I have achieved 45 Badges in Microsoft’s Cloud Computing Training. I bought the subscription for Office 365 and was really excited to try out its new technology with what seems to be a great use of Cloud Storage and Automation.

Quick Summary of Feelings on the Task: UTTER DISAPPOINTMENT

  1. Sharepoint is still awesome. It offers a quick way to create an Intranet Site, sharing documents, pages, with User Controlled Access, but it’s totally restricted to internal users.
  2. I assumed (and I shouldn’t do this I guess) I could publicize a Sharepoint Site and segregate Private or Internal Information from Public Information. The Internet lets us do this nicely, with products like WordPress because it has access controls and user management. Sharepoint is for Internal Use Only.
  3. It’s limited. I cannot create a Podcast or Audio Library. I can create a Video Section, but not audio only or a mix of Audio and Video and again, I can’t share with both Internal and External Users.
  4. The PowerApp section leads you to believe you can create a quick Application and unfortunately, you have to understand Microsoft Programming to create even a nice looking Basic Audio or Video Library.
  5. When trying add or share files, it’s messy in storage processing – as in, users, if not properly trained, can waste time and money duplicating storage – thus requiring a manually defined storage and accessibility plan for anything created.
  6. You would think that a Cloud Based System – like Microsoft 365 would allow ease of storage and access with special organization features and sharing of Cloud Files — but it’s not. It still allows file mismanagement and restricts use.
  7. Creating a Sharepoint Site enables organization and sharing, but its limited, offering not much advanced for Audio, Video Libraries, Integration, and the ability to publicize Information.
  8. Its “Promote” buttons are simply ’email’ a page to users and doesn’t have any sort of Campaigning Organization or Information Management feature to manage PR or even Internal Info Campaigns.

Take a quick listen: Microsoft Office 365 & Power Apps

By Sheri L. Wilson

Author, PhD Student; Doctor of Technology, Research