Since 2018, U of T has launched over 400 SharePoint Online sites and has played a key role in helping staff and faculty transition to working remotely. This cloud-based platform enables groups to collaborate, share and publish documents or web content using a variety of template options. It provides a secure place to store, organize, share, and access information from almost any device and all major web browsers.

In this Q&A Heather Postill, an information management analyst with Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration (EASI), tells us how SharePoint Online can help to streamline your work experience, how it differs from other platforms and why it’s one of U of T’s preferred platforms.

How is Microsoft SharePoint Online different from Teams and OneDrive?
The difference between these applications is mainly one of ownership. Both Teams and OneDrive run on the SharePoint platform, but they all have particular strengths. OneDrive is personal space that is similar to a personal network drive. It belongs to that individual, so you might not want to store departmental files there. In Teams, everyone has equal access to the information so it’s really good for collaboration and dialogue, like you might find with committees and projects. However, if the Team is deleted, all the content stored within it is gone. A SharePoint site is more authoritative and permanent because it’s not tied to an individual or a Team and the content can be more tightly controlled.

Why use SharePoint over Google Docs or Dropbox?
SharePoint is more secure because it’s an official U of T platform and the data is hosted in Canada. As a Microsoft product, it integrates seamlessly with Office and there is also no additional cost to use it. SharePoint offers more capabilities beyond just document management – it has web content features too, so you can build entire internal portals and keep all your information in one place.

How does a U of T staff or faculty member get a SharePoint site?
If you’d like a site, you can request it through your local IT groups. If you don’t have a local IT unit, you can reach us through the IT Service Centre. Designated staff members then become administrators, or site owners, and they design and manage their site to best serve local faculty and staff needs. We’ve created a virtual boot camp to get site administrators started and they can then help to train their users. We’re happy to sit down with users to understand their needs, advise on capabilities and help guide them through the process.

What resources do you offer?
We offer sessions through the Connect+Learn series, which are mostly focused on basic entry-level functionality. Initially, we focused on working with documents and we’ll continue to offer broad-based topics.

As mentioned, we have also have a site administrator virtual boot camp and weekly office hours, which are at an intermediate level. This is an introduction to get people up and running, and our team is also here to support them in their journey.

We have a ton of information on our SharePoint Support Centre, and we also have a listserv – users can find information about this on our Support Centre site.

Finally, we also host a quarterly show and tell, with the next one on May 13, where have volunteers from our community present recently launched SharePoint sites – you can see what people have done and ask them questions about the process.

Divisions or departments can request individual consultation sessions with us by opening a ticket in the IT Service Centre.

What advice would you give to those considering using SharePoint?
If you haven’t used this tool yet, you should give it a try! It’s a feature rich document management tool available to all U of T users – it’s on a secure platform and gives users easy access to information. For many, it will also replace network drives in the future.

Before moving to SharePoint, it’s important to think about all of the information in your area and plan out where it’s going to go and how you’re going to communicate the change to your users. We can help with document management as well – whether it’s for official records management, being able to track document usage or even applying a formal retention policy.

The groups that have already ventured into using SharePoint have found it easy to adapt to remote work and we welcome others to contact us to find out more.

The Digital Workplace team joined EASI in October 2019 and since then has continued to make enormous strides in supporting managed workstations and Microsoft Office 365 services across the University. In this Q&A, we speak with Vicki Vokas, manager of the Enterprise Digital Workplace about what services this area provides, current projects and what the future holds.

What is the Digital Workplace?
The Digital Workplace provides the U of T community with efficient support of their standard technology requirements, including:

• Desktop configuration and device management
• Microsoft Office 365, including email support and Office Pro Plus
• Software licensing and deployment
• Security and operating system updates
• Virus and ransomware prevention
• Business solution consultation
• Networking support for clients
• Data storage solutions

Since joining EASI, what have your main projects been?
Office 365 Website Launch (February 28, 2020)
On February 28, we launched new online spaces for U of T’s cloud-based Office 365 service and the Managed Desktop Service. The new Office 365 website offers a comprehensive guide to the wide range of Microsoft applications that are available to U of T staff, students, faculty and alumni. The website launch also includes the migration of the Microsoft Campus and School Agreement site to a new SharePoint site and the migration of existing Office 365 and email tips, tricks and FAQs to the IT Service Centre.

New Online Offboarding Process for IT Accounts (February 27, 2020)
At the beginning of March, the Enterprise Shared Services ServiceNow team launched a streamlined solution that enables managers, business officers and HR staff across the University to submit decommissioning requests for employee IT accounts directly through the Enterprise Service Centre. The employee IT accounts that can now be decommissioned through the ESC include email and access to central enterprise systems such as AMS, ROSI and Quercus.

InTune/Windows 10 Migration (February 2020 to October 2020)
This year, our team will migrate its legacy Managed Desktop Service (MDS) to Microsoft InTune, a cloud-based mobile device management service. During this process, all Windows workstations will also be updated to Windows 10. The migration to InTune and Windows 10 means great things for U of T – it will improve the end-user desktop experience and add enormous value to the University’s workplace modernization initiative. The year-long project is in its pilot stage and will officially launch with a new website detailing the migration process in late March.

Supporting Working Remotely (March 2020 to present)
We have also responded to the recent COVID-19 measures implemented by the University by creating a robust framework of technical resources and client support for staff who are working remotely. The DW team has created online guides for general users and managed desktop clients who need to access technical solutions such as VPNs and Remote Desktop gateway in order to meet the requirements of their jobs. The DW team has also been providing substantial additional technical support to managed desktop clients who need assistance in making the transition to working remotely.

Online Learning – Connect + Learn (March 2020 to present)
The team is participating in a new remote learning series for University of Toronto staff. EASI’s Connect+Learn training initiative will provide University staff members access to collaborative lunchtime learning opportunities on enterprise technologies including OneDrive, Teams, SharePoint, and connecting remotely to core systems such as ROSI and AMS.

Office 365 and High Performance Collaboration Training (March 2020 to present)
EASI is currently collaborating with a training partner, Protiviti, to develop a new set of in-person and online training modules. These modules will help the University’s Office 365 users to derive more value from Microsoft’s powerful suite of applications. Whether a user is new to U of T, new to Office 365, or just wants to learn more about the latest Office 365 productivity enhancements, these modules will help them get up to speed.

Who has joined the team recently and how will their roles help to provide better service?
The following individuals have recently been hired to help with Digital Workplace initiatives. We have a large, collaborative team which helps us to leverage the strengths of each individual and help our clients.

	Kathleen McLeod Services Engagement Coordinator Joining us from the ITS Education and Awareness team where she has worked on Information Security initiatives, Kathleen creates new training and outreach programs to ensure more uptake of the Office 365 productivity tools. Her goals are to increase the value end-users derive from the University’s investment in O365 and establish a new model for broadly engaging with our user community.
	Prajwal Channaiah O365 Release Coordinator Before joining the University, Prajwal was a senior engineer at Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions in Germany and India working daily in O365 and Azure (IaaS). In this newly created role, Prajwal is responsible for monitoring major updates to the O365 environment and determining the effects a change will have on the client community. Dissemination, education, and promotion of good practices for using new services and functions is essential for the long-term viability and extraction of benefit from the Office 365 suite.
	Tanya Shattuck O365 Administration and Security Manager Before joining the University, Tanya was a Senior Premier Field Engineer at Microsoft. Her primary role is the stewardship of U of T’s enterprise MS Cloud platform and O365, focusing particularly on its security and risk management. Tanya is the O365 global administrator and technical expert, who is establishing an effective enterprise MS Cloud platform Tier 2 and Tier 3 support operation to manage technical support for U of T help requests and information resources.

What should EASI and the U of T community know about the Digital Workplace?
EASI’s Digital Workplace team closely collaborates with colleagues across the institution, especially Academic Collaborative Technologies and the Information Commons, to provide University-wide support for services such as email and Office 365 applications. If you’re a Digital Workplace client running your divisional computers on our Managed Desktop Service, we’ll help you find the answer to your information technology issues.

Where do you see the Digital Workplace heading in the future?
In the future, the Digital Workplace hopes to move to a more integrated support structure across the institution – by working with our local IT colleagues we will be able to provide increasingly personalized support.

With InTune, we’ll be expanding the managed desktop environment to including Macs and mobile devices. I want IT to be a fun environment that allows users to embrace a culture of continuous learning and welcomes innovative ways for the University community to use technology in their jobs. After all, our users are the creative geniuses – we just provide the tools.

Thank you to the Digital Workplace team!

Pascal Loucadellis
Jimmy Au
Bobby Carasoulos
Alykhan Halani
Tony Lemmens
Percy Lo
Mike Ryall
Peter Sverko
Natalie Yeung

Shane Baccas
Sheynice Baccas
Irina Belaya
Mari Jang
Leticia Santana
Hariskrishna Venkatesan

Kathleen McLeod

Ian Thomas
Prajwal Channaiah
Derek Liu
Tanya Shattuck
Hong Zhu