Chapter 2

Introducing SharePoint Online

In This Chapter

arrow Exploring SharePoint Online

arrow Determining why SharePoint Online has become so popular

arrow Figuring out the difference between SharePoint Online and SharePoint On Premise

arrow Understanding some of the benefits to a cloud-based offering

Just a handful of years ago, it wasn’t easy to adopt SharePoint. SharePoint fell squarely into the realm of enterprise-class software. Enterprise-class software is powerful but expensive and resource-intensive, so in order to adopt SharePoint, you needed to be a large organization with big bucks and a large IT support team.

The rapid rise of super-fast and ubiquitous Internet connectivity caused a paradigm shift in the software world. Microsoft and other companies quickly came out with new applications that offered enterprise-class software, including SharePoint, over the Internet. Microsoft branded its SharePoint offering as SharePoint Online and packaged it with products such as Exchange (e-mail), Lync (instant communication), and Office (productivity). The combined package of services (SharePoint, Exchange, ...

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