Why You Should Let the Experts Implement Your SharePoint Intranet

Communication, sharing and content creation should not be a difficult task in your company. Whether you have 2 or 20 employees – or even 200, for that matter – it’s very important to make sure everyone can share relevant documents securely and quickly, while maximizing their productivity and minimizing costs and efforts.

That is precisely what a SharePoint intranet is for. Designed as a rich and powerful solution for communication, project management, content creation and employee management, SharePoint can literally become the glue that keeps your company together; so long as it is implemented correctly.

SharePoint intranet service provider

Understanding the Benefits and Uses of SharePoint

Since SharePoint is a Microsoft product, it’s important to understand its comprehensive set of applications and services before considering whether or not it can help your company grow. In most cases, just about any company – no matter how small or large – can have a lot to gain by using a SharePoint intranet service provider.

First of all, SharePoint is a cloud based service provided by Microsoft as part of Microsoft 365. As a result, it can easily be integrated with your Office documents and used as an easy to install service hosted by Microsoft’s own service, rather than a complex installation that would require its own dedicated server.

Documents, websites and all types of helpful and relevant content can be created, managed, stored and shared through your SharePoint intranet. Your organization can even deploy your own Microsoft SharePoint server at short notice using nothing but your Office 365 Enterprise subscription, and you will gain all the relevant features and benefits that you’ll need. These will include, advanced search, modern lists and libraries, and full integration with PowerApps and MS Flow.

Additional benefits include the SharePoint Designer app, which is a free bonus made available since 2013 that can help you build impressive workflow-enabled solutions for your business, as well as easily edit externally provided content. You can also use advanced cloud storage solutions such as OneDrive, which is Microsoft’s most advanced application designed for that purpose. 

What Goes Into a SharePoint Intranet Installation

SharePoint is far more than a simple app that you can install and offer access to through your office network. Depending on your network architecture, how many employees will need access to it, what applications you will require and what devices you will want to connect, a secure connection to the SharePoint intranet can be difficult to obtain.

By hiring Microsoft SharePoint consulting services, you can gain quick access to the intranet and effectively diminish the learning curve. Your employees will have easy access to SharePoint and all the necessary tools, apps and services that your business requires, and aside from the aforementioned benefits, you will also get business-specific services and tools such as employee performance management, employee tracking, project management and collaboration tools, a centralized knowledge base and repository for news and documents, and AI-powered content personalization.

Tracking and improving your content, communication and employee activities has never been easier. Contact local SharePoint intranet service provider experts today, and find out just how quick and easy the installation and secure integration  of your fully functional SharePoint intranet can really be.

How Do You Go About Interviewing a Professional Business Broker?

business brokers

The importance of finding a good business broker often transcends other priorities in trying to sell or buy a business. In many instances, the expertise and dependability of the business broker you hire to help you with your M&A requirements will be decisive when it comes to the pursuit of finding a good candidate to buy from or sell to, as well as to the aim of getting more of a profit or a leverage following the transaction.

As a result of all this, interviewing a business broker can be one of the main actions you should consider when you want to sell your business, as well as purchase or merge with another business.

Understanding the Position of Your Business Broker

When you consider business brokers or an M&A advisory company to help you out, you have to keep in mind that they don’t actually have the ability or function to manage the business merger or transaction for you. Instead, their role is more that of a mediator who brings the two parties together, helps to negotiate the best price and terms, and gives advice for smoothing things over, preparing paperwork and ultimately closing a favorable deal.

While all these issues can be managed by an M&A advisor, many can not:

  • Firstly, they can’t make your decisions for you, they can only provide advice, support and knowledge to help you make your choices yourself.
  • M&A advisors and business brokers are not legal advisors, and they cannot act as a valid substitute for proper legal counsel from an attorney.
  • They typically do not handle any kind of underwriting activity.
  • There is a very real difference between what M&A advisors and business brokers can help you with, as the latter are more specialized in mediating smaller transactions.

Important Questions You Have to Ask

Keeping all that in mind, there are some important questions that you have to ask whenever you consider the option of hiring a business broker. Many of these have to do with their ability and expertise, but it’s also important to talk about credentials and references.

In fact, the first question you should ask – at least, according to most experts in the field – is, “what are your qualifications and credentials?” You should look for a CBI (Certified Business Intermediary) designation and credentials from the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA) that show the advisor has completed their relevant education and is qualified to help mediate your business merger or purchase.

Next, it’s important to look to see just how interested and motivated the broker is to help you with your transaction. Will they help you negotiate properly? What is their approach to finding, researching and talking to the prospective companies that you should be doing business with?

Finally, make sure you inquire about the details of their process. Not all business brokers handle matters in the same ways, and some might be less conventional than others. Do some research on how the negotiations and advisory work is normally conducted by most business brokers, and then make your own decision on whether or not the process that your broker provides is up to par with your specific requirements.

What Is a Scheduling Software?

Whatever the type of your organization, your teams surely have schedules to work by and the larger the organization, the more complicated it is to integrate and manage such tasks. Fortunately, information technology has come up with lots of great scheduling software options, with easy-to-use, streamlined solutions to help you stay on top of all those meetings, appointments and schedules.

A scheduling software is a digital tool deployed in private and public organizations with the purpose of managing meetings and appointments with exterior clients and customers as well as with the goal of managing employee schedules. These software packages come in many different forms and types and they offer functionalities tailored to your specific needs – here are some important details that you should know before you choose your software.

Types of Scheduling Software Solutions in Terms of the Platform Used

Scheduling software tools come either in the form of desktop applications, run on the organization’s own servers or as web-based applications, provided by third parties that host the software on their own servers and provide their clients access to the tool based on subscriptions. Desktop applications are most often used by large companies internally, for managing internal scheduling and for reporting, while web-based applications offer the functionality of internal scheduling and reporting and they can also made available for external clients and customers.

Nowadays we use our mobile phones for performing tasks that we needed a desktop computer in the past and these transformations have increased the demand for scheduling applications that can run on mobile platforms. Most web-based scheduling applications today are optimized for mobile platforms as well, allowing for easy usage from any mobile device connected to the internet.

Types of Scheduling Software Solutions in Terms of the Purpose of Usage

Scheduling software solutions are available for internal and external use. Internal programs are used for workforce management, including the task of keeping track of departmental and interdepartmental meetings and scheduling and time management for shift work. The applications made available for clients and customers (usually web-based and mobile applications, but in some cases applications run on the organization’s own servers, accessible for clients based on special protocols and following verification) usually serve the purpose of making the booking process easy and comfortable for clients. This latter category of online booking software solutions can be efficiently used by any business that entertains customer relationships, such as beauty salons, healthcare providers, home repair and renovation companies or fitness centers.

online booking software

The Most Important Functions Offered by Scheduling Software Applications and Programs

Regardless of the platform that serves as basis, most scheduling software packages offer the following functionalities:

  • Continuous availability – whether desktop applications, web-based or mobile apps, these software options are available 24/7 for making and changing appointments;
  • Reminders – some systems offer the options to send notifications to the participants of an event recorded in the system, informing them about the time left until the event starts. Some systems send notifications via e-mail, others send text messages;
  • Statistics – most systems are able to generate various reports based on the schedules made through them, offering important and valuable insight about the efficiency of the scheduling process and many other aspects.