Service Description
SharePoint provides a collection of web-based software tools that support sophisticated document management and collaborative working.
SharePoint is already being used widely across the institution for intranets, team collaborative working, workflows and external collaborations. It can be used for project sites, research groups, working parties, units and schools for short or long term purposes.
SharePoint is easy to use and integrates with Microsoft Office programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Outlook, permitting users to save Office documents directly to SharePoint
SharePoint is ideal for any operational area that has a requirement to provide controlled, authenticated access to content; to control that content, and to collaborate on work in a secure environment.
Staff should not store highly confidential or sensitive material on SharePoint, or very large files/datasets. This type of information should be stored on a shared drive, where permissions are managed centrally. If you would like to request a shared drive, please contact the Service Desk, 273636, servicedesk@abdn.ac.uk or https://myit.abdn.ac.uk
Features
- Document management:
- Version control and roll-back of documents, allowing changes to be easily tracked and reviewed
- Check in/check out functionality which prevents users overwriting one another
- Collaborative working, for example on policy documents
- Meta information to facilitate search and retrieval
- Workflow functionality
- Permissions management – by group or by item
- Surveys and forms
- Tools for teams – project management, discussions, wikis, mailing lists, discussion boards, alerts for tasks or deadlines, announcements, shared calendaring and scheduling
- Sophisticated search
- Access for external collaborators
Users
- All UoA Staff
- Research postgraduate students
- Approved external individuals with and External + SharePoint account
Service Hours
- 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Level of Service
SharePoint 365 is administered centrally by IT Services, but it also supports delegated administration to site owners based upon site collections.
Backup and Restore of items
- Deleted items* are retained in the user’s Recycle Bin and can be restored, by the user, up to 30 days from deletion.
- Site collection administrators can restore items for a further 60 days beyond the initial 30
- SharePoint 365 supports versioning of documents – up to 500 previous versions are available
SharePoint 365 Site Collections are additionally backed up locally by IT Services using a tool called Metalogix. This provides 6 months of backup, enabling restores down to individual file level.
Support and Documentation
- Training courses in Introductory SharePoint and SharePoint for Site Administrators are available from the IT Services Training and Documentation Team.
- User guides and FAQs are available on our SharePoint help site.
Request Process
To request a new site, log a call with the IT Service Desk – servicedesk@abdn.ac.uk or myit.abdn.ac.uk. Your request will be sent to the IT Services SharePoint team who will review the request and create the site if approved, or delegate it to the appropriate Site Administrator for approval. The new site will typically be created within 5 working days.
User Responsibility
- Site owners can create sub-sites, control user and group permissions through Active Directory (the University Windows Directory service) and modify the function and layout of sites to support the needs of each group.
- Site owners are free to manage permissions and design the architecture of their devolved areas as they see fit.
- Users are expected to comply with the University’s Information Security Policy and Conditions for using IT Services.
Costs
The SharePoint 365 service is provided free of charge to staff and research postgraduates.