Microsoft released SharePoint 2016 to manufacturing yesterday.

Whereas recent SharePoint releases have been “revolutionary”, this is more of an “evolutionary” release, with subtle improvements to the user experience and underlying architecture.

Improvements

You can check out a list of new and enhanced features here on TechNet.

Highlights include:

1. Hybrid cloud improvements, allowing for seamless search between on-prem SharePoint and Office 365; the ability to view followed sites whether on-prem or in the cloud; and simplified access to Office 365 OneDrive.
2. The “MinRole” deployment model, which allows for granular and more efficient separation of server responsibilities.
3. Compliance improvements for OneDrive documents and in-place holds and improved search tools for e-discovery and data loss prevention
4. Security improvements for TLS connections and SMTP encryption.
5. Minor usability improvements, including enhanced mobile navigation.

Deprecated Features

As usual, some features were also deprecated. Most notably, SharePoint Foundation, Duet, the Forefront Identity Manager client, and Tags and Notes have been removed. Excel Services and some other Business Intelligence workloads have been offloaded to Office 365.

In Summary

SharePoint 2016 is a mature release and a worthwhile upgrade, especially for customers with hybrid deployments. While most of Microsoft’s innovation is now focused on Office 365, many of the best features are now available in your own data center.

Allcloud’s architects and content management specialists have experience spanning every version of SharePoint (2001, 2003, 2007, BPOS, 2010, Office 365, 2013, and now 2016). We can help you upgrade and get the most out of SharePoint.