Sharepoint

SharePoint is a web-based collaborative platform developed by Microsoft that is used to create, store, organize, share, and manage information within organizations. It combines document management, intranet portals, content management, and workflow capabilities to support team collaboration and enterprise information management.

SharePoint is available as SharePoint Online, a cloud-based service in Microsoft 365, and as SharePoint Server for on-premises deployments. In the cloud, features are delivered through the Office 365/Microsoft 365 ecosystem and integrate with Teams, Exchange, OneDrive, Power BI, Power Apps, and Power Automate. On-premises deployments use a SQL Server database to store content, with site collections, lists, document libraries, pages, and web parts.

Key features include document libraries with versioning, check-in/check-out, co-authoring, metadata and taxonomy, search, workflows, records management and retention policies, security and permission controls, auditing, and eDiscovery. The platform supports customization through the SharePoint Framework, classic server-side solutions, and third-party add-ins.

History: introduced in 2001 as Windows SharePoint Services, evolved into Windows SharePoint Portal Server, then Office SharePoint Server, and later SharePoint Server editions (2010, 2013, 2016, 2019). SharePoint Online launched with Office 365 (now Microsoft 365) and grew into a central component of many organizations' intranets and collaboration strategies.

Usage and governance: widely used for team collaboration, document management, intranet portals, and enterprise content management. It emphasizes security and compliance, with governance plans, retention, and information architecture; adoption often relies on standard templates, training, and integration with the broader Microsoft 365 suite.