SharePoint Customization: The Secret to Enhanced Collaboration, User Experience & Data Analysis

Table of Contents:

Demystifying SharePoint Customization: The What and Why

What to Customize in SharePoint?

Methods to Implement Customizations in SharePoint

The Blueprint to Achieve SharePoint Customization Excellence

Navigating SharePoint Customization Hurdles

Grazitti Interactive as a SharePoint Service Provider

Frequently Asked Questions on SharePoint Customization

Since its inception, SharePoint has become a cornerstone for organizations worldwide, providing robust capabilities in document management, team collaboration, and streamlined workflows.

Moreover, around 250,000 organizations use SharePoint, including 85% of Fortune 500 companies, to automate their operations and enhance productivity^[i].

SharePoint’s mobile-friendly interface, robust security features, and seamless integration capabilities have empowered a range of industries, including healthcare, finance, and technology, from small businesses to large enterprises.

However, while SharePoint is highly versatile, many organizations discover that its default functionalities don’t always match their specific needs. As business environments become increasingly complex and the demand for tailored solutions rises, the need for SharePoint customization becomes evident. Customization equips businesses to develop a platform that precisely meets and exceeds their unique operational requirements.

But how do businesses determine the need for SharePoint customization? And how can they implement the process seamlessly?

Let’s explore this, and more, in this read.

Demystifying SharePoint Customization: The What and Why

SharePoint customization involves modifying SharePoint sites to better align with specific business preferences, without deploying any custom code. It can enhance the functionality, aesthetics, and usability of different SharePoint environments to improve user experience & efficiency. Let’s delve into the reasons why businesses should consider implementing SharePoint customization.

1. Improved Collaboration

SharePoint customizations enhance collaboration by supporting real-time and asynchronous document sharing with automatic sync to prevent version confusion. Its other collaborative features include chat rooms and screen sharing, which are accessible from any device with internet access and offline work capabilities.

2. Tailored User Experience

Businesses customize SharePoint sites to improve personalization and align their branding requirements. This includes modifying site headers, footers, links, bios, and navigation panels using custom designs with logos, images, and color palettes to create a distinctive brand identity.

3. Streamlined Business Processes

SharePoint’s customized workflows automate business processes to reduce manual labor. Furthermore, tasks like sending notifications and managing approvals also get automated through customizations, whether user-initiated, event-triggered, or scheduled. This saves time and increases effectiveness.

4. Enhanced Data Analysis

SharePoint customization aids in efficient data management, empowering data managers to handle multiple projects and publish/ update content such as events, blogs, and news. This ensures organized and accessible information, boosting productivity.

5. Increased ROI

Companies can analyze employee usage to identify patterns and issues by customizing SharePoint’s monitoring and reporting tools, promoting effective platform adoption. This further leads to improved efficiency and a higher return on investment.

Related Read: SharePoint Copilot: Enhances Collaboration & Communication

What to Customize in SharePoint?

Branding

Modern SharePoint sites facilitate businesses with functionalities to brand their sites according to organizational standards. Users can easily modify the look and feel of their site by changing options like colors and logos. SharePoint also supports default themes and custom themes to meet specific requirements. Additionally, developers can specify unique theme colors using a custom configuration file, ensuring that the site’s appearance aligns with the company’s branding.

Navigation

Proper navigation is crucial in a collaborative environment, ensuring users can access information easily. SharePoint customization facilitates the development of a navigation plan that makes sites user-friendly and intuitive. This helps users find the information without hassle, enhancing their overall experience.

Design

SharePoint provides extensive design modification features, enabling users to customize logos, styles, page layouts, colors, and more. This capability creates a unique look and feel that aligns with company culture and branding. The design modifications also help create a unified & visually appealing site that resonates with users and promotes organizational values.

Page Content

Displaying information correctly is essential for any SharePoint user. Developers can create various types of pages, such as site pages, wiki pages, and web part pages, to organize and present content effectively. For modern SharePoint site pages, users can add modern web parts that are simple to implement and make information easily accessible.

Workflows

Automation and workflows in SharePoint can greatly improve business processes. Developers can utilize Power Automate to design efficient workflows triggered by SharePoint actions. Even if SharePoint Designer workflows phase out, existing ones will remain functional, and new workflows can be seamlessly created with Power Automate.

Forms

Microsoft Forms and Power Automate support users to create custom forms for polls, surveys, and quizzes. These forms can be easily embedded in SharePoint Pages using the Microsoft Forms web part. These forms provide features like real-time results and built-in analytics for evaluating responses. Users can also export responses for further analysis, easily gathering and assessing data. This customization enhances the functionality and interactivity of SharePoint sites.

Methods to Implement Customizations in SharePoint

SharePoint customization can be achieved through various methods tailored to different deployment scenarios.

• Farm Solutions can be utilized for on-premises versions like SharePoint 2013, SharePoint 2016, and SharePoint 2019, enabling developers to leverage server-side code from Microsoft.SharePoint.dll for robust customizations.

• In the case of SharePoint Server & SharePoint Online customization, SharePoint Add-ins are a versatile option. These add-ins use client-side APIs such as REST API or CSOM to communicate with SharePoint and can be deployed through the Microsoft Office store. They come in two types, Provider Hosted Add-ins, which use CSOM code, and SharePoint Hosted Add-ins, which use REST API or JSOM code.

• Another modern customization approach is the SharePoint Framework (SPFx), designed for the modern SharePoint experience. It creates client-side web parts, command sets, extensions, and custom developments for SharePoint 2016, SharePoint 2019, and SharePoint Online.

• The Power Platform, including PowerApps, Power BI, and Power Automate, can also be used in SharePoint Online customization. PowerApps facilitates custom list forms, Power BI provides tools for data analysis, and Power Automate creates automated workflows for business processes.

To implement these customization options successfully, a SharePoint service provider like Grazitti Interactive can play an essential role. It will bring the necessary expertise to utilize these tools effectively, ensuring that customizations are aligned with business needs and practices. Ultimately, you’ll be able to fully leverage the platform’s capabilities, resulting in enhanced efficiency, productivity, and performance.

Related Read: Master Your SharePoint Online Migration

The Blueprint to Achieve SharePoint Customization Excellence

1. Be Careful When Customizing SharePoint On-Premise

Customization in SharePoint on-premise authorizes significant flexibility and integration possibilities. However, developers should exercise caution, as even minor changes can cause downtime or performance issues. They should utilize the SharePoint framework, create custom workflows, and ensure the platform is up-to-date & changes are carefully planned to avoid disruptions.

2. Integrate With PowerApps and Flow

Integrating PowerApps and Flow with SharePoint equips developers to create applications without extensive coding knowledge. This integration pushes data into the database seamlessly. It also presents various customization templates for Office 365 users. These templates can be implemented without formal testing, and the integration does not affect Microsoft’s regular updates.

3. Introduce Bots

Integrating bots into SharePoint customization can improve user experience and streamline processes. Bots can be customized to specific needs using Microsoft Flow connectors, enhancing system usability. The growing adoption of AI and integration with Office 365 apps further facilitates successful and efficient customizations.

4. Governance Policies

Establishing governance policies is crucial for maintaining control over a customized SharePoint platform. Business owners can set rules that grant system access and mitigate risks based on job profiles. Additionally, they can implement a process that automatically notifies administrators about any unauthorized changes to ensure the platform remains secure and well-managed.

5. Regular Backups and Version Control

Implementing regular backups and version control is crucial during the SharePoint customization process. This ensures that if any customization causes issues, businesses can easily revert to a previous stable version. Version control also helps monitor changes and track the development of customizations over time.

6. Performance Testing and Optimization

After implementing customizations, it’s essential to conduct performance testing and ensure that the changes don’t adversely affect system responsiveness or load times. Next, businesses can implement optimization steps based on the testing results to maintain a smooth user experience.

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Navigating SharePoint Customization Hurdles

• Complexity in Meeting Requirements: Customizing SharePoint to meet specific business needs without deploying custom code can be intricate and time-consuming.

• Maintaining Consistency: Ensuring a uniform look and functionality across different SharePoint environments can be challenging.

• Performance Issues: SharePoint customizations, if not implemented correctly, can lead to performance degradation by increasing page load times, causing server strain, or creating conflicts with existing features.

• Ongoing Maintenance: Regular updates and maintenance are needed to ensure customizations remain compatible with new SharePoint features and updates.

• User Adoption: Ensuring that end-users are comfortable and efficient with the customized SharePoint interface and functionalities can be difficult.

• Security Risks: Customizing in SharePoint can introduce vulnerabilities if best security practices are not followed, leading to potential data breaches or unauthorized access.

• Integration Challenges: Integrating SharePoint with other business systems and third-party applications can be complex and require extensive configuration & testing to ensure seamless interoperability.

• Scalability Issues: As the business grows, ensuring that SharePoint customizations can scale to accommodate increased data, users, and functionality requirements can be a major challenge.

• Compliance and Governance: SharePoint customizations should adhere to regulatory requirements and organizational governance policies. This can add layers of complexity to the implementation process.

How can developers or businesses ensure the effective implementation of the best practices and resolution of challenges?

A SharePoint development partner can leverage their technical expertise to customize the SharePoint platform. They design, develop, integrate solutions, ensure seamless functionality, manage governance policies, and provide ongoing support. Furthermore, their role is crucial in enhancing efficiency, ensuring security, and optimizing the SharePoint environment for peak performance.

Grazitti Interactive as a SharePoint Service Provider

As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Grazitti Interactive provides comprehensive SharePoint services, including customization, development, consulting, migration & upgradation, cross-platform integration, design, and more. Since 2008, we have enabled many businesses to improve their collaboration, document management, workflows, and security with robust SharePoint services. Our SharePoint development cycle includes planning & requirement gathering, system design & architecture, environment setup, coding & implementation, testing, and more. You can connect with our SharePoint experts to discuss your project requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions on SharePoint Customization

1. What are the benefits of SharePoint customization?
Answer: SharePoint customization enhances user experience, boosts collaboration, improves efficiency, strengthens security, and ensures the platform aligns with unique business needs.

2. How can businesses customize SharePoint without coding?
Answer: Businesses can utilize SharePoint’s built-in customization tools like site themes, page layouts, web parts, and app customization to modify the platform’s appearance and functionality without coding.

3. What are common SharePoint customization mistakes to avoid?
Answer: Businesses can avoid complexities such as over-customization, compatibility issues with future SharePoint updates, neglecting user testing, and ignoring security best practices during SharePoint customization.

4. How can a business measure the success of SharePoint customizations?
Answer: A business can track user adoption rates, measure task completion times, analyze search queries, and gather user feedback to assess the effectiveness of their SharePoint customizations.

5. What are the latest trends in SharePoint customization?
Answer: Businesses should stay updated with SharePoint customization trends including mobile optimization, integration with Microsoft Teams, AI-powered features, and low-code/no-code development tools.

References

^[i] AxioWorks