reasonable at first, it's not without additional ongoing expenses. It's also important to keep in mind that the product is billed annually, which can feel like a huge initial investment if your company's budget is limited.
Below you'll find some of the additional cost considerations you'll need to make if you're planning to invest in SharePoint.
As with any significant technology implementation, you'll need to hire a SharePoint consultant to help you design and implement your solution. The cost of this depends on your specific needs. Even if you don't need the full service of a digital transformation consultancy, you'll need to budget for the cost of one or two consultants with a solid awareness of SharePoint best practices.
Before you implement SharePoint, you'll want to train your staff on how to use it. You may choose to hire external trainers and if you have a large organization, this will be expensive. Alternatively, you may choose to use online training resources, but even the cost of online training can add up if you have enough users.
SharePoint isn't aesthetically pleasing and customizing it to be easier on the eyes or on par with your company's branding isn't simple if you're not experienced at working with code. To change the look, feel and functionality of SharePoint to match your needs, you'll need to hire a SharePoint consultant for this as well, and depending on the scope of your project, this could cost you thousands—especially if you have ongoing needs and want SharePoint to change as your company grows.
Although SharePoint is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, you'll still need to budget for ongoing maintenance. This will cover all the costs involved in keeping the platform running, such as updates, license renewals, and staff time. You may choose to pay for maintenance through your IT provider, or you may prefer to outsource it to a third-party provider. If you choose the latter, you'll need to budget for the cost of the services.
There will be times when you need to update your SharePoint platform. This may be because of a security issue that needs to be addressed or because you need new functionality. This will be an added cost to your budget, so you'll need to factor it in. You may choose to conduct all updates yourself, or you may decide to hire an external consultant. In some cases, you may need to hire a consultant to help with the implementation, and then another to do the updates. You may also need to hire a consultant to repair software or revise your customizations as a result of updates.
When you implement a new technology, you'll need to dedicate time to get it up and running. In some cases, you may be able to implement new systems quickly, but in others, it may take time. If you decide to implement SharePoint, it could take several months for the platform to be fully functional across your organization. That's time that your staff would otherwise be spending on other projects. You'll need to budget for this loss of time, as it will affect your business in other areas. It's important to weigh up the benefits of the new platform versus the loss of productivity elsewhere in your organization.
CentricMinds Intranet Platform is the alternative to SharePoint that you've been waiting for. This multi-purpose platform does everything SharePoint can and more, without the need for added customization, a team of tech professionals, or the headaches and frustration that come with SharePoint implementation.
CentricMinds is an out-of-the-box solution that offers:
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