SharePoint is an excellent tool for creating an internal portal for your organisation. Your staff can use it as a secure place to store, organise, share and access information from desktop and mobile devices alike. It’s one of the oldest and most reliable platforms for helping you manage your business activities.
But SharePoint data, once gathered, can be somewhat inflexible when you want to query it. You could be missing out on insights that would enhance your business operations and profitability. AxioWorks’ SQList is an innovative approach to improving your business intelligence, allowing you to maximise the benefits you can extract from your SharePoint data.
SQList allows users to quickly and easily connect and export SharePoint lists to SQL Server, giving you live, continually refreshed access to your SharePoint data in near real time.
Why Use SharePoint?
In 2019, SharePoint was known to have more than 75,000 customers and 160 million users worldwide. If you’re not using it yet, you could be missing out on opportunities to grow your business.
We all know that the internet has sped up the pace of business, which makes it ever more vital that your organisation’s operations run smoothly, whether you’re managing them directly or remotely. With the increase in employees working from home or locations other than the office, particularly over the last couple of years, a centralised repository of business-related information that all staff can access, wherever they are, has become critical. Here are a few of the other reasons why SharePoint is a good choice for your business.
- Data Analytics
SharePoint has been around for a long time now, and Microsoft is constantly updating it to ensure that its users have access to all the latest trends and business tools that the platform can support. One of the key features added and improved upon with SharePoint, for instance, is Delve Analytics.
This feature can reveal information such as how long an employee has spent reading emails or attending meetings. It’s a day-to-day analytical tool that can give you insights into ways in which you can keep your business sharp and running efficiently.
- OneDrive
OneDrive’s integration with SharePoint allows easier connections, no matter how great the distances separating you and your team are. OneDrive allows your team to store data safely so that all members have access to the most important information at all times.
- User Experience and Control
If you want staff to use a data-sharing platform on a regular ongoing basis, it needs a good, easy to navigate user interface and must offer a high-quality overall experience. Microsoft is always looking for ways to improve SharePoint to increase user control and ease of use.
Alongside ease of use, you also need to make sure managers and administrators have access to enhanced control options. Central Administration offers you more power than ever to control the entire platform with ease. Accessing app management features is a cinch, and recent improvements have enabled users to keep an eye on SharePoint farms, manage security settings, and amend system settings as required in a more user-friendly way than ever.
- Security
Information can quickly go from being your best tool to a liability. The data that’s being sent back and forth must be totally secure. Conscious of this, Microsoft has added new features to SharePoint to create better defences so that you can be sure your data is in safe hands when collaborating with employees over the internet.
Data security is one of Microsoft’s top priorities to ensure users of its suite of products can keep files and data safe from hackers. After all, data breaches, hacks, and leaks can be disastrous for all businesses, whether large or small.
- Saves Money
Whether you’re subscribing or using the free version, SharePoint provides your business with insights that can help you cut costs and save time, creating smoother lines of communications in ways that can have a positive impact on your business operation.
Spending less time monitoring your employees means there’s more time available to spend on your products and/ or services, which frees you up to pursue your goals for your business. From preventing data breaches and offering secure online storage to providing you with superb data analytics, SharePoint’s features allow you to devote more time, money and focus to your business rather than on the organisation of it.
How to Connect a Sharepoint List to the SQL Server Database? Use SQList!
For all its many benefits, remember that SharePoint is primarily a document management tool. To truly take advantage of the capacity to use and gain insights into your data, you need to integrate it with one or more external systems. One of the most popular solutions for businesses is to export data from SharePoint lists to SQL Server, which can then be used to manipulate that data and create meaningful reports of all kinds via reporting tools like Crystal Reports, SSRS and Power BI.
This can be done in various ways, such as exporting the data into Excel and then loading it up into SQL Server from there. But these methods of exporting SharePoint list data to the SQL server database can be complicated and time-consuming. What’s more, the data you get is just a snapshot in time, so you’ll have to repeat the steps each time you want to refresh it.
Here at AxioWorks, we are professionals with plenty of years of experience in the design, development, implementation and management of business IT systems. We’ve designed a software product called SQList that simplifies the extraction of data from SharePoint lists to SQL Server tables which are much easier to manipulate to create the reports you need.
What’s more, the data replication for SharePoint to SQL Server is done continuously, automatically updating your tables with changes made within SharePoint. Therefore, you’ll know your data is 100% accurate and up to date.
Apart from the ability to extract SharePoint lists to SQL Server, SQList can also be used to generate reports in Power BI, as well as to integrate your live SharePoint data with other LOB (line of business) systems you may already be using.
The software is lightweight and quick and easy to set up and use, either continuously or for ad hoc or scheduled exports. It will work with any version of SharePoint, including SharePoint Online in Office 365, and SQL Server; and can be installed anywhere, with no customisation of either SharePoint or SQL Server necessary.
In short, it’s a powerful tool that can help you get the very most out of the data you hold in SharePoint. You’ll find more details on the advantages of SQList throughout our website, and we’re offering all new users the chance to try the software absolutely free, with no obligation, for 30 days to see whether it suits the needs of your business.
Meanwhile, if you have any questions, you can contact the team at AxioWorks by sending an email to info@axioworks.com or calling us directly on 0203 1376 636.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can you use SQL in SharePoint?
SharePoint can be connected to a wide variety of databases, including SQL. But because this process isn’t always straightforward or flexible, you will need a tool that allows you to seamlessly export SharePoint data to SQL Server like our SQList software.
What is SharePoint to SQL replication?
SharePoint to SQL replication is a technological process for copying, transferring, and synchronising data from SharePoint to one or more SQL Server databases. Our innovative software, SQList, allows you to do just that. Replication can be done continuously on an ongoing basis, which ensures that your data is always up to date.
How does SharePoint replication work?
Essentially, SharePoint replication via SQList provides users with quick and easy access to data via SQL Server Tables. Users can then easily interrogate and present their business’ valuable data using their preferred reporting tools, such as Power BI and other LOB systems.
What is the advantage of SharePoint to SQL Server replication?
The replication of SharePoint lists to SQL Server tables allows you to retrieve your data with very fast performance and without any of the limitations of direct connections to SharePoint.
Likewise, it allows businesses to update data consistently and acts as a reliable form of recovery whenever modifications are made. Hence, replicating and exporting SharePoint list data to SQL Server databases saves time, money, and effort.
Is SQList’s SharePoint to Server replication synchronous?
Almost. Replication is done in near-real time with SQList, making your data almost instantly ready for use.
When you sync SharePoint lists with SQL tables using SQList, you can rest assured that any changes made to the original SharePoint list will be reflected in your SQL table.
Is SQList’s SharePoint to SQL Server replication done in real time?
Yes, replication is always done in real time with SQList, making your data instantly ready for use. You can gain valuable insights from your important business data immediately, with all changes reflected in real time, giving you the utmost convenience and confidence in your data analysis.
Do you need SQL for SharePoint?
No, not necessarily. SQL is licensed and purchased separately from SharePoint, and therefore, they can be used separately. Having said that, there are numerous benefits to using the two in conjunction with one another. SQList makes this possible for your organisation.
Is SharePoint an SQL database?
No. Many assume SharePoint is a database because it contains many database-like features, like data types, columns, lists, document libraries, etc. But in reality, SharePoint is more of a document-management and collaboration platform; you can’t use it to carry out complex computations like you would with a database. Therefore, you need to replicate SharePoint information and export it to SQL.
SharePoint Uses for Businesses
SharePoint offers a multitude of benefits for businesses. For instance, it allows easy archival of all company emails in one centralised website. It also acts as a centralised location where team members can store and access data.
In addition, it allows teams to collaborate on large projects, such as events organisation, alerting team members on task updates and storing documents centrally for better data management. With its capabilities, it gives managers more control over corporate data and securely protects it from unauthorised access.
And if you connect SharePoint to SQL Server tables using SQList, your employees can extract and analyse data to present business insights that can save your organisation time, money and effort.
Reasons to Start Using SharePoint
Primarily, SharePoint is essential for storing organisational data – from recording time spent on business-related tasks like meetings to monitoring employee productivity.
Moreover, SharePoint allows businesses to keep their data secure. With the large quantity of data that is being processed constantly in this day and age, it’s easy for even the most sophisticated companies to fall victim to data breaches or cyber-attacks. Thankfully, SharePoint does not disappoint with its strong built-in security measures that greatly reduce the risk of your data being compromised.
But despite SharePoint’s many benefits, you will need to pair it up with a database like SQL server or reporting tools such as Power BI if you want to make the most out of using it. That’s where AxioWorks’ SQList tool comes in.
With the help of SharePoint to SQL Server replication from SQList, organisations can gain unified data access that gets updated in real time, allowing them to access data and gain insights anywhere, anytime.
Our SQList software is very easy to use and gives you full control over your data. It synchronises data without complications, enabling managers to organise and update data conveniently.
About Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server has helped businesses everywhere optimise their data management. SQL allows corporate data to become easily accessible, all while protecting it from breaches.
It has the power to store, organise, and maintain a certain amount of data in databases and secures them from digital theft. In addition, it can also bring increased security and reliability to organisations because of its backup system, allowing users to easily restore data in emergency situations.
By using SQL Server, the execution of operations becomes faster and simpler, allowing real-time updates both for employees and customers. This leads to increases in business productivity and revenue, and therefore increases the likelihood of growth.
Additionally, by pairing up SQL Server with first-class tools such as SQList, it is also possible to use SQL Server in conjunction with SharePoint. SQList makes it simple and easy to export SharePoint lists to SQL Server, allowing users to get the best of both worlds.
If you’re searching for the best program that enables unlimited accessibility to SharePoint Data, browse our services at AxioWorks. To get started in exporting SharePoint lists to SQL Server tables, call one of our representatives today!