The technology event of the year, Microsoft Ignite 2016, was held last week in Atlanta. It brought together the best and brightest minds to talk cloud infrastructure and management, productivity, big data and much more.
Among many exciting announcements, Reuben Krippner – Microsoft’s Director of Product Management, OneDrive – showcased major updates to OneDrive for Business on Office 365, including the eagerly-anticipated improved sync functionality. Let us take you through a rundown of the key new features and enhancements.
Sync
Easily the most important new feature is the ability to synchronize all of your Office 365 files for a single sync experience across OneDrive and SharePoint Online. Shared folder sync capabilities allow greater flexibility to manage SharePoint Online document libraries as well as OneDrive folders.
You will be able to share these inside and outside of your organisation, adding increased flexibility and a more collaborative experience. Both exciting new capabilities should be available in the coming weeks.
An Activity Centre gives you an overview of the sync client, giving you a picture of synchronisation and file activity at a glance.
Previewing and Browser Enhancements
Microsoft have heavily invested in the ability to preview in the browser without the need to download a file. They are now going to enabling users to preview the most common types of business files including Adobe Illustrator (.ai), Photoshop (.psd), emails (.msg and .eml), pictures in RAW formats and streaming video content.
Another productivity feature that will be added is the ability to select by dragging multiple files and download them as a zipped folder.
Powerful mobile features
Microsoft is bringing several new features to the OneDrive app on iOS and Android devices, including notification alerts when a colleague has shared a file with you.
On Android, the scan feature will allow you to snap multiple photos and combine them into a single PDF file. iOS users can now use the OneDrive app to tell you how many people have discovered and viewed the files that they have shared from OneDrive to SharePoint.
Microsoft’s commitment to improving user experience across its different platforms will encourage greater productivity, user adoption and an improved work experience from any device.
Watch Reuben’s full video below for an overview of what’s new. CompanyNet can help you move your business to the Cloud with Office 365. If you’d like to discuss opportunities to maximise your investment in Office 365, just drop us a line.