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Document
Management in
SharePoint – what
does it mean?
Document Library
(https://sharepointmaven.com/tag/document-
library/)
Posted on October 25, 2022 Migration
(https://sharepointmaven.com/tag/migration/)
SharePoint
(https://sharepointmaven.com/category/sharepoint/)

When companies migrate their files and folders to SharePoint Online, they
have to adapt to the Document Management capabilities of SharePoint.
However, what exactly does SharePoint Document Management look
like? When my prospective clients often reach out to me for assistance
with establishing a Document Management System (DMS) in SharePoint
Online, they do not exactly understand what this entails. So in this article, I
decided to explain, at a high level, what it means to organize and store
documents in SharePoint Online.
Reality
First, the reality. Document Management in SharePoint is not like any
other DMS you have used. It is very, very different. Whether you are
migrating from file shares (network drives), dedicated DMS applications
like Egnyte or iManage, or other cloud applications like Dropbox, Box, or
Google Drive, DMS in SharePoint is and will be quite different. Below, I
would like to list a few key differences that make SharePoint Document
Management so unique.

Decentralized Document Management

With many of the 3rd party DMS applications I listed above, users are used
to having just one huge repository where they can dump everything in
and execute the searches from. Nope, SharePoint does not work that way.
In SharePoint, documents do not reside in a single location (i.e.,
Document Library) or even a site. In SharePoint, documents are spread
among many sites and document libraries. So when you search for the
information, you have to know where you are to get the proper search
results. We also call this flat information architecture. You can read more
about it in this article (https://sharepointmaven.com/why-flat-sharepoint-
site-architecture-makes-total-sense/). I also published another article
explaining various ways to search for content and the different results you
will get – check it out here (https://sharepointmaven.com/4-levels-of-
search-in-sharepoint-online/).
Sites vs. Folders
This is yet another wrinkle in the SharePoint Document Management you
need to be aware of. Kind of related to what I mentioned above. In
SharePoint, we think in terms of sites and main permission groups, rather
than folders. What it means is that, say, you are migrating from file shares
or Dropbox, you first need to think about the many sites and document
libraries you will be creating, before you move the folders from old DMS
to SharePoint Online. Check out this article
(https://sharepointmaven.com/think-in-terms-of-sites-instead-of-folders-
when-migrating-to-sharepoint/) to learn more about this concept.

Metadata… has to be created

The good news is that if you relied on metadata tags in your old DMS –
you can do the same in SharePoint. The bad news – no metadata tags
exist out of the box, and you have to create them. This is where it might
get a bit hairy. Due to the decentralized nature of SharePoint – you can
create metadata locally at the library level or globally at the Term Store
level (https://sharepointmaven.com/how-to-access-the-term-store-from-a-
sharepoint-site/). You might also need to get into the Content Types and
Content Type gallery (https://sharepointmaven.com/how-to-make-the-
content-types-available-on-all-sharepoint-sites-via-the-content-type-
gallery/). This requires a bit of know-how
(https://sharepointmaven.com/sharepoint-metadata/). Once again, this is
doable, but requires setup.
SharePoint is not just for Document Management
This is yet another huge difference between SharePoint and other DMS
applications. SharePoint is not just a Document Management System. It is
a Swiss army knife of collaboration that can be turned into anything you
want. For example, another great use case for SharePoint is
Intranet/Communication Hub (https://sharepointmaven.com/sharepoint-
intranet-examples-available-out-of-the-box/). Likewise, when you create
lists (https://sharepointmaven.com/top-5-features-of-microsoft-lists/) of
information, those are also stored within SharePoint as well. So when you
migrate documents from other applications – you have to give it some
thought, to make sure you get your information architecture right for the
future/scalability.

Impact of Microsoft Teams

Another huge aspect to consider is that your users will most likely interact
with the SharePoint DMS via Teams. This goes back to the point I made
early in this article, where you have to think through the information
architecture and possibly reorganize the file shares/folder hierarchies and
base them on teams/groups/conversations/channels rather than a
hierarchical folder/subfolder repository.
That means you would also need to think through the proper channel
type and choose between standard, private, or shared channels
(https://sharepointmaven.com/3-types-of-conversations-and-file-
management-in-ms-teams/).

The many limitations of SharePoint

Nobody is perfect. Not even myself (although my Jewish Mom says that I
am). You will probably be quite surprised to learn about many limitations
of SharePoint that you never had to deal with the past document
management systems. Here are just a few.

Can’t enforce (https://sharepointmaven.com/how-to-make-sharepoint-

metadata-columns-required/)/require metadata on documents
 Performance limits (https://sharepointmaven.com/how-to-deal-with-
large-document-libraries-in-sharepoint-online/) on a document library

Sync limits (https://sharepointmaven.com/top-5-limitations-of-

sharepoint-online/) on OneDrive Sync

Folder depth/URL limit (https://sharepointmaven.com/top-5-

limitations-of-sharepoint-online/)

The above limits do not mean that Document Management in SharePoint

is not possible or is a bad idea. It is just that your employees will need to
receive extra training (https://sharepointmaven.com/live-sharepoint-
training/) to learn how to use SharePoint properly.
SharePoint Document Management features are
unique to SharePoint
If you used other DMSs in the past, you would be pretty surprised to learn
that SharePoint Document Management features are unique to
SharePoint. They work and behave in a certain way that does not reflect
that of your current DMS. Examples include Version History
(https://sharepointmaven.com/major-vs-minor-versions-in-sharepoint-
online/), Co-Authoring (https://sharepointmaven.com/co-authoring-
documents-in-sharepoint/), and the check-in/check-out mechanism
(https://sharepointmaven.com/do-you-really-need-to-check-out-a-
document-in-sharepoint/).

Collaboration over Regulation

Perhaps the most significant change is that SharePoint is set up for
collaboration and sharing (hey, there is the word “Share” right in its name).
By design, SharePoint is meant for easy sharing of its content, both
internally and externally (https://sharepointmaven.com/5-ways-to-invite-
external-users-to-a-sharepoint-site/). By default, anyone can share
anything they want with anyone they want. If you’re going to achieve the
opposite, you must do a bit of security and permissions setup within the
SharePoint Admin Center and at the site level to make SharePoint more
restricted and secure. This is quite in contrast to many other DMSs that do
not allow easy sharing of their content.
Unique Security & Permissions Model
Speaking of Security & Permissions… You better have a Ph.D. in it when it
comes to managing security and permissions in SharePoint. Once you
understand how it all works – it will be alright, but it might get
complicated. In addition to the folder-level security you are probably used
to, we also now have site-level security and group-level security (thanks
to Microsoft 365 Groups (https://sharepointmaven.com/20-ways-to-
create-an-office-365-group/)). Add to the mix the privacy levels
(https://sharepointmaven.com/public-vs-private-office-365-groups/) of
Teams + 3 different types of channels (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-
us/microsoftteams/shared-channels) we now have in Teams – and you get
the idea. Oh yeah, and did I mention the Active Directory groups you are
probably syncing from on-prem as well? Good luck! 😀
Summary
Being a SharePoint consultant, I am obviously biased, but I think
SharePoint is an amazing Document Management solution for your
organization. It is just unique (that’s why we all love SharePoint so much),
and you have to level-set your stakeholders, and your employees and
somewhat manage your expectations.

About
Me
I’m
Greg
Zelfond,
a
U.S.
based
SharePoint
consultant,
and
I
provide
affordable
out-
of-
the- Share Article
box
SharePoint
consulting,
training,
and
configuration
assistance
to
small
and
medium-
sized
businesses
all
over
the
world.
 NEED HELP?
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HELP-CONTACT-GREG-ZELFOND/)

(https://sharepointmaven.com/how-
(https://sharepointmaven.com/how-
to-create-a-document- to-edit-pdfs-in-adobe-
library-in-sharepoint- acrobat-desktop-app-
online-using-the-library- from-sharepoint-and-
templates/) teams/)

How to create How to edit

a document PDFs in
library in Adobe
SharePoint Acrobat
Online using Desktop App
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(https://sharepointmaven.com/how-
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to-create-a- (https://sharepointmaven.com/how-
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One feature that and-teams/)
recently got Ever since we
quietly rolled out were all
in SharePoint introduced to
Online was the SharePoint Online
ability to create a back in 2011, we
document library had one minor
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 READ MORE seamlessly with
Office files like
(HTTPS://SHAREPOINTMAVEN.COM/HOW-
TO-CREATE-A- Word, Excel, and…
DOCUMENT-
LIBRARY-IN- READ MORE
SHAREPOINT- (HTTPS://SHAREPOINTMAVEN.COM/HOW-
ONLINE-USING- TO-EDIT-PDFS-IN-
THE-LIBRARY- ADOBE-
TEMPLATES/) ACROBAT-
DESKTOP-APP-
FROM-
SHAREPOINT-
AND-TEAMS/)

I’m Gregory Zelfond, the SharePoint

Maven.

As a SharePoint Consultant for more

than 10 years, I have helped countless
businesses and nonprofits to use First Name
SharePoint to facilitate team
collaboration, simplify project
management, and streamline
document management. From creating Email Address
simple but intuitive intranet portals to
developing project management team
sites and document management SIGN UP TO NEWSLETTER
systems, I develop SharePoint
solutions that help you get things done
quickly and accurately.

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