Overview of the differences between Microsoft O365 Groups, Teams, and traditional SharePoint Sites:
For more detailed descriptions, continue reading below:
A Microsoft O365 Group
A Microsoft O365 group is a list of users who share a collection of Microsoft O365 resources to collaborate in a variety of ways. These resources include a shared inbox, a shared calendar, and a shared document library. You can upload, manage, or access the group’s document library within OneDrive. Groups are an ideal space for a small department where team members share all files with all other team members.
A Team Site Within Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a chat-based collaboration space. It is specifically designed to work with team members within the desktop or mobile application, though a web-based version is also available. Each channel has a Files tab at the top, where you can share files with your team. A channel is a specific conversation thread you set up in the Teams app. By default, there’s always a “General” channel which can’t be deleted. File folders are related to your Teams channels.
You can also add guests from outside the organization to your team. As a team owner, you can add and remove access for individuals based on your department’s business needs. If you opt to add guests to a team, it could become a less secure file storage option, but this provides your department a lot of flexibility. You can limit someone’s access to a specific channel, limiting which files they can access.
A Traditional SharePoint Site
SharePoint is a web-based collaborative platform which includes a document library for file storage and document management. A team site is ideal for storing files that have shared ownership where several people own the files and are able to collaborate on them. Traditional SharePoint sites have more options concerning access and permissions; however, the added complexity may lead to a higher dependence on IT for support. IT also recommends this platform for multiple shared calendars and leave request workflows. There are other features that make SharePoint attractive, such as the ability to create a Wiki.
Which platform should you choose for file storage?
IT’s recommendation for file storage depends on how you and your team collaborate. See the charts at the top of this article to help you choose what works best for your team.
A Traditional SharePoint Site, a Team Site Within Microsoft Teams, and a Microsoft O365 Group all offer you the following benefits:
- Security: Safe environment for file storage, as users can only view and search content they have access to
- Collaboration: Files will automatically be shared with members of your site/group when you create or upload a file in the OneDrive app
- Accessibility: Files will be available anywhere, without using the VPN
- Storage: Virtually unlimited storage space
- Version control: Version history of files
- Recovery: Simplified recovery of deleted files
- Control of information access: Access management is under your control, no need for an IT Ticket