# Should you use SharePoint?

> For an organisation on Microsoft 365, SharePoint is usually the right home for documents and the intranet and the wrong tool for an ERP, a public website, marketing or a custom application, and the hard part was never the software.

Source: https://ali.id.au/blog/should-you-use-sharepoint/ (last edited 2026-10-16)

## Yes: documents and the intranet

OneDrive holds each person's files, team sites hold shared ones. Where each kind of file goes, and how to move it: [Replacing your file server with SharePoint](/blog/replacing-your-file-server-with-sharepoint/).

Compared with a plain file share such as Azure Files, SharePoint adds:

* data loss prevention, encryption and compliance
* sharing inside and outside the organisation, with live co-authoring
* version history and a recycle bin people use without calling IT
* Files On-Demand
* search, Microsoft Graph and Copilot
* Teams
* licensing that comes with the rest of Microsoft 365.

Most complaints about storage, governance and permissions date from classic SharePoint. A tenant now gets 1 TB plus 10 GB per licence, and one site holds 25 TB ([limits](https://learn.microsoft.com/office365/servicedescriptions/sharepoint-online-service-description/sharepoint-online-limits)).

[Azure Files](https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/storage/files/storage-files-introduction) is a file server in Azure. Use it for apps that expect an SMB or NFS share, for virtual desktop profiles ([FSLogix](https://learn.microsoft.com/fslogix/concepts-container-storage-options)), and for a file server you can't retire yet, with Azure File Sync as a local cache. Accounts that exist only in Entra ID need a managed domain, [Microsoft Entra Domain Services](https://web.archive.org/web/20250916173430/https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/files/storage-files-active-directory-overview), to use it. Outlook PST files belong in neither: Microsoft [doesn't support them on a network share](https://learn.microsoft.com/troubleshoot/outlook/data-files/limits-using-pst-files-over-lan-wan). If people work with very large files all day, SharePoint probably isn't the place either: the sync bandwidth gets pretty nuts.

## No: applications and the outside world

* **ERP.** Hell no. A consultant who suggests it has a hammer, and thinks your fine bone china looks like a nail. Lists hold up to [30 million items](https://learn.microsoft.com/office365/servicedescriptions/sharepoint-online-service-description/sharepoint-online-limits), but every view and query has to work around the [5,000-item threshold](https://learn.microsoft.com/troubleshoot/sharepoint/lists-and-libraries/items-exceeds-list-view-threshold). They suit trackers and registers. Data with relationships, security rules and volume is an application; put it on a platform built for one, such as Dataverse.
* **Public websites.** Microsoft stopped selling SharePoint Online public websites in 2015 and deleted the last of them in 2017 and 2018 ([notice](https://learn.microsoft.com/troubleshoot/sharepoint/sites/public-websites-be-discontinued)). Use a web platform.
* **Marketing campaigns.** Use Mailchimp, and don't second-guess marketing on their tools.
* **A CRM.** Don't build one out of lists. A new small business can start loose: Outlook, Forms and a SharePoint folder per customer. New businesses don't want to be locked into a process. Fix it once it gets messy.
* **Jira.** The basics fit in a SharePoint list. The community of advanced Jira users and apps doesn't. People's time costs more than the software.
* **Custom development.** As a dev framework SharePoint has been dying since ASP.NET MVC 1. Add-ins [stop working on 2 April 2026](https://learn.microsoft.com/sharepoint/dev/sp-add-ins/retirement-announcement-for-add-ins), and the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) replaces them. Treat SharePoint as content management and a UI for code that runs in Azure ([keep it thin](/blog/boring-tech-wins/#sharepoint-configure-first-code-last)).
* **On-premises.** SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 reach [end of support on 14 July 2026](https://learn.microsoft.com/lifecycle/end-of-support/end-of-support-2026). Go to SharePoint Online.

## The hard part isn't the software

Decide what the intranet is for before you build it ([Intranets fail on the business case](/blog/intranets-fail-on-the-business-case/)). Don't change things for the sake of it, and tidy up before you migrate ([Don't copy the mess](/blog/replacing-your-file-server-with-sharepoint/#dont-copy-the-mess)).

A lot of SharePoint migrations fail because they're budgeted before anyone works out what needs doing. If a quote looks high, ask for it itemised.