SharePoint vs Teams: Choosing the Right Collaboration Platform for Your Needs

This article will explore SharePoint vs Teams and how the tools work separately, together, and whether you should choose SharePoint, Teams, or both. Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Teams are powerful collaboration tools, but they serve different purposes. Let’s get started.

What is Microsoft SharePoint?

Microsoft SharePoint, released in 2001 as Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server, is a web-based document sharing and intranet collaboration tool. It integrates pervasively within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. This integration includes inherent ties to Microsoft Teams. I’ll get to this in more detail in a little bit.

Here are some high-level features in SharePoint Online:

• Document versioning control: When a user updates a Word or Excel file, SharePoint stores the prior revision in the file’s metadata on the SharePoint site. This allows a user to ‘go back in time’ to a prior version of the file and make appropriate changes.
  
• Document Co-authoring – Multiple users can view and edit a file simultaneously (as long as they have the right permissions). This is an incredible productivity boon – I still remember the first time I witnessed this many years ago. Being able to edit a patching spreadsheet with my server engineer colleagues allowed us to mark which servers we were patching, and offer statuses to the group. Very cool technology.
  
• OneDrive Desktop Sync Tool – Because OneDrive (for Business) is a highly-modified version of a SharePoint site, they go hand in hand. The OneDrive sync tool syncs files on a user’s OneDrive account. However, that same user can also sync the files in a SharePoint ‘Document Library’ to their computer for ease of collaboration and modification.
  
• Data Governance and Compliance – SharePoint offers features to satisfy your organization’s compliance and data governance policies. These include:
  • Automatic classification and labeling.
  • Retention policies.
  • Data loss prevention.
  • eDiscovery and legal holds

What is Microsoft Teams?

In 2017, Microsoft introduced Microsoft Teams – a unified communication and collaboration tool that combines video-based meetings, persistent chat, file storage (SharePoint), and other first and third-party app integrations. The tool provides a single pane of glass to share documents and present additional Microsoft 365 products in an efficient, single GUI:

• Shared Mailbox and Calendar (Exchange Online)
• Microsoft Planner
• Microsoft OneNote
• SharePoint Online (Files/Shared)
• Power BI

Microsoft Teams is the hub for teamwork. You can have private, one-on-one chats, group chats, audio and/or video-based meetings to share screens and presentations. You can easily share a private file (OneDrive) or with multiple users (SharePoint). These technical differences are handled behind the scenes by the software. Your team members don’t need to know where these files are stored.

For example, if you share a file with one user in a private chat, that file is automatically uploaded to the user’s OneDrive account and shared out to the other user. When you share a file in a Teams ‘Channel’, that file is uploaded to the associated SharePoint document library. All users of that team automatically have permissions to view and edit the file. These permissions can be changed of course.

SharePoint vs Teams: Technical and productive similarities

First, let me explain, in technical terms, how SharePoint and Teams are similar regarding functionality.

When you create a new Team site in Microsoft Teams, the following are also created, behind the scenes:

• Microsoft 365 Group
• SharePoint Online site
• Shared Mailbox & Calendar (Exchange Online)
• OneNote notebook
• A plan in Planner

Let’s focus on the SharePoint integration.

• After you create a team and browse to a Teams Channel (General, for example), you’ll see a ‘Files’ tab across the top toolbar.
• Click on it, and you’ll see what looks just like a SharePoint Document Library view.
• You’ll also see an ‘Open in SharePoint’ button.

This is the beauty of Microsoft Teams – offering a seamless interface for users so they don’t need to browse to the SharePoint website. An all-in-one tool – Microsoft’s strongest marketing mantra for Teams.

• If I click on the button, it takes me to the SharePoint website for the same Document Library.

Now, it’s not exactly the same, but come on. There are a striking number of similarities. And here’s the beauty of the integration – your users can use whatever tool they are more comfortable with. Whatever fits into their daily flow.

Remember when I mentioned using the OneDrive sync tool? That’s precisely what the ‘Sync’ button is for in that same toolbar.

• Click the Sync button and OneDrive will start syncing the entire document library to your local PC.

Syncing will create a new shortcut in File Explorer. You can now open files, copy new files here, and they will automatically sync up to the SharePoint site.

Using the Files feature in Teams and Document Library feature in SharePoint is very similar. Let me show you the process of uploading a file and browsing for one locally with Teams on the left and the SharePoint website on the right.

And after the files are uploaded into the two locations, they both appear in both locations.

Differences between SharePoint and Teams

The differences between SharePoint and Teams are primarily in the ‘purpose of the tool’ realm. From a technical perspective, in terms of file sharing, they are nearly identical – just different front-end tools managing the same backend infrastructure. Whether you create a new Team and upload files to the Files tab or perform the same steps on the SharePoint website, you’re touching the same data.

The differences come from the purpose of each tool. An easy answer to the question: Should I use SharePoint or Teams to share files? It’s really up to you. Teams was created and designed to offer an easier-to-use interface, provide seamless interconnectivity between chatting with users and sharing files.

There is no difference between storing your files in Microsoft Teams or SharePoint. They are, in reality, just two views of the same file store. You can access, create, edit, or otherwise interact with them in either place.

SharePoint will give you more control and extra capabilities, which is great for power users. You can create and trigger workflows from SharePoint, and access version history, for example. However, Teams feels simpler and more ‘in their workflow’ for many users. They may feel that they can collaborate more easily. There are also some nice touches, such as making a document into a channel tab for extra focus/rapid access (though both let you Pin to top, which has a similar benefit).

How do I choose the right tool? Are costs a consideration?

When deciding between using SharePoint and Microsoft Teams in Microsoft 365, it helps to think of what you’re trying to accomplish.

I’ve been using Teams and staying in Teams as much as possible. That may sound like Microsoft’s poster child from the marketing department, but the integrations are pervasive. I can send a message to someone in a Chat, instead of going to Outlook to send an email. I can also share a file privately with that same user, instead of going to my OneDrive, uploading a file, and sharing it to that user.

I would suggest using SharePoint primarily for structured content management and as a repository for intranet-focused information. SharePoint excels:

• as the backend storage (which Teams uses for its files)
• managing document libraries with version control and specific permissions
• building intranet sites or knowledge bases
• storing finalized documents
• and creating sophisticated lists accessible to broader groups or the entire organization.

While SharePoint and Teams are deeply integrated, choose Teams for daily teamwork and conversation, and SharePoint for broader content storage, sophisticated document management, and site-based information sharing.

It is unlikely that cost differences will come up in discussions about the proper tool. All of the most common suite licenses (Microsoft 365 E3, Office 365 E1, etc.) offer both SharePoint Online plans and Microsoft Teams capabilities.

Thank you for reading my latest post on the discussion between SharePoint and Teams. If you have any questions or comments, please leave one in the comment section below. Thank you!