Probably the most important success factor in business during these times is the ability to collaborate online. This is true almost regardless of the location, industry or content being shared. With the pandemic-driven challenge of connecting a shelter-in-place employee community, companies must re-consider how they invest in the tools and platforms to enable this collaboration. This involves not just consideration for cost or features, but also performance, availability, and control of their data.
Microsoft SharePoint is collaboration platform software that lets organizations share and manage content, knowledge and applications. It has an established track record, and has been recognized as a leading content services platform by industry analysts. SharePoint brings to the remote/distributed work environment the ability to empower teamwork, quickly find information, and seamlessly collaborate across the organization.
SharePoint Server 2019 is the latest version of the platform, and brings with it improved collaboration and communication features, better mobile support, and a more modern interface experience for the user. As earlier versions of SharePoint approach end-of-support, many organizations are considering the upgrade to SharePoint 2019 as the easiest means to extend the life of the platform, while improving the user experience and increasing the benefits delivered.
A related product, also available in a new version, is Microsoft Skype for Business Server 2019. It’s the established communications and collaboration platform with enterprise-grade security, compliance, and control. Skype set the bar for video collaboration and online meetings, and has a rich feature set including presence, IM, voice and video communications and conference capability. Skype for Business Server 2019 provides several new features to improve manageability of on-premises servers and hybrid solutions.
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2019 brings an updated look and AI into the mobile experience
Why customers are upgrading to SharePoint Server 2019 and Skype for Business Server 2019 on-premises:
- Feature-rich administration. Organizations continue to enjoy the richness of administrative features, vs. online alternatives, that have now been enhanced with the latest versions.
- On-premises control. Organizations have hands-on control of their systems and data location, either to meet regulatory requirements or as an operational or compliance best practice.
- Avoidance of costly migrations. Specific content requirements or existing customizations may either be lost in a migration to the cloud or be costly to maintain. In addition, migrations can expose data to new and unexpected areas of risk.
- Easiest means to extend supported platform life. Companies facing an end-of-life or extended support deadline can just upgrade on-premises while users maintain undisrupted access.
In terms of what’s involved in upgrading on-premises, Microsoft has published the 4 step process to upgrade to SharePoint 2019.
SharePoint and Skype experience at HPE
At HPE, we have served a large Microsoft customer base for many years, with the SharePoint workload being one of the top applications running on our enterprise storage arrays. SharePoint and Skype represent the kind of business-critical workloads ideally served by HPE data storage products that have industry leading flash storage performance and a 100% availability guarantee.
One example is Ballarat Clarendon College who has been running SharePoint on HPE Storage because of the performance and reliability. They have also realized improved availability, as well as the flexibility and scalability to support their growth.
In addition, numerous other companies are already engaged with HPE to deploy SharePoint on-premises. They span industries, geographies and sizes. A common thread is that they all deeply value collaboration as a core competency of their mission, whether they are a government agency that needs to engage with citizens, a professional services firm with staff who need to actively create and share research studies, or a non-profit that needs a cost-effective way to allow distributed staff and volunteers to work together.
HPE Storage solutions for Microsoft business workloads
HPE Storage provides an optimal data storage platform for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2019, Microsoft Skype for Business Server 2019, or any Microsoft business workload.
Customers new to HPE Storage will discover the value of the HPE Intelligent Data Storage Platform. It’s the world's most intelligent storage, built for a hybrid cloud world and designed to help unlock the full potential of organizational data.
A SharePoint or Skype solution built on HPE solutions combine the leading technology components available on the market today. Along with the SharePoint or Skype software, a typical solution would include:
- Windows Server 2019 operating system
- HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen10 servers
- HPE Storage arrays – either HPE Nimble Storage for Tier 1 enterprise storage with radically simplified operations, HPE Primera Storage for larger customers needing 100% guaranteed availability, or HPE MSA Storage for mid-sized companies and those seeking flash-enabled storage for any budget.
- HPE Services, including HPE PointNext professional services, or HPE GreenLake to convert the solution into an "as-a-service" offering.
Microsoft and HPE have an extended partnership of more than 30 years, over which time HPE has been intensively testing and optimizing Microsoft business software on HPE hardware platforms.
The HPE Storage Solutions team tests and publishes guidance for a range of Microsoft workloads including Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Azure Stack HCI, Microsoft Azure Stack Hub, and others.
Get started
You can run either Microsoft SharePoint Server or Microsoft Skype for Business Server on HPE Storage today. HPE Storage provides extreme performance, high availability, and intelligent self-management for all your Microsoft business applications.
Learn more about HPE Storage solutions for Microsoft at: HPE.com/Storage/Microsoft
Need more details on upgrading to Microsoft SharePoint 2019 on-premises? Read the new solution guide: HPE Storage for Microsoft Sharepoint Server 2019.
Mike Harding
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
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