If your team is considering SharePoint for knowledge management, document sharing, or intranet solutions, you're not alone. SharePoint, developed by Microsoft, has long been a dominant player in the enterprise collaboration and content management space; in the United States, for example, the collaboration software market is dominated by a few major players like Microsoft and Slack. But as your organization grows and needs evolve, it's essential to explore all options to find the tool that fits best. In this guide, we'll dive into what SharePoint offers, where it excels, and how it compares with Guru, a robust alternative that may better suit your team's needs.

What is SharePoint?

SharePoint is Microsoft's web-based collaboration platform for document management, team collaboration, and building internal websites. Part of the Microsoft 365 suite, it integrates with Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive to help organizations store, share, and manage content securely across teams.

SharePoint is especially favored by large enterprises due to its scalability and flexibility. Organizations use it for building internal websites, creating document management systems, and facilitating communication across departments. Whether your team needs a centralized document library, an internal blog, or a robust intranet solution, SharePoint offers a highly customizable platform to address those needs.

Key features of SharePoint

SharePoint provides comprehensive collaboration tools for modern organizations:

1. Document management and sharing: SharePoint excels in creating libraries for documents and enabling easy collaboration through version control, permissions, and access management. Users can co-author documents, track changes, and control who sees what.

2. Intranet and internal sites: SharePoint allows companies to build and customize intranet sites to share news, company updates, and resources. These sites can be tailored to different teams, departments, or company-wide use.

3. Seamless integration with Microsoft 365: For organizations deeply embedded in the Microsoft ecosystem, SharePoint's integrations with Teams, Outlook, and OneDrive streamline workflows. Files are accessible across platforms, and updates sync automatically.

4. Custom workflows and automation: With tools like Power Automate (previously Microsoft Flow), SharePoint enables businesses to create automated workflows, reducing manual tasks like approval processes and notifications.

5. Enterprise-level security: As part of Microsoft, SharePoint offers built-in compliance features, data protection, and strong access controls to ensure data privacy, which is critical in a market with a rising demand for privacy-focused tools that comply with regulations like GDPR.

SharePoint pricing and plans

SharePoint pricing is integrated into Microsoft 365 plans, making it cost-effective for organizations already in the Microsoft ecosystem:

• SharePoint Plan 1: Basic file storage and sharing capabilities

• SharePoint Plan 2: Advanced features including enterprise search and compliance

• Microsoft 365 E3/E5: Full SharePoint functionality included in enterprise plans

Total costs depend on user count, plan selection, and additional storage requirements.

Who uses SharePoint?

SharePoint is widely used in industries where document management, regulatory compliance, and internal communication are crucial, such as finance, healthcare, and government. This comes amid a growing trend towards niche collaboration tools that cater to specific industries with unique compliance needs, like healthcare's HIPAA regulations. It is also a popular choice for large enterprises and multinational corporations that need a centralized, scalable platform.

Pros and cons of SharePoint

Pros:

• Integration with Microsoft 365: If your company already uses Microsoft's suite, SharePoint provides seamless integration, improving productivity and minimizing disruption.

• Document management: SharePoint's advanced document libraries, version control, and permission settings make it an excellent choice for companies with complex document-sharing needs.

• Customizable workflows: You can automate routine tasks like approvals, notifications, and other processes, improving operational efficiency.

• Scalability: SharePoint is built to handle everything from small departmental projects to large, enterprise-wide systems.

Cons:

• Complexity and learning curve: SharePoint can be overwhelming for new users, especially for companies without dedicated IT teams to manage customization and setup.

• Cost: Depending on the customization, hosting, and storage needs, SharePoint can become a costly investment, especially for small to mid-sized businesses.

• Customization limitations: While SharePoint offers flexibility, extensive customization often requires significant development effort and can lead to increased complexity in maintaining the system.

SharePoint vs other alternatives

While SharePoint excels at document management, several alternatives serve different organizational needs:

• Google Workspace: Cloud-native collaboration with emphasis on simplicity

• Confluence & Notion: Flexible wiki-style knowledge bases

• Guru: AI-native knowledge management with verified answers in workflow

Guru vs. SharePoint

When comparing SharePoint with Guru, the choice often comes down to your company's workflow needs, ease of use, and how much you rely on external integrations.

Guru's strengths

1. Ease of use: Unlike SharePoint, Guru is built with simplicity and accessibility in mind. It offers an intuitive interface and seamless integration with Slack, Teams, and Chrome, ensuring that employees can access information directly within their workflows​​.

2. AI-powered knowledge management and enterprise search: Guru excels in using AI to create a "single source of truth" for organizations. With features like automatic knowledge verification and advanced search, plus a handy browser extension, Guru ensures that users always have access to accurate, up-to-date information directly in their workflows.

3. Deep personalization: Guru allows companies and teams to create custom homepages so employees can start their day with all the information they need to do their jobs, plus the crucial announcements leadership needs them to know. With AI content recommendations based on context like their role and activity, plus personalized, department-specific AI assistants, employees get the answers they need effortlessly.

4. Security: Guru guarantees that you—and only you—own your data and content, with zero data retention by third-party LLMs. Your team's AI model is unique to you and privately trained, and any connected sources adhere to the privacy permissions you've already set. Learn more about Guru's robust security practices.

SharePoint's strengths

1. Enterprise-level features: For large organizations that need advanced document management, permission controls, and compliance features, SharePoint is hard to beat. It offers a more robust solution for industries that require stringent data security and compliance standards.

2. Customization for large teams: If you have a dedicated IT team or need extensive customization, SharePoint provides a flexible platform that can be tailored to very specific use cases, from internal websites to complex document workflows.

3. Deeper Microsoft integration: For organizations already relying on Microsoft tools like Teams, Outlook, or Power Automate, SharePoint's seamless integration can provide powerful enhancements to existing workflows.

What customers are saying

Customer feedback for both platforms highlights their strengths and weaknesses.

SharePoint users appreciate its powerful document management and integration with Microsoft products. One Capterra reviewer mentioned, "I hear lots of people groan about SharePoint, yet I find over and over that it makes it incredibly easy to put together useful tools, collaborate, integrate, automate, and all at a very reasonable cost. Being tightly integrated with M365, it just makes sense to take advantage of all it has to offer."

Guru users love its intuitive interface and AI-powered knowledge management. One Capterra reviewer said, "Guru has truly been a lifesaver for us, and has been so successful in our department that our entire company is now moving their knowledge bases to this platform. It is really easy to use and customize and organize, and I would recommend it to any company needing a centralized platform to hold information."

Choosing the right tool for your team

If your team is already embedded in Microsoft's ecosystem and needs advanced document management and compliance features, SharePoint may be the better fit, especially for large enterprises. However, if your priority is ease of use, seamless workflow integration, and AI-powered knowledge verification, Guru offers a more user-friendly and scalable alternative. Guru simplifies knowledge management and provides faster access to verified information, making it ideal for fast-moving teams looking to boost productivity without the complexity of a system like SharePoint.

If you're ready to streamline your team's knowledge-sharing and collaboration efforts, give Guru a try and see how it can enhance your productivity.