There is a significant shift happening in business computer services. Our industry evolves at a hectic pace, but there are moments in time when there are significant shifts that impact our clients at a foundational level.

Looking back: the shift from having a few computers in the office to having a network of connected computers; adding internet access for each computer on the network; moving from tape to image-based backups; virtualization of servers rather than a physical computer for each server; agents on each computer that monitor its health and can provide anti-virus and patch management automation; remote access through Citrix, then Terminal Services; WiFi; the power of cell phones, way beyond a "phone"; hosting a server somewhere other than your office.

And now, the move from a central server for all company data and programs to on-demand, access-from-anywhere storage files with hosted cloud servers for programs that require a server operating system. SharePoint and OneDrive have been available for a while, but the culmination of Microsoft’s research and development efforts in this product and the pandemic have accelerated the product, as well as its adoption. Add to this an expectation that everything is available at all times, and you can feel the ground shifting.

To many who are familiar with, and happy with, most aspects of the traditional server/network model, this can feel overwhelming. At a minimum, it brings up concerns about protecting your business its unique processes, and (when it comes right down to it) worries about losing control.

Whether you feel ready for this or not, your staff is already using personal devices to stay connected during and after work; they’re already downloading and using tools to have access to what they need. If you don’t provide the roadmap and put the structure in place, they will look for ad-hoc tools to meet their needs and you will definitely have lost control of your data.

There is a profound need for the field to have access to documents. This is followed by many non-business apps and programs that are in use to work around the inconvenience and expense of providing access to the shared data on the server(s). If you have everything on your server right now, hosted or physical, and you need to solve the "access" dilemma, here are the steps you should take.

Step 1

If you’re not already on Microsoft 365, take the plunge. This platform incorporates email, Teams for on-demand communication and meetings, SharePoint and OneDrive for document access from anywhere, while addressing some chronic licensing issues. Contractors continue to pay for Google for some services, then purchase other services for meetings and shared files, all of which are part of the M365 package. Add the licensing of up to five devices per user, and you can’t afford to skip this product. Don’t forget to add cloud-to-cloud backups and roll out multi-factor authentication.

Step 2

Time to do some planning. Take a look at the types of files on your server and the folder structure. For the folders, think in terms of groups, access and categories. Many contractors already have an excellent folder structure on their servers that can be translated to SharePoint. There are some "gotcha’s," so be sure to include an expert in this planning. Use a checklist of things to stay on top of when migrating your server data to SharePoint.

One of the most common concerns is, "The word 'Share’ in SharePoint scares me; we have to limit who can see what." It is important to remember that these folders have security limits; many of the folders can be removed from visibility to internal staff due to the nature of responsibilities (e.g., HR or CEO). In SharePoint, the files are similar to the "Shares" on your server; a way to organize and to limit who has access.

OneDrive is similar to "My Documents." For years, technology gurus have warned that when your staff saves documents to their local My Documents, those files are not part of the server backup. Moving My Documents to OneDrive continues to keep them within the user’s control, but also allows them to be included in the cloud-to-cloud backup service and third-party backups for M365.

Step 3

In many cases, what's left on the server is accounting or estimating software. This software runs on a server's operating system, so these are not a candidate for the M365 offering. This software and the data is moved to Microsoft Azure hosting. In the Azure environment, you can choose a Private tenant that allows you to use one login and password to access your Microsoft account and the Azure server seamlessly. All of this is setup through a Microsoft CSP (Cloud Solution Partner). This is the difference between renting in a building with common areas and having a stand-alone house where you hire out the maintenance.

Is this a lot of changes? Yes. Will it take some time to get used to? Yes. Like other technology milestones, this is a technology shift and it’s not going away. In fact, the timeline has only accelerated. Time to dive in.