With Microsoft's Office 365 offering giving access to a range of applications in addition to Office, Microsoft Sharepoint and Teams often find themselves being used "by default" because they're "included".
Despite this widespread adoption Sharepoint has never really been a hit with users, and so is often just used as a simple file-sharing tool. What's more, since COVID and the rise of Teams, Sharepoint has been cannibalized by Teams, which in fact relies on Sharepoint for its file management.
Microsoft suite users find themselves with several collaborative applications and storage warehouses: OneDrive, Teams, Sharepoint, not to mention file servers, which are still commonplace, and local storage.
Finally, using Sharepoint in SaaS mode drastically increases "lock-in", as the organization becomes totally defenseless in the face of any price increases or changes to the offering, and of course data is subject to U.S. extraterritorial laws, even when hosted in the EU. Last but not least, productivity losses can be significant compared to better thought-out solutions.
What is less well known is that there are many alternatives to Sharepoint (and even Teams). As with Sharepoint and Teams, these alternatives can be either collaborative or document management oriented, with a few rare solutions having succeeded in symbiosis of the two.
In this section, we'll first review the main features of Teams and Sharepoint, then look at the possible alternatives.
SharePoint
- Features: Collaboration, content management, intranet.
- Open Source: No.
- Hosting: Cloud (SharePoint Online) and On-Premise (SharePoint Server).
- Strengths: Tight integration with Microsoft Office, strong customization, wide range of features, SaaS included in many packages.
- Limitations: Can be complex to set up and use (average user experience), costly for small businesses, limited search and EDM, permissive rights management, technological and financial "lock-in", avoid for sensitive data.
Teams
- Features: Team communication, video meetings, integration with Microsoft applications.
- Open Source: No.
- Hosting: Mainly Cloud.
- Strengths: Real-time communication, integration with Microsoft 365, ideal for virtual meetings.
- Limitations: Less focused on document management, dependent on Microsoft ecosystem, no channel prioritization, avoid for sensitive data.
Alfresco
- Features: Enterprise content management, collaboration, workflows.
- Open Source: Yes (Alfresco Community Edition).
- Hosting: Cloud and On-Premise.
- Strengths: Open source, customizable, strong enterprise content management and advanced DMS.
- Limitations: Requires technical skills for customization and maintenance, rather austere user interface, collaboration somewhat limited and/or poorly integrated.
eXo Platform
- Features: Enterprise social network, collaboration, knowledge management.
- Open Source: Yes.
- Hosting: Cloud and On-Premise.
- Strengths: Open source solution, rich in social networking and collaboration features.
- Limitations: Learning curve for customization and user interface can be improved, less suitable as a pure document management system (no real DMS).
M-Files
- Features: Intelligent document management, workflows, compliance.
- Open Source: No.
- Hosting: Cloud and On-Premise.
- Strengths: AI-based intelligent document management, excellent integration.
- Limitations: Can be costly, especially for small businesses, limited and/or poorly integrated collaboration.
Jalios
- Features: Intranet and corporate social networking, content management
- Open Source: No.
- Hosting: Cloud and On-Premise.
- Strengths: Highly customizable, can be integrated with Office 365
- Limitations: Complex integration, high cost, less suitable as a pure document management system (no real DMS).
Wimi
- Features: Project management, collaboration, file sharing.
- Open Source: No.
- Hosting: Cloud, with options for specific installations that may resemble an on-premise solution.
- Strengths: Intuitive user interface, good project and task management, secure.
- Limitations: Less well known, some features may be lacking compared to more established competitors, pricing a little complex, less suitable as a pure document management system (no real DMS).
Confluence
- Features: Collaborative workspaces, knowledge management.
- Open Source: No.
- Hosting: Cloud and On-Premise.
- Strengths: Excellent for Wiki documentation and team collaboration, integration with Jira.
- Limitations: Additional cost for plugins, less suitable as a pure document management system (no real DMS).
NextCloud
- Features: File and document management, real-time collaboration, chat and video communication, project management, and third-party application integration
- Open Source: Yes
- Hosting: Cloud and On-Premise.
- Strengths: Widely distributed, numerous plugins to extend the solution
- Limitations: Reliability of some integrations, less suitable as a pure document management system (no real DMS).
Interstis
- Features: Collaborative platform for local authorities and administrations.
- Open Source: No.
- Hosting: Cloud, with potential for on-premise deployments according to specific needs.
- Strengths: French solution, focused on collaboration and project management, security.
- Limitations: Fewer functionalities compared to industry giants, may be less well-known, less suitable as a pure document management system (no real DMS).
GoFAST
- Features: Collaboration, advanced document management, workflow, video meetings, chat, e-signature, sovereign alternative to GAFAM, especially for the public sector.
- Open Source: Yes.
- Hosting: SecNumCloud dedicated cloud and On-Premise.
- Strengths: Excellent user experience, search engine and advanced functionalities, structured rights management & security, editing possible with Office-LibreOffice-Onlyoffice, open source alternative to GAFAM including the best technologies such as Alfresco, Onlyoffice, Jitsi, ... very well integrated and ensuring data sovereignty.
- Limitations: Still little-known compared with solutions like SharePoint, to make full use of the platform's power requires implementation in project mode.
Conclusion
The choice between these solutions largely depends on your organization's specific needs, your budget, your preference for open source vs. proprietary solutions, and the existing technology ecosystem within your company.
SharePoint and Teams are must-haves for organizations deeply rooted in the Microsoft ecosystem, while Alfresco and GoFAST offer powerful open source alternatives. Confluence stands out for Wiki documentation and collaboration, while M-Files shines in intelligent document management. Jalios, Wimi, Intertis and eXo Platform offer robust collaboration environments with a touch of social networking.