This morning was the opening keynote for SharePoint Fest Seattle® Bill Baer, Senior Product Marketing Manager for SharePoint, let us in on what’s coming with SharePoint 2016 (SP16). He started with a walk down memory lane from 2001, with the initial software package that became SharePoint, and ended with some of the things we’ll be seeing in SP16.
*For those who don’t want to read all the way through this, SP16 will see more efficient back-end logic, file size limits removed, and seamless integration between on-prem and the cloud in hybrid environments.*
Here are the goods for those who like reading: It is estimated that by 2020, 30% of IT spending will be cloud-related. Bill framed this by explaining that the cloud does not spell the end for IT jobs, it embodied opportunity. This is a driving factor behind the new SharePoint. Microsoft wants this new release to help turn IT departments from people who manage and fix problems to people who drive business value and promote innovation. Bill called SP16 an enabler to help drive this transition. The other main change in the thinking from Microsoft is the ubiquitous new motto “Cloud First, Mobile First”. Every version of SharePoint to date started as an on-prem solution that was translated to the cloud. This time it’s the other way around. Microsoft had also prioritized feedback from customers. They have gone so far that they launched SharePoint on an enterprise level, instead of just situational testing. This has forced the SharePoint team to deal with all the same issues that customers are commenting (complaining) about.
What’s the result of all this? Experiences, Innovation, and Compliance; the three focus points for the new build.
The experiences section seemed like the biggest advancement to me. I’m also just an end-user, so it would make sense that I liked hearing about the stuff that would make my life easier. Microsoft has been doing a lot of A/B testing with new features for SP16. The one that was highlighted and demoed was one called simple controls. This is an example of something that was created cloud first and then transitioned to on-prem. Basically it is a simplified ribbon, the most common actions (upload, share, etc.) were condensed into an easier tool bar so people didn’t have to look through the full range of options that are usually found in the ribbon. Microsoft says the testing showed significant improvement in interaction when these simple controls were implemented. The other buzz word for the new experiences was mobile (duh). Lots of the obvious things here. Touch-friendly layout, scalable responsive design, and improved performance from apps like OneDrive. Some of the more fun things coming are navigating through different sites and improved image/video use. With the new App Launcher users are able to get to different sites with two touches; one to open App Launcher and then one to select the site (or app) you want to access.
This is another Office 365 feature creeping into SharePoint. This feature will also be available on both mobile and desktop views. Desktop users can also share documents with mobile users in a special way. There will be an option to send a document link as a QR Code with one click from the desktop interface. This code will then send the recipient to a mobile-specific view of that document. Images and video will also get better preview options including the ability to play a video in the preview without completely opening the file. The last experience feature Bill showed was the new “shared with me” feed. Instead of having to look around in different sites, a user will be able to go to this feed and see everything shared with them across the entire farm... I smell a Yammer influence here.
The biggest steps in the innovation department have to do with speed and accessibility. Office Graph is also coming to on-prem. With the new emphasis on hybrid environments, we’re going to see more things like this, continuing the path of cloud-first development. Backend processes of SharePoint are also getting an overhaul. In SP16 you will be able to set up new servers for specific purposes with the new server roles model. This will allow companies to have servers set up for end user functionality, search functionality, custom set ups for third party software, and others. What this means to admins is that not every server is going to have to have all the set up to run things it won’t need to run. This helps make the farm way more efficient. There will also be features to let you know if you try to install something on a server that is not meant to handle that process. Microsoft is streamlining server deployment with this idea by making you able to launch only what you need. This will also simplify management and use bandwidth in a better way. You will also be able to restart services with one click, no powershell needed.
In the compliance category, we see new features focusing on ensuring that everything is running smoothly. There are also new features around batch processing. For instance, you will be able to put a hold on all files having to do with a particular subject or enforce company policy at the individual document level across your entire farm. Bill dumped a lot of knowledge on us, I hope I got most of it! He ended with the announcement that the SP16 preview will be out here in August 2015. So everyone get ready, here comes SharePoint 2016.