4 Most Exciting SharePoint 2016 Features for End Users

SharePoint 2016 is now generally available! In case you missed it, check out the official announcement where the world learned about all of the new features to expect in 2016.IT admins are excited for all of the changes to the backed of SharePoint, but what about you – the end user? As an end user myself, these are the top four new features in SharePoint 2016 that are most enticing.

Hybrid, Hybrid, Hybrid

With the push to the cloud, hybrid deployments will inevitably become more commonplace. Now organizations no longer have to grapple with choosing between a strictly on-premises deployment or going all-in the cloud because they are no longer exclusive. Companies can have the same level of security they have on premises but enjoy redefined productivity in the cloud. One of my favorite features for hybrid in SharePoint 2016 is the new App Launcher – which acts as a gateway to your Office 365 applications, including Exchange Online, Delve, and OneDrive. This allows you to blend your server and cloud-based experiences together seamlessly.

I use OneDrive constantly to collaborate on files with others. If you’re a heavy OneDrive user like me, you’ll enjoy the easy access to OneDrive right from the on-premise App Launcher. While the app lives in Office 365, Microsoft’s hybrid improvements make it easier to access cloud experiences from on premises. Now users can work on files from a unified place wherever they are, across all devices.

OneDrive for Business is available both in SharePoint 2016 and SharePoint Online.

But most exciting is the addition of Hybrid Search capabilities, allowing you to look for content across both your on-premises and Office 365 environments from one place. This feature will help you cut down on time spent searching both platforms. There are a lot of other great features for hybrid deployments, which we covered in a previous post. Which one are you looking forward to?

Hybrid search in SharePoint 2016 shows on-premises and cloud content on one page.

Mobile Experience

Let’s also not forget about the new mobile experience. Having the ability to work from your mobile device gives you the power to collaborate 24/7, from wherever you go. The previous mobile experience wasn’t the best, since Microsoft offered no dedicated app or responsive design. However, during the live announcement of SharePoint 2016, Microsoft really blew me away with the look and feel of the mobile app – it’s modern, clean, and fresh. They are really focusing on the user experience and moving toward a cool, new feel that will ultimately help users be more productive from an easily accessible mobile platform.

The new mobile and browser views in Office 365, which will roll out to SharePoint 2016. Source: https://blogs.office.com/2016/05/04/the-future-of-sharepoint/

Microsoft also introduced a Responsive User Interface Package for SharePoint on premises, designed to adapt SharePoint views to your screen size so you can work on any device. Microsoft Senior Program Manager Vesa Juvonen illustrates the different views in his blog post and video on Channel 9.

Delve and the Office Graph

With SharePoint 2016, Microsoft brings the power of Office 365’s Delve and the Office Graph to on premises. The new SharePoint home page design incorporates top links, recommended sites, and an activity stream for each user based aggregated through the use of Office Graph. SharePoint 2016 also integrates Delve, an Office 365 app that leverages the power of Office Graph to surface the content most relevant to you. In SharePoint 2016, you can launch Delve directly from the on-premises App Launcher – yet another example of how improvements aim to help save you time working in SharePoint.