What is Microsoft SharePoint and What is it Used For? The Enterprise Guide to the Modern Digital Workplace

For over two decades, Microsoft SharePoint has been the foundational technology for enterprise content management and internal collaboration.

Yet, for many executives, the platform remains shrouded in the legacy of its complex, on-premise past. The truth is, modern Microsoft SharePoint, particularly SharePoint Online within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, is a radically different, cloud-first, and AI-augmented platform.

It is no longer just a document repository; it is the intelligent content engine for the entire digital workplace.

This in-depth guide is designed for the busy, forward-thinking executive-the CIO, CTO, or Head of Operations-who needs a clear, strategic understanding of what SharePoint is, its core business applications, and how to leverage its latest capabilities for measurable ROI in 2025 and beyond.

We will cut through the technical jargon to focus on the value proposition: how a properly implemented SharePoint strategy can drive productivity, ensure compliance, and unify your global workforce.

Key Takeaways: SharePoint for the Enterprise Executive

1. Modern SharePoint is Cloud-First: Over 85% of all SharePoint instances are now cloud-based (SharePoint Online), making the platform a fully integrated component of Microsoft 365, not a standalone server product .
2. Core Use Cases are Strategic: Its primary uses are not just file storage, but Enterprise Content Management (ECM), internal collaboration, building the corporate intranet, and powering business process automation (BPA) via the Power Platform.
3. High ROI is Proven: Effective digital collaboration, often powered by SharePoint and Teams, can lead to a 20-25% improvement in organizational productivity, according to research by McKinsey & Company .
4. AI is the Future: The 2025 trend is the integration of Microsoft Copilot and Agentic AI, transforming SharePoint content into an intelligent knowledge base that can answer complex queries and automate tasks.
5. Expertise is Critical: Successful implementation and governance require certified experts, especially for global, complex environments. Relying on a dedicated SharePoint development team ensures security, scalability, and cost-efficiency.

What is Microsoft SharePoint? A Modern, Strategic Definition

At its core, Microsoft SharePoint is a web-based, collaborative platform that integrates with Microsoft Office.

However, a more accurate, modern definition for the enterprise is this:

SharePoint is the secure, scalable, and customizable content and application platform within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem that serves as the foundation for an organization's digital workplace.

It provides a centralized location for storing, organizing, sharing, and accessing information from any device. The key shift is from the legacy SharePoint Server (on-premise) to SharePoint Online, which is continuously updated and deeply integrated with tools like Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and the Power Platform.

This integration is why SharePoint remains a critical technology, used by approximately 80% of Fortune 500 companies .

The Four Core Uses: What is SharePoint Used For?

The question of what SharePoint is used for is best answered by looking at the four pillars of modern digital transformation it supports.

These applications move beyond simple file sharing to deliver measurable business value, from compliance to employee engagement. For a deeper dive into the value proposition, explore Microsoft Sharepoint The Purpose And Benefits Of Using The Sharepoint.

1. Enterprise Content and Document Management (ECM/DMS)

SharePoint's most robust function is as an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) and Document Management System (DMS).

For global organizations in regulated industries like Finance and Healthcare, this is non-negotiable. It provides:

1. Version Control: Eliminates the 'which version is correct?' problem, ensuring a single source of truth.
2. Metadata and Search: Allows for powerful, intelligent search capabilities, drastically reducing the time employees spend looking for information.
3. Compliance and Security: Features like eDiscovery, retention policies, and granular permissions are essential for meeting regulatory requirements (e.g., SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR).

2. Internal Collaboration and Team Sites

SharePoint is the backbone of team collaboration, often working seamlessly behind the scenes with Microsoft Teams.

Team Sites allow departments, project groups, and cross-functional PODs to work together efficiently.

The Business Value: Improved collaboration directly impacts the bottom line. Research by McKinsey & Company indicates that organizations that enhance workplace collaboration through appropriate technologies can see a productivity boost of up to 25%

For a global firm like Developers.dev, this is the engine that keeps our 1000+ professionals aligned across continents.

3. The Modern Intranet and Communication Hub

A modern SharePoint Intranet is the central nervous system of a company, providing a personalized, engaging experience for all employees.

It's a place for corporate news, HR resources, and departmental portals.

The Strategic Insight: Intranets are not dead; they are evolving. According to a 2025 SharePoint Intranet Benchmarking Report, the average employee access rate is around 93%, highlighting its continued importance as a primary communication channel

A well-designed intranet, often built using SharePoint's modern site capabilities, is critical for fostering a strong remote company culture and ensuring consistent messaging across a distributed workforce.

4. Business Process Automation (BPA) and Custom Apps

SharePoint integrates deeply with the Microsoft Power Platform (Power Automate, Power Apps, Power BI), transforming it from a static repository into a dynamic application platform.

This is where you build custom solutions without writing extensive code.

1. Workflow Automation: Automate document approvals, expense reports, and onboarding processes.
2. Low-Code Applications: Use Power Apps to build custom forms and mobile applications that read and write data directly to SharePoint lists. For enterprise-grade needs, custom Sharepoint App Development is often required.

Structured Element: Core SharePoint Use Cases and Business Value

The Strategic Choice: SharePoint Online vs. On-Premise (2025 Perspective)

For any executive making a platform decision, the choice between SharePoint Online (Cloud) and SharePoint Server (On-Premise) is critical.

As a Microsoft Gold Partner, our guidance is clear: the industry has decisively shifted to the cloud. This aligns with the broader trend of leveraging Why Microsoft Technologies Are Best For Web Application Development in 2025.

By 2025, between 85% and 86% of all SharePoint instances are cloud-basedFor new deployments, SharePoint Online is the default, strategic choice for the following reasons:

Structured Element: SharePoint Online vs. On-Premise Comparison

2025 Update: SharePoint as an Intelligent Digital Workplace

The most significant trend defining SharePoint's future is the integration of Artificial Intelligence. This is not a distant roadmap item; it is happening now, transforming the platform into an Intelligent Digital Workplace.

This shift is explored further in How AI Is Transforming Sharepoint Into An Intelligent Digital Workplace.

1. AI-Powered Search (Copilot): Microsoft Copilot, integrated across the M365 suite, uses the vast amount of data stored in SharePoint to answer complex, natural language queries. It transforms documents from static files into an active, conversational knowledge base.
2. Agentic AI for Automation: Gartner highlights Agentic AI as a top strategic trend for 2025, where AI agents can collaborate, learn, and execute tasks autonomously . In SharePoint, this means AI can automatically tag documents, enforce compliance policies, summarize content, and even draft initial versions of new documents based on existing data.
3. SharePoint Syntex (Content AI): This service uses advanced AI to automatically process, tag, and secure content at scale. For organizations with terabytes of unstructured data (like legal contracts or manufacturing specifications), Syntex can reduce manual processing time by up to 60%.

Link-Worthy Hook: According to Developers.dev internal research, organizations that actively prepare their SharePoint content for AI (through proper metadata and governance) see an average 40% faster deployment time for new AI-driven workflows compared to those with unmanaged content.

De-Risking Your SharePoint Implementation: The Developers.dev Advantage

SharePoint's power is undeniable, but its complexity-especially in large-scale, global deployments-can be a significant hurdle.

The primary risk for CIOs and IT Directors is not the technology itself, but the lack of Vetted, Expert Talent to architect, customize, and govern the solution. This is where the strategic advantage of a partner like Developers.dev becomes clear.

We understand that you need more than just a 'body shop'; you need an ecosystem of experts. Our Staff Augmentation PODs, staffed by 100% in-house, on-roll professionals, are led by Microsoft Certified Solutions Experts like Atul K., Nagesh N., and Yogesh R.

We provide the deep technical knowledge required for modern SharePoint development, including the specialized What Skills Sharepoint Developers Should Have.

Our Commitment to Your Peace of Mind:

1. Verifiable Process Maturity: We operate with CMMI Level 5, SOC 2, and ISO 27001 certifications, ensuring your project adheres to the highest global standards for security and quality.
2. Risk-Free Talent: We offer a Free-replacement of any non-performing professional with zero cost knowledge transfer, and a 2 week trial (paid) to validate our team's fit and expertise.
3. Global Delivery, Local Focus: Our remote service model from India, combined with sales offices across 5+ continents, delivers a cost-effective solution without sacrificing the quality or security demanded by our majority USA, EU, and Australia-based clients.

Conclusion: SharePoint as the Intelligent Foundation of the Digital Workplace

Modern Microsoft SharePoint is no longer a historical IT overhead but the strategic, cloud-first content and application platform for the contemporary enterprise. Integrated within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, it has fundamentally transitioned from a complex, on-premise server product into the intelligent content engine of the digital workplace.

For the forward-thinking executive, the path forward is clear and decisively cloud-based (SharePoint Online). A well-governed SharePoint strategy delivers measurable ROI by:

1. Ensuring Compliance through robust Enterprise Content Management (ECM).

2. Boosting Productivity by 20-25% via seamless internal collaboration and team sites.

3. Unifying the Workforce with a modern, engaging corporate intranet.

4. Accelerating Digital Transformation by powering low-code Business Process Automation (BPA) with the Power Platform.

5. Leveraging Future AI Capabilities like Copilot and Agentic AI, turning corporate data into an active, conversational knowledge base.

The strategic imperative is to ensure implementation is guided by certified experts to transform SharePoint from a legacy anchor into your most powerful, scalable, and secure digital asset.

5 FAQs for the Enterprise Executive

1. What is the single most critical reason for choosing SharePoint Online over On-Premise in 2025?

The most critical reason is Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and access to innovation. SharePoint Online drastically reduces TCO by eliminating the need for dedicated server hardware, maintenance, patching, and in-house IT staff for infrastructure. Critically, it provides immediate, native access to all the latest Microsoft 365 innovations, especially the AI-driven features like Copilot, which are not fully available or easily integrated with the legacy SharePoint Server (On-Premise) product.

2. How does SharePoint Online integrate with Microsoft Teams?

SharePoint Online is the underlying content and file repository for Microsoft Teams. When a new Team is created, it automatically provisions a corresponding SharePoint Team Site. All files, documents, and content shared within the Teams channels are securely stored in the related SharePoint site's document library. This seamless integration ensures a single source of truth for documents and allows organizations to leverage SharePoint's robust document management features (like version control and metadata) without leaving the Teams interface.

3. What role does SharePoint play in an organization's regulatory compliance strategy (e.g., GDPR, SOC 2)?

SharePoint's role is foundational. It provides the necessary enterprise-grade governance and security features to meet regulatory requirements. Key features include:

• eDiscovery: The ability to search and hold content for legal cases.

• Retention and Disposition Policies: Automated rules to ensure content is kept for the required legal duration and then securely disposed of.

• Granular Permissions: Precise control over who can view, edit, or share specific documents.

• Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Tools to prevent sensitive information (like PII or credit card numbers) from being shared inappropriately.

4. Is the SharePoint Intranet still relevant, or has it been replaced by tools like Teams and Slack?

The modern SharePoint Intranet is absolutely relevant; it has evolved into the company's central Communication and Knowledge Hub. While Teams is excellent for real-time collaboration within small groups or projects, the Intranet (built on SharePoint Communication Sites) is the official platform for:

• Corporate News and Announcements.

• HR/Policy Resources (e.g., benefits, company handbook).

• Executive Communications.

• Departmental/Global Portals.

It provides a structured, consistent, and personalized employee experience that Teams is not designed to replace, achieving an average employee access rate of around 93%.

5. As an executive, what is the biggest risk I face with a SharePoint implementation?

The biggest risk is not the technology itself, but a lack of expert governance and certified talent. Poorly governed SharePoint environments (often suffering from "site sprawl," broken permissions, or outdated architecture) lead to:

• Security Gaps and compliance failures.

• Wasted time due to users being unable to find information.

• High long-term TCO from complex maintenance.

The strategic mitigation is to partner with certified experts to ensure the platform is properly architected, secured, and aligned with your business goals from day one.

Is your SharePoint environment an asset or an anchor in your Digital Workplace?

The complexity of securing governance, scaling global intranets, and integrating AI requires a partner with proven, CMMI Level 5 expertise and a 100% in-house pool of Microsoft Certified Solutions Experts.

Partner with Developers.Dev to de-risk your SharePoint implementation and unlock measurable ROI from the intelligent Digital Workplace.

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