SharePoint Project Sites in the Modern Experience
A significant number of our ProvisionPoint customers create SharePoint sites for projects. This is especially true of those in the property and construction sectors, which was a topic covered in a previous blog post. In my past life as a consultant, I was also involved in many projects helping organisations configure SharePoint to manage projects. This to me suggests a common requirement, which we explore in a little more detail in this post.
Different customers have different requirements for how they use SharePoint sites for projects, but there have always been several common themes. A SharePoint site was always created for each project, and within that site was a preset structure of document libraries. There would also be a process for users to request new projects, usually through automation triggered by completing a form that populated a central directory. Finally, these solutions nearly always had a structure of site collections, sites and subsites.
Modern SharePoint Project Sites
It is fair to say that until recently the majority of customers I have worked with on project-based solutions were using classic SharePoint sites. However, we are now seeing an increasing number of organisations looking to leverage modern SharePoint experiences for managing projects. Furthermore, these organisations are looking to use ProvisionPoint as a replacement for a legacy solution.
The question is, can similar solutions as those described earlier be delivered using modern SharePoint? The answer is an emphatic yes, but some decisions need to made about the architecture of such a solution. The principle of creating a site, with a library structure, for each project is exactly the same for modern SharePoint. However, the hierarchy of the project sites needs to be rethought to reflect the move by Microsoft away from subsites.
Personally, I don’t see any issues with a site collection for each project, because this is the way modern SharePoint is designed and ultimately each project is separate anyway. The inbuilt intelligence of Microsoft 365 will drive users to the most relevant sites and documents. Furthermore, a central directory of project sites, maintained as part of an automated site request process, will continue to offer users additional value to navigate all the projects.
The future and Microsoft Teams
The biggest benefit of using the modern experiences for the solutions described in this post, is all of the additional features outside of SharePoint. Initially, organisations may choose to create sites without an Office 365 group. However, this approach will likely change as they better understand the value of features such as Planner and the Group Calendar. Perhaps the biggest reason for moving to modern SharePoint project sites, is that it is an inevitable step towards Microsoft Teams. Whilst organisations may not yet be ready for Teams, it can’t be forever ignored because of features including persistent chat, live meetings and the range of apps.
Modern SharePoint is the ideal platform for organisations to continue to manage project sites. ProvisionPoint can deliver the key automation component of the solution, for SharePoint sites and when you are ready Microsoft Teams.
