News Analysis
Jeff Teper introduced SharePoint Premium at Microsoft Ignite on Nov. 15. Teper, Microsoft president of collaboration apps and platforms, described Premium as an "advanced content management and experiences platform and our next evolution for Syntex" — in other words, it's supercharged Syntex. What was also implied was any company moving to Copilot for Microsoft 365 would need Premium to support Copilot.
A Brief History of Syntex and SharePoint
The company released Microsoft Syntex in October 2022. The release was in large part a renaming of SharePoint Syntex, which the company launched in September 2020.
As part of Microsoft 365, Syntex brought artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies for document understanding and content processing to SharePoint.
With Premium, Syntex returns to its SharePoint roots to support content preparation for all of the anticipated Microsoft Copilots. The company claims it will automate the extraction of information from documents and then use the information to classify, organize and manage content within SharePoint.
However, Premium goes beyond this to transition the services already released as part of Syntex, including SharePoint Advanced Management, as well as adding new content experiences, including:
- Content experiences and solutions: Use AI to enable better content discovery and collaboration with hundreds of file types.
- Content processing: An automated way to build, classify and tag documents and prepare content for Copilot.
- Content governance: Manages content lifecycle and control access with simple, powerful tools to mitigate content sprawl.
"Combined, they're going to make SharePoint Premium the best way to manage, ground and leverage content for AI, and the era of Copilots," Teper said.
The Syntex brand services moving to SharePoint Premium in 2024 will be folded into the two SharePoint Premium licensing models:
- Content processing services, such as document processing, eSignature, PII detection, autofill columns, content assembly, translation and image processing will be available on a pay-as-you-go basis to most Microsoft 365 plans.
- New capabilities such as Business Documents app, Documents Hub, and the enhanced file viewer, as well as SharePoint Advanced Management will be available as seat licensed services you can add to Microsoft 365 plans, with pricing to be announced at GA in 2024.
Microsoft 365 Archive is already available in public preview, and Microsoft 365 Backup will also be available in paid public preview by the end of 2023.
SharePoint Premium is available as a user-based add-on for Microsoft 365 plans.
When asked if companies already paying for the AI-driven Copilot for Microsoft 365 would need or benefit from the additional license for the AI-driven SharePoint Premium, a Microsoft representative shared the following:
SharePoint Premium is not required for Copilot for Microsoft 365 usage. But for those who have adopted Copilot, or are considering adoption, the capabilities included in SharePoint Premium help secure and manage content, establishing data hygiene and enrichment to help ensure the right response, at the right time, against the right datasets. SharePoint Premium can also benefit customers who don't yet have Copilot, offering a broad range of capabilities across content processing, immersive content applications for high value business documents, and governance. Many of its services are AI based, and rely on large language models, but are distinct from Copilot. Existing Premium customers use it to enrich their content, improve governance, and accelerate content centric processes.
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Why Bother with Premium?
For organizations already using SharePoint, is it worth moving to Premium? Nucleus Research analyst Samuel Hamway said the principal advantage would be for organizations using SharePoint and using — or planning to use — one of Microsoft Copilots, as Premium would help prepare content for Copilots.
"This means advanced AI capabilities for content management, smarter search functions, AI-driven analytics, and automation of routine tasks, which are beyond the scope of the current SharePoint offerings,” he said.
The answer is less clear-cut for organizations with several strong third-party integrations, he continued. Any decision should take into consideration the following factors, he said:
1. Redundancy with existing integrations
Organizations with robust third-party integrations that effectively provide AI and automation functionalities might find SharePoint Premium’s offerings redundant. If these integrations are well-established and meet current needs, Hamway said, the switch to Premium may not offer significant additional value.
2. Integration compatibility
He added that SharePoint Premium is expected to offer better integration with Microsoft’s ecosystem, including Microsoft 365 and Copilot tools. If an organization is heavily invested in Microsoft’s suite of products, Premium’s seamless integration might be more advantageous than maintaining separate third-party tools, which can add complexity to an organization's IT infrastructure. SharePoint Premium could therefore simplify the tech stack and reduce the administrative overhead associated with managing various integrations.
3. Performance and efficiency
SharePoint Premium’s AI features is also expected to offer more advanced or efficient performance compared to third-party tools. If the AI capabilities of existing integrations are limited or less sophisticated, Premium’s offerings could present a significant improvement.
“While evaluating it, it is crucial to consider the cumulative cost of third-party integrations versus the investment in SharePoint Premium. In some cases, consolidating functionalities into SharePoint Premium could be more cost-effective," Hamway said.
Users not upgrading to SharePoint Premium will still have access to their existing SharePoint features and functionalities, they just won’t have the advanced AI capabilities of Premium. This doesn’t necessarily mean they will be left behind — it will depend on their specific business needs and how critical AI and advanced automation are for their operations.
Microsoft will develop and maintain both the standard and Premium versions of SharePoint, he said. The standard version will continue to receive updates and support, while the Premium version will have additional development focused on AI and advanced features.
“The decision to opt for SharePoint Premium should be based on an organization’s specific needs, budget and long-term digital strategy,” Hamway said. “While AI and advanced automation can be transformative, they are not universally necessary for all businesses. It is important to assess the cost-benefit ratio and consider how these new features align with the organization’s workflow and goals."
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Advantages of SharePoint Premium
Syskit co-founder Frane Borozan described SharePoint Premium as "SharePoint on steroids."
With 300 million SharePoint users and 2.3 billion documents created daily in SharePoint, content management is one of the key offerings, no matter the industry, he continued. But automation is the key advantage with Premium, he said. "SharePoint Premium users should have the upper hand over standard users. Companies already investing in Microsoft adoption, tech onboarding and governance will have an advantage in the first roll-out phase."
He did however caution organizations and IT departments to consider security implications before making the leap, to make sure IT admins have visibility over inventory so they can quickly discern user permissions and understand the external collaboration landscape before implementing SharePoint Premium and Copilot.
With security assured, organizations can identify workflows prime for optimization and automation. Borozan cites the example of how Premium would streamline and automate the workflow across various Microsoft workspaces for an accountant using the Business Documents app within Teams to handle a large volume of contracts, orders and invoices. Premium can provide actionable insights in these cases, such as alerts when a contract is approaching expiration or needs immediate attention.
The accountant can then create a new agreement, simplifying the process by having parties fill out a dedicated form within the Business Document Teams app. Upon form completion, the Word contract is automatically generated and populated, allowing the accountant to initiate the Approval process directly from Word.The new eSignature functionality allows all parties to sign within the app.
The release of SharePoint Premium could revolutionize content management, IS&T's Scott Lard said.
Beyond its promise to improve business processes, enhance content experiences and seamlessly integrate with Microsoft Copilot, Lard said it marks a turning point toward a more responsive and intelligent digital workplace. In other words, it's not just about productivity.
"I predict a revolutionary experience that seamlessly integrates with the changing demands of contemporary work environments, offering a more user-friendly and productive SharePoint," he continued.
Related Article: Boost Team Performance by Matching Collaboration Tools to Workflows
SharePoint Back in the Spotlight
The Premium announcements coincided with the release of SharePoint Embedded, a highly scalable custom app builder which integrates the apps seamlessly into Microsoft 365 tenants. Any app built with the service would automatically comply with Microsoft's advanced security and compliance requirements.
As a new platform, it is designed for use by both first-party Microsoft products and third-party apps created by any developer and already powers Microsoft Loop and Microsoft Designer. SharePoint Embedded uses the same technology stack as OneDrive and SharePoint.
While SharePoint might have seemed a bit overlooked during the GPT and other LLMs hype, the Ignite announcements and the release of SharePoint Embedded indicate that Microsoft still considers SharePoint one of its crown jewels. Expect a lot more on both as we head into the new year.
Editor's note: The article was updated on Dec. 7 to include Microsoft's response.