Simplify Your IT Management with Microsoft SharePoint Online: Whitepaper

Microsoft SharePoint® Online Standard
Service Description

Updated: August 2010

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Microsoft SharePoint Online Standard Service Description Page 2

Contents
Introduction ..............................................................................................................................................5

Why SharePoint Online?..........................................................................................................................6

Features of Microsoft Online Services....................................................................................................7
System Requirements.............................................................................................................................7
Sign In Application...................................................................................................................................8
International Availability...........................................................................................................................9
Language Support................................................................................................................................9

Features of SharePoint Online...............................................................................................................10
Storage .................................................................................................................................................10
Site Storage Quotas..............................................................................................................................10
Site Collections......................................................................................................................................10
Deskless Worker Offer..........................................................................................................................11
Microsoft Office Integration....................................................................................................................11
Browser Support ...................................................................................................................................12
Mobile Device Support..........................................................................................................................12
Service Availability.................................................................................................................................12
Deleted Item Recovery..........................................................................................................................12
Data Backup .........................................................................................................................................13
Service Continuity Management............................................................................................................13
Virus Filtering.........................................................................................................................................13
Blocked File Types................................................................................................................................13
Site Language Selection........................................................................................................................13

SharePoint Online Capabilities..............................................................................................................15
Collaboration.........................................................................................................................................15
Standard Site Templates....................................................................................................................15
People and Groups Lists....................................................................................................................16
Calendars...........................................................................................................................................16
E-Mail Alerts and Notifications............................................................................................................16
Task Coordination...............................................................................................................................16
Surveys...............................................................................................................................................16
Document Collaboration.....................................................................................................................16
Issue Tracking....................................................................................................................................17
Portal.....................................................................................................................................................17
RSS Feeds.........................................................................................................................................17
Audience Targeting.............................................................................................................................17
Site Manager......................................................................................................................................17
Integration with Office Programs.........................................................................................................17
Integration with Office Outlook............................................................................................................17
Integration with Office SharePoint Designer 2007..............................................................................18
Search ..................................................................................................................................................18
Content Management............................................................................................................................18
Document Workflow Support..............................................................................................................18

Document Information Panel..............................................................................................................18
Document Action Bar..........................................................................................................................18
High-Fidelity Web Sites with Consistent Branding..............................................................................19
Site Structure and Navigation Controls...............................................................................................19
Content Authoring...............................................................................................................................19
WYSIWYG Web Content Editor..........................................................................................................19
Page Layouts......................................................................................................................................19
Slide Libraries.....................................................................................................................................19
Business Process and Forms................................................................................................................19
Custom Workflow Design with Office SharePoint Designer 2007.......................................................20
Office InfoPath Forms with InfoPath...................................................................................................20

Service Administration...........................................................................................................................21

Appendix A: Blocked File Name Extensions........................................................................................22

Appendix B: SharePoint Online and Office SharePoint Server Feature Comparisons.....................24

Appendix C: SharePoint Online Specific Features..............................................................................28


Introduction
Microsoft® SharePoint® Online is a collection of Web-based tools and technologies that help you store,
share, and manage digital information within your company. Built on the Microsoft Office SharePoint
Server 2007 platform, this hosted service is ideal for storing project documents in a central location and
sharing them with others. By using SharePoint lists, libraries, and Web Parts, team members can work
more efficiently and productively.
SharePoint Online Standard is a Microsoft Online Services offering designed for rapid service adoption by
an organization. It includes a standardized Web-based administrative console that enables you to easily
manage and set up services for users.


Why SharePoint Online?
Many companies today face significant information management and sharing challenges. For example,
workers today need to be able to perform these tasks:
• Share a common workspace with team members, to store documents and collaborate on
projects.
• Publish, store, and view data—often from disparate sources.
• Quickly find information that is relevant to them, their job function, and their business area.
• Manage the flow of documents and tasks through a workflow system.
• Increase data security by controlling access, inside the corporate network as well as remotely.

SharePoint Online helps organizations meet these challenges by providing a flexible Web-based solution
with tools and services to help employees manage information and collaborate with others.
In addition, SharePoint Online reduces the burden of routine IT management and frees your IT resources
to work on strategic initiatives that move your business forward. You have access to the latest
technologies without having to worry about updates or upgrades.
The tools and services provided by SharePoint Online enable individuals and teams to:
• Upload documents to online libraries, share the documents with others, and manage how
documents are used.
• Display project calendars to track milestones and resource availability.
• Show announcements and alerts.
• Publish blogs and RSS feeds, or provide a list of links to other blogs, forums, and resources.
• Maintain a list of contact names and information.
• Create navigation for your SharePoint Online sites that best meets your organization’s needs.
• Provide links to other important Web sites.
• Create specialized Web sites—Document Workspaces and Meeting Workspaces—to help
manage particular projects or work items.


Features of Microsoft Online Services
SharePoint Online is a Microsoft Online Services offering. Microsoft Online Services provides a collection
of hosted, Internet-based services that make it easier for your business to rapidly—and cost-effectively—
access up-to-date communication and collaboration technologies.
Each service delivers business-class reliability and reduces the burden of performing routine IT
management tasks such as installation, provisioning, ongoing maintenance, patches, updates, and
upgrades.
SharePoint Online subscribers benefit from a set of features that are common to all Microsoft Online
Services offerings:
• Secure access: Microsoft Online Services are accessed via 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
encryption. Anyone who intercepts a communication sees only encrypted text.
• Business continuity: Redundant network architecture is hosted at geographically dispersed
Microsoft data centers to handle unscheduled service outages. Data centers act as backups for
each other: If one fails, the affected customers are transferred to another data center with limited
interruption of service.
• Intrusion monitoring: Microsoft continuously monitors the Microsoft Online Services systems for
any unusual or suspicious activity. If Microsoft detects such activity, it investigates and responds
as appropriate. In the unlikely event that a significant incident occurs, the customer is notified.
• Security audits: Ongoing assessment of the Microsoft Online Services infrastructure ensures
installation of the latest compliance policies and antivirus signatures, along with high-level
configuration settings and required security updates.
• High availability: Microsoft Online Services has a 99.9 percent scheduled uptime. If a
customer’s service is affected, Microsoft Online Services offers financial remedies subject to the
terms and conditions of the service level agreement (SLA).
• Support: Web form and phone support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for the
service administrator.
• Administration Center: This easy-to-use Web site is made available to service administrators
for managing all of their Microsoft Online Services. After logging on to the Administration Center,
service administrators can perform a number of common tasks such as adding and deleting
users, adding contacts and distribution lists in Exchange Online, and creating and configuring
SharePoint Online sites. The Microsoft Online Services Administration Center is also where
service adminstrators can download software, such as the Microsoft Online Services Sign In
application, Active Directory Synchronization tool, and Migration tools.
• My Company Portal: Your users can log on to the My Company Portal Web site to launch
Microsoft Online Services. They can access services such as e-mail, access a SharePoint site,
download the Sign In application—and more.
• Sign In application: This tool conveniently allows Microsoft Online Services users to sign in
once and access all services without being prompted repeatedly for their password.
• Virus filtering: Microsoft Online Services helps guard against online threats. Microsoft
Forefront™ Online Security for Exchange automatically removes viruses and spam in incoming
and outgoing e-mail. Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint scans for viruses in
intracompany e-mail and in all documents that reside in SharePoint Online sites.
• Active Directory Synchronization tool: For subscribers with an on-premise Active Directory®
service deployment, this tool helps keep your on-premises Active Directory and the Microsoft
Online Services directory in sync via a one-way trust.

System Requirements
System requirements for Microsoft Online Services—including SharePoint Online—are shown in Table 1.


Table 1: Microsoft Online Services Supported Software

Software Supported Version
Operating systems Windows® 7 Windows XP® Professional SP2
Windows Vista® Business SP1 Windows XP Tablet SP2
Windows Vista Enterprise SP1 Apple Macintosh OS X 10. 5
Windows Vista Ultimate SP1
System software Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 (for Windows XP)
Java client 1.4.2 (for Macintosh OS X)*
Office Clients Microsoft Office 2010
Microsoft Office 2007
Client applications Microsoft Online Services Sign In application
Browser software Microsoft Internet Explorer® 6 Mozilla Firefox 3 **
Windows® Internet Explorer 7 Apple Safari 3 (for Macintosh OS X 10.5)**
Windows Internet Explorer 8
*Java required for Microsoft Office Live Meeting only.
**Some functionality may be limited.

Sign In Application
The Microsoft Online Services Sign In application is installed on all users’ computers to provide a single
sign-in point for Microsoft Online Services. A service administrator may deploy the Sign In application to
each computer in the company, or instruct users to install it themselves from the Downloads tab on My
Company Portal.
The Sign In application provides these features:
• Automatic configuration of applications: The Sign In application automatically configures
desktop applications on the user’s computer so that they work properly with Microsoft Online
Services. This saves time and trouble for first-time users and reduces support time for service
administrators. If necessary, users can also reconfigure their desktop applications manually within
the Sign In application.
• Single access point for services: Instead of having to sign in to each available service, users
can use the Sign In application once, and then launch service applications without any additional
sign-in requests. The Sign In application lists all services that the company’s service administrator
has made available to the user. The online services available to your users depend on the
licenses that your company purchases.
• Password management: Users can change their password in the Sign In application, and if their
password expires, the Sign In application alerts them and provides an opportunity to update it.


International Availability
Microsoft Online Services offerings—including SharePoint Online Standard—are available in these 22
countries:
• Australia • Netherlands
• Austria • New Zealand
• Belgium • Norway
• Canada • Portugal
• Denmark • Singapore
• Finland • Spain
• France • Sweden
• Germany • Switzerland
• India • United Kingdom
• Ireland • United States
• Italy
• Japan

Language Support
Languages supported by SharePoint Online and other Microsoft Online Services components are
described in Table 2.
Table 2: Microsoft Online Services Language Support

Service Supported Languages

SharePoint Online Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch,
Estonian, French, Finnish, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese,
Kazakh, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese
(Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish,
Ukrainian

Exchange Online Languages for Microsoft Office Outlook® and Microsoft Outlook Web Access clients are detailed
at Exchange 2007 Language Support.

Office Communications Online Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese (Hong Kong), Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian,
Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, French, Finnish, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian,
Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil),
Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish,
Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian

Office Live Meeting Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German,
Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Swedish

Microsoft Online Services Web English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish
portals and Sign In application

Online Security for Exchange, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Korean,
Exchange Hosted Encryption, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Spanish, Russian*
Exchange Hosted Archive*

* Exact release dates for languages to be determined.


Features of SharePoint Online
SharePoint Online Standard enables a company to easily create and manage custom team-focused and
project-focused sites for collaboration. This section presents overviews of these SharePoint Online
features and specifications:
Table 3 provides a quick look at some of the key features of SharePoint Online Standard.

Table 3: SharePoint Online Key Features

Feature Description
Storage 250 megabytes (MB) per user account
Site storage quotas Up to 50 gigabytes (GB) per site collection
Total storage per tenant Up to 1 terabyte (TB) per tenant
Site collections Up to 100 per company
2010 or 2007 Microsoft Office Office Access 2010 or 2007 Office PowerPoint® 2010 or 2007
system integration (requires Office Excel® 2010 or 2007 Office SharePoint Designer 2007
Microsoft Online Services Sign-in Office InfoPath® 2010 or 2007 Office Word 2010 or 2007
client application)
Office Outlook® 2010 or 2007
Browser support Internet Explorer 6 Firefox 3
Internet Explorer 7 Safari 3.1.2 on Macintosh OS X 10.5
Internet Explorer 8
Mobile device support Nokia E series and N series devices
Apple iPhone 2.0

Storage
SharePoint Online allocates 250 MB of storage for each of your users. The storage is aggregated/pooled
among the users. For example, an organization of 1,000 users has 250,000 MB (250 GB) of storage.
In addition, you can purchase more SharePoint Online storage in gigabyte (GB) increments.

Site Storage Quotas
The SharePoint Online service administrator can set the storage limits for site collections and sites
created by users. The maximum storage available for any site collection is 50 GB.
The maximum SharePoint Online storage available to a single company is 1 TB.

Site Collections
SharePoint Online lets you allocate your available storage space across a maximum of 100 site
collections. A site collection consists of a top-level site and its subsites. Site collections are often based
on departmental boundaries.
Sites within a site collection share common features, such as galleries for templates, content types, and
Web Parts. A subsite can inherit permissions and navigation structure from its parent site, or these can be
specified and managed independently.


Deskless Worker Offer

SharePoint Online Deskless Worker gives users read-only access to SharePoint Online
portals, along with the capability to participate in discussions and surveys.

SharePoint Online Features Deskless Standard

Assigned Storage per User License 0MB 250MB

Create & Edit Lists, Contacts Yes Yes

Participate in Discussion, Surveys Yes Yes

Create, Edit & Save Documents No Yes

Create & Edit Sites, Workflows No Yes

Administration Functions No Yes

Office client use No Yes

Mobile Access No Yes

A deskless worker is typically a person who:
• Spends limited time working at a company-supplied PC.
• May not have an assigned or dedicated computer in the workplace.
• Examples: bank tellers, call center workers, healthcare clinicians, manufacturing floor workers,
retail point of sale workers, and/or seasonal workers.

For more information on the Deskless Worker offerings, please visit the Microsoft Online Services
TechCenter on TechNet here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd448671.aspx

Microsoft Office Integration
Microsoft Office supports rich integration with SharePoint Online. Users who are running the sign-in
application can interact with SharePoint Online sites without leaving their Microsoft Office programs, and
two-way synchronization is available with some types of information and documents that are stored on
SharePoint Online sites.
Office 2010 and Office 2007 provide the best integration with SharePoint Online; however, users can also
use most Microsoft Office 2003 programs with SharePoint Online. Two exceptions are:
• Office Outlook 2003: Office Outlook 2007 is the required e-mail client for SharePoint Online.
• Office Access 2003: Office Access 2003 files use the .mdb extension, which is blocked by
SharePoint Online. Users can only upload Office Access 2007 files—which use the .accdb file
extension—to SharePoint Online sites.


Browser Support
SharePoint Online users can access SharePoint Online sites and information by using several common
Web browsers. Supported Microsoft browsers are:
• Internet Explorer 6
Internet Explorer is automatically configured for use with SharePoint Online when users install the Sign In
application. After users sign in with the application, they will not be prompted for their user name and
password again when they visit SharePoint Online sites.
You can also use the following browsers; however, functionality may be limited for some tasks:
• Firefox 3
• Safari 3.1.2 (with Macintosh OS X 10.5)
Note: When gaining access to SharePoint Online sites with these browsers, users are prompted to
provide their user name and password.

Mobile Device Support
SharePoint Online sites can render on international and North American mobile devices (including Web-
enabled mobile phones) using a simplified text-only format. This feature helps users stay current on team
projects and tasks when they are on the road.
SharePoint Online sites can be viewed on the following mobile devices:
• Nokia E series and N series devices
• Apple iPhone 2.0
Note: Devices running Windows Mobile software do not support viewing SharePoint Online sites.

Service Availability
Like all Microsoft Online Services offerings, SharePoint Online has 99.9 percent scheduled uptime with
financially backed service level agreements covering any instances when this service availability standard
is not met.

Deleted Item Recovery
SharePoint Online users have a Recycle Bin where deleted content is stored. They can access the
Recycle Bin to recover deleted documents and lists if they need to. Items are retained for 30 days. The
following data types are captured by the Recycle Bin:
• Lists
• Libraries
• Folders
• List items
• Documents
• Web Part pages
The following data types are not captured by the Recycle Bin:
• Deleted Web pages

• Site customizations made through Office SharePoint Designer 2007

Data Backup
Data protection services are provided to prevent the loss of SharePoint Online data. Backups are
performed every 12 hours.

Service Continuity Management
SharePoint Online is hosted in Microsoft-managed, enterprise-level data centers that are designed to
operate highly available online services. Because of this, the Microsoft service level agreement with
SharePoint Online subscribers is set at 99.9 percent uptime.
However, service availability can be affected by hardware failures, natural disasters, and human error. To
address this, SharePoint Online offers service continuity management, a process for managing risks to
ensure that a company’s IT infrastructure is capable of providing continuing services if normal availability
solutions fail. Service continuity management for SharePoint Online includes provisions to quickly recover
from such unexpected events.
Two metrics commonly used in service continuity management to evaluate disaster recovery solutions are
a recovery time objective (RTO), which measures the time between a system disaster and the time when
the system is again operational, and a recovery point objective (RPO), which measures the time between
the latest backup and the system disaster, representing the nearest historical point in time to which a
system can recover.
SharePoint Online has set an RPO and RTO in the event of a disaster:
• 12-hour RPO: Microsoft protects an organization’s SharePoint Online data and has a copy of that
data that is equal to or less than 12 hours old.
• 24-hour RTO: Organizations will be able to resume service within 24 hours after service
disruption if a disaster incapacitates the primary data center.

Virus Filtering
Microsoft Forefront™ Security for SharePoint is included with SharePoint Online to help protect the
SharePoint Online environment from viruses while maintaining uptime and optimizing performance.
Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint provides comprehensive protection for SharePoint document
libraries using multiple scan engines and content controls to help eliminate documents that contain
malicious code.

Blocked File Types
To protect users’ computers from potentially harmful code, SharePoint Online blocks certain kinds of files
from being uploaded to or retrieved from the SharePoint Online environment. Files are blocked on the
basis of the file name extension, and SharePoint Online maintains a list of file name extensions that are
blocked. (For example, .exe files are on the list of blocked file name extensions, so a file called
"filename.exe." would be blocked.)
This feature does not prevent all exploits based on file types, nor is it designed to do so. The file name
extensions that are blocked are listed in Appendix A: Blocked File Name Extensions.

Site Language Selection
SharePoint Online provides support for the following languages:
Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, French, Finnish,
German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish,


Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai,
Turkish, Ukrainian

Service administrators can select a language at the time they create a site collection. Different site
collections, as well as subsites within a collection, can be created in different languages.


SharePoint Online Capabilities
SharePoint Online offers an integrated suite of communication and collaboration capabilities that can help
improve organizational effectiveness. Together they provide comprehensive content management and
search capabilities to improve shared business processes, facilitate information-sharing, and deliver
better business insight.
This section describes in detail the features associated with the following five primary capabilities
available in SharePoint Online Standard:
• Collaboration
• Portals
• Search
• Content Management
• Business Process and Forms
A detailed comparison of features across SharePoint Online Standard, SharePoint Online Dedicated, and
Office SharePoint Server 2007 is provided in Appendix B: SharePoint Online and Office SharePoint
Server Feature Comparison

Collaboration
The following SharePoint Online collaboration features help keep company teams connected and
productive by providing easy access to the people, documents, and information that users need to make
well-informed decisions within their jobs.

S ta n d a rd Si t e Te mp la t e s
When a user creates a new SharePoint Online site, the process starts with selecting a site template. Six
standard site templates are available in SharePoint Online.
Team Site
Select this template to create a site that teams can use to create, organize, and share information. The
template includes a document library, announcements list, calendar, contacts list, and a links list. This all-
purpose template can meet a diverse range of needs. It can store long-term routine information for a
single department, or short-term information from a special project that spans several departments. For
example, a marketing department can store and manage its planning and budget documents, track issues
and tasks, and share its links and contacts.
Wikis
Select this template to create a site where users can quickly and easily add, edit, and link Web pages.
The template provides pages that users can quickly edit to record information and link together through
keywords. As the pages are edited, a history is recorded so that users can restore content if necessary. A
Wiki site includes wiki pages, a links list, and a wiki page library. For example, a Wiki site can serve as a
community site where your organization can brainstorm and share ideas for a new project. In a Wiki site,
it is easy to create and format pages, so that people can easily work with each other to record
information.
Blogs
Select this template to create a site where users can post information quickly and allow other people to
comment on it. Blogs are online journals where users can share ideas quickly in an informal,
chronological format. A Blog site includes a posts list for storing blog posts, a blogs list for links to other
blogs, a categories list, a comments list, a links list for links to related resources, a photo library, and tools
to manage posts and other resources. For example, a Blog site can help company leaders share their
ideas and vision in an engaging journal format, where their employees can ask questions or add
comments.

Document Workspace
Select this template to create a site that helps users coordinate the development of one or more related
documents with other people. A Document Workspace site provides tools to share and update files and to
keep people informed about the status of those files. It includes a document library, an announcements
list, a tasks list, a members list, and a links list. For example, a Document Workspace site can help a
team tasked with preparing an annual report work more efficiently on the document or a set of
documents. A Document Workspace site can also be used to publish announcements, assign tasks,
share relevant links, and receive alerts about changes to site content.
Blank Site
Select this template to create a site with a blank home page that you plan to customize. You can use
Office SharePoint Designer 2007 to add lists or any other features. This template includes a site image
Web Part and tools to insert other Web Parts. For example, a Blank site can help when the goal is to
create a custom site without using any of the existing templates, Web Parts, lists, or libraries as a starting
point.
Basic Meeting Workspace
Select this template to create a site that helps team members plan, organize, and track meetings. The
template includes an objectives list, an attendees list, an agenda, and a document library. For example, a
Basic Meeting Workspace site is a good choice for most general types of meetings, such as a weekly
status meeting.

P e o p l e a n d G ro u p s L is t s
The People and Groups feature provides a central place to manage individual and group access to sites,
and create roles. You can perform tasks such as creating and deleting SharePoint Online groups, adding
users to groups or deleting them, and assigning permission levels to users and groups.

Calendars
The Calendars feature provides rich calendar views and support for recurring events and all-day events.
Users can synchronize SharePoint Online calendar, contacts, and tasks with Office Outlook 2007 or 2010
and then view them offline.

E - Ma i l A l e r t s a n d N o t i f i c a t i o n s
E-mail alerts and workflow notifications can be sent to SharePoint users when documents or other items
have been changed or added to a site. SharePoint Online does not at this time support inbound e-mail for
document libraries, discussion boards, calendars, and lists.

T a s k C o o rd in a t i o n
The Project Tasks list template lets users create project lists. It includes a simple Gantt chart, a type of
visual overview of project tasks that can be used to monitor the dates and progress of team tasks.

Surveys
SharePoint Online sites support survey lists. The survey feature captures and consolidates information
gathered from a targeted audience. Surveys in SharePoint are Web-based, with fields added to represent
each unique question. Various types of question formats—some using option buttons and some with Yes/
No fields—are available.

D o c u m e n t C o ll a b o ra t i o n
One of the primary uses for SharePoint Online is document collaboration. Features in the document
libraries—such as content types, workflows, check in/check out—are designed to manage the process of
working with two or more people to produce a new document. Document libraries also include:
• Local checkout of documents


• Offline document library support in Office Outlook 2007 or 2010
• Major and minor version numbering and tracking
• Support for multiple content types
• Tree view support

I ss u e T ra c k i n g
SharePoint Online offers an Issue Tracking list template that helps users track, assign, and report on
issue status within the list.

Portal
The portal workload features of SharePoint Online are especially useful for designing, deploying, and
managing company sites.

R SS F e e d s
You can use Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to syndicate content managed in a portal site. RSS is a
technology that enables people to receive and view updates or feeds of news, blogs, and other items of
interest in a consolidated location. All lists and libraries in SharePoint Online can be enabled with RSS
feeds.

A u d ie n c e T a r g e t i n g
By using the audience targeting feature, content such as list or library items, navigation links, and entire
Web Parts can be displayed to specific SharePoint Online groups. This is useful for presenting
information that is relevant only to a particular group of people. For example, the legal department might
add a Web part to its portal site that contains a list of legal contracts that is visible only to that department.

S i te M a n a g e r
The Site Manager feature allows changes to a SharePoint site’s navigation, security access, and general
look and feel using an easy drag-and-drop tool. Site Manager unifies site management tasks for portals
and Web sites, including management of areas, pages, listings, SharePoint site lists, and associated
component parts.

I n t e g r a t io n w i th Of f ic e Pr o g r a m s
Programs included in Office 2010 and 2007, such as Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and InfoPath, can
interact with SharePoint sites and list content without having to download a local copy. Files on the
SharePoint site can be edited right from a Web browser without having to first save a local copy.
Note: Microsoft Office 2003 programs can be used with SharePoint Online—with the exception of
Office Outlook 2003. However, Office 2003 programs do not provide the same level of
SharePoint Online integration as Office 2010 and 2007 programs.

I n t e g r a t io n w i th O f f i c e O u t l o o k
With Outlook, users can view or edit calendars and contact lists that are stored on SharePoint sites, and
create and manage sites for organizing meetings. Together, Outlook and SharePoint Online support:
• Read/write access to SharePoint Online items such as calendars, tasks, contacts, discussions,
and documents.
• Synchronization for offline support of document libraries and lists.
• Ability to check out and edit SharePoint site documents when offline.
• Roll-up views of calendars and tasks across multiple lists and sites.


• Unified view of personal and SharePoint tasks.

I n t e g r a t io n w i th O f f i c e S h a re P o i n t D e si g n e r 2 0 0 7
Office SharePoint Designer 2007 provides tools for rich customization of SharePoint sites—without
having to do any coding. Reporting tools, data integration, and application templates are also available
from Office SharePoint Designer 2007.
Note: Backup and restore from Office SharePoint Designer is not supported in SharePoint Online.

Search
Using SharePoint Online search features, users can locate content that is stored in lists, document
libraries, and other locations in a SharePoint collection. Basic searches are performed from any location
in the portal by using the search box in the upper right corner of the screen. Users simply type the query
into the search box to perform the search. Search results are ranked by relevance and presented to the
user.
SharePoint Online search provides:
• Security-trimmed search results. Results displayed for SharePoint Online searches are
“security trimmed,” meaning that users see only what they have permission to access.
• Configurable scope: In addition to using default search scopes such as This Site or All Sites,
you can configure additional types of search scopes.
SharePoint Online searches are limited to a single site collection. Searches for cross-site collection
content are not available. In addition to Text, Word and Powerpoint files, SharePoint Online now searches
ZIP and PDF files also.

Content Management
The content management workload features in SharePoint Online offer support for both business
document management and Web content management.

D o c u m e n t Wo rk f lo w Su p p o r t
A document approval workflow helps team members collaborate on documents and manage project tasks
by applying specific business processes to documents and items in a SharePoint Online site.
Implementing a document workflow helps companies adhere to consistent business processes that
improve organizational efficiency and productivity.
SharePoint Online users have access to a predefined approval workflow that tracks the status of a
document or a list item through three states: Active, Ready for Review, and Complete.

D o c u m e n t I n f o rm a t i o n P a n e l
The document information panel is displayed in Office programs below the Ribbon element. The panel
makes editing document properties an integral part of the Microsoft Office system document-authoring
experience. All information that is entered in the panel is saved in both SharePoint Online and within the
document itself.

D o c u m e n t A c ti o n B a r
When a file is opened in an Office program, the document action bar describes to users which business
policy or workflow governs the current document, and what action they are expected to take. If content is
blocked, the document action bar appears and informs the user.


H ig h - F i d e l i t y W e b S i te s w i th C o n s is t e n t B r a n d i n g
To enforce the branding and navigation of Web sites, the content management feature of SharePoint
Online provides the concept of ASP.NET master pages and page layouts. Master pages enable a
consistent layout for your SharePoint pages by defining the look and feel and standard behavior you want
for all pages (or a group of pages). You can then create individual content pages (page layouts) based on
this look and feel.

S i te S t r u c t u r e a n d N a v i g a t i o n C o n t ro l s
The Site Content and Structure page is used to manage both the content and structure of SharePoint
Online site collections. In SharePoint Online, navigation is dynamically generated from the site collection
hierarchy. This means that when the structure of the site is changed (for example, moving a subsite), that
change is carried through to the site navigation. Where the item now appears in the site navigation
reflects the new location of the underlying subsite.
The actions users can take on this page include more than changing the structure of the site. They can
manage content by performing other actions on lists and list items. For example, they can check out or
check in items, publish them, and copy them to other locations.
To ensure that the interface for the Site Content and Structure page is familiar to users, it was designed to
be similar to Windows Explorer. They can view the site collection hierarchy in the navigation pane as a
tree view on the left of the Site Content and Structure page. On the right, items appear in the list pane.

C o n te n t A u th o r i n g
Creating Web pages is simplified using the rich text editor that comes with SharePoint Online. In text
editing mode, users can type and edit page content directly on the page using a browser. In HTML source
editing mode, users can type and edit page content by using standard HTML. Other features of the rich
text editor enable users to:
• Quickly create, organize, and format links.
• Use the spelling checker on content.
• Manage and edit boilerplate content, such as copyright statements, in a single location.

W Y S I W Y G W e b C o n te n t Ed i to r
In addition to a rich text editor, users have access to the what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) Web
content editor that extends the SharePoint Online user interface with additional commands and status
indicators for in-context Web page authoring.

P a g e L a y o u ts
Prebuilt page layouts simplify content authoring and publishing. Your service administrator can define a
structure that guides authors through the publishing process, and then content contributors focus on
doing their jobs rather than on the details of publishing and deployment. Flexible page layouts also allow
designers to mix and match ASP.NET applications, Web Parts, and authoring templates in any
configuration to create customized sites that meet specific business needs.

S l id e L i b r a r i e s
Slide libraries enable users to store individual slides in a SharePoint Online library. PowerPoint slide
decks can be created from, and will reference, a selection of slides in the slide library. When users update
individual slides in the library, the slide decks based on them are automatically updated.

Business Process and Forms
SharePoint Online enables your company to establish more efficient business processes by using online
business forms and creating workflows that move projects toward completion.

C u s to m W o r k f l o w D e si g n w i th Of f i c e Sh a r e Po i n t D e s ig n e r 2 0 0 7
Office SharePoint Designer 2007 makes it possible to design custom workflows that add no-code
application logic to SharePoint Online sites. The Workflow Designer in Office SharePoint Designer 2007
is used to create rules that associate conditions and actions with items in SharePoint Online lists and
libraries. Changes to items in lists or libraries then trigger actions in the workflow.

O f f i c e I n f o P a th F o r ms w i t h I n f o Pa t h
While SharePoint Online does not support InfoPath Forms Services, also known as browser-based forms,
users can create business forms with InfoPath and then makethem available on SharePoint Online sites.
It is required for end-users to have the Office InfoPath 2007 or 2010 client application installed on their
desktop to open and fill out an InfoPath form stored in SharePoint Online.Users who have Office InfoPath
on their computers can design and upload their InfoPath form templates (.xsn files) to a SharePoint
Online list or library, just as they would any other document type. Form templates can then be opened by
others using Office InfoPath. The completed templates can then be stored as a completed form as an
item in a SharePoint Online document library.


Service Administration
The Microsoft Online Services Administration Center is a Web portal that the service administrator uses to
manage the services a company has subscribed to—including SharePoint Online services.
Administration Center navigation is organized in five tabs. SharePoint Online settings are accessed by
clicking the Service Settings tab, shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: The Service Settings page of the Administration Center

On the Service Settings page the service administrator can view how much site collection storage space
has been allocated and how much remains available to allocate. Service administrators also become
familiar with the SharePoint Online page when managing that service. The SharePoint Online subtab is
shown in Figure 2. This is where SharePoint site collections are created, edited and deleted.

Figure 2: The SharePoint Online subtab of the Administration Center


Appendix A: Blocked File Name Extensions
Table 4 shows the file name extensions that are blocked in SharePoint Online.
Table 4: Blocked File Name Extensions

Extension File type
.app Application file
.bas Microsoft Visual Basic® class module
.bat Batch file
.chm Compiled HTML Help file
.class Java class file
.cod Windows NT® Command Script
.com Microsoft MS-DOS® program
.cal Control Panel extension
.crt Security certificate
.dll Windows dynamic link library
.exe Executable program
.fxp Microsoft Visual FoxPro® compiled program
.hlp Help file
.hta HTML application
.ins Internet Naming Service
.isp Internet Communication settings
.jse JScript® Encoded script file
.lnk Shortcut
.mda Microsoft Office Access add-in program
.mdb Microsoft Office Access program
.mde Microsoft Office Access MDE database
.mdt Microsoft Office Access data file
.mdw Microsoft Office Access workgroup
.mdz Microsoft Office Access wizard program
.msc Microsoft Common Console document
.msi Windows Installer package
.msp Windows Installer patch
.mst Microsoft Visual Test source files
.ops Microsoft Office profile settings file
.pcd Photo CD image or Visual Test compiled script
.pif Shortcut to MS-DOS program
.prf System file
.prg Visual FoxPro source file
.reg Registration entries


Extension File type
.scf Windows Explorer command file
.scr Screen saver
.sct Windows Script Component
.shb Windows shortcut
.shs Shell Scrap object
.url Uniform Resource Locator (Internet shortcut)
.vb Visual Basic script file
.vbe Visual Basic Scripting Edition Encoded script file
.vbs Visual Basic Scripting Edition file
.wsc Windows Script Component
.wsf Windows Script file
.wsh Windows Script Host Settings file


Appendix B: SharePoint Online and Office SharePoint Server
Feature Comparisons
The following tables compare feature availability between Office SharePoint Server 2007 and the two
SharePoint Online offerings from Microsoft Online Services: SharePoint Online Standard and SharePoint
Online Dedicated.
Table 5 compares collaboration features across SharePoint Server 2007, SharePoint Online Standard
and SharePoint Online Dedicated.
Table 5. Collaboration Feature Comparison

Office SharePoint SharePoint Online SharePoint Online
Collaboration Features
Server 2007 Dedicated Standard
Default site templates
Team site, Wiki, Document P P P
Workspace, Blog, Blank site
Standard meeting site templates
P P P
Basic Meeting Workspace
Surveys P P P
People and Groups P P P
Syncing calendars, tasks, and
P P P
contacts with Outlook
E-mail alerts and notifications P P P
Issue tracking P P P
Document collaboration P P P
Presence P P
Mail-enabled lists P
Meeting workspace site templates
Blank Meeting, Decision
P P
Meeting, Social Meeting,
Multipage Meeting
Social networking P P
Standard site templates
MySite
P P
News site
Internet Presence Web Site
Site admin templates P P P
Server admin templates P P
Templates requiring server-side
P P
custom code


Table 6 compares portal features across SharePoint Server 2007, SharePoint Online Standard and
SharePoint Online Dedicated.
Table 6. Portal Feature Comparison

Portal Features
Client integration P P P
Office SharePoint Designer 2007
P P P
integration
RSS content syndication P P P
Audience targeting
P P P
Target a SharePoint group
Site Manager P P P
Site and document aggregation P P P
Portal site templates P P
Privacy and security P P P
Document roll-up Web Part P P P
Audience targeting
Target a distribution group P P
Create audiences
MySites and Site Directory P P
Colleagues and memberships Web
P P
Parts
Mobile device support 1 P P P
Backup and restore via Office
P P
SharePoint Designer 2007
Aggregate Web Parts P
User Profiles Import
Profile synchronization P P
Directory import
See Table 2 for specific devices supported

1


Table 7 compares content management features across SharePoint Server 2007, SharePoint Online
Standard and SharePoint Online Dedicated.
Table 7. Content Management Feature Comparison

Content Management Features
Document Information Panel and Action
P P P
Bar
Content authoring P P P
Master pages, page layouts, navigation
P P P
controls
Retention and auditing policies
Document retention and expiration
policies, customizable policies, P P P
workflow process to define expiration;
access control and security; tracking
Three-state workflow P P P
Site variations P P
High-fidelity Web Site and consistent
P P P
branding
Slide library P P P
WYSIWYG content editor P P P
Content staging, publishing and
P P
deployment
Integration with Microsoft Information
P P
Rights Management
Standard business document workflows
Approval, collect feedback, collect
signatures, disposition approval, P P Tri-state only.
group approval, translation
management workflow
Standard enterprise site templates
Document Center, Records Center,
P P
Site Directory, Report Center,
Personalization Site, Search Center
Standard publishing site templates
Collaboration Portal, Publishing P P
Portal
Retention and auditing policies
Logging of all actions on sites,
P P P
content, and workflows; audit log
reporting
Records repository and legal holds P
E-mail content as records P


Table 8 compares search features across SharePoint Server 2007, SharePoint Online Standard and
SharePoint Online Dedicated.
Table 8. Search Feature Comparison

Search Features
Search in a site collection P P P
Cross-site collection search P P
Enterprise content sources P P
People search P P
Search federation P P
Business data search P

Table 9 compares business intelligence features across SharePoint Server 2007, SharePoint Online
Standard and SharePoint Online Dedicated.
Table 9. Business Intelligence Feature Comparison

Business Intelligence Office SharePoint SharePoint Online SharePoint Online
Features Server 2007 Dedicated Standard
Business intelligence dashboards P P
KPI and filtering Web Parts P P
Report center templates P P
Excel services P P
Data connection libraries P P
Business data catalog P P
Business data Web Parts and
P
actions
Performance point integration P

Table 10 compares business process and forms features across SharePoint Server 2007, SharePoint
Online Standard and SharePoint Online Dedicated.
Table 10. Business Process and Forms Feature Comparison

Business Process and Office SharePoint SharePoint Online SharePoint Online
Forms Features Server 2007 Dedicated Standard
Form libraries P P P
Custom non-code workflows P P P
Office SharePoint Server out-of-the-
P P
box workflows
Browser-based forms P P
Custom code workflows P P


Appendix C: SharePoint Online Specific Features
Table 11 lists the features that apply specifically to SharePoint Online.
Table 11. SharePoint Online Specific Features

Features SharePoint Online Dedicated SharePoint Online Standard
Site collections per customer Multiple Up to 100
Vanity domains Yes No
Storage 250 MB per user 250 MB per user
Access Authenticated access only Authenticated access only
Off-boarding of customer data Via partner Via partner
Backup and restore retention
period per standard RTO and
30 days 14 days
RPO timeframes. * Refer to ‘Data
Backup’ section on pg.13

WAN acceleration Yes No
Disastser recovery Yes Yes
Server-side custom code Yes No
Pre-production environment Yes No
Anonymous access No No
Support for Quest migration tools No No
Web Part toolbox No No
SharePoint Silverlight Toolkit No No
Partner access (extranet access) No No


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