What will be the benefits of having a hybrid SharePoint between (SharePoint online & SharePoint subscription server edition)

Question

I am working on a new project where the customer has E5 licenses. So, they have 3 options for using SharePoint: -

1. Online only
2. On-premises only
3. Hybrid

This is the first time the customer will be using SharePoint, and we need to build this basic setup for phase one: -

1. Home site for all users, to access company-wide News/Announcements & company-wide Templates/Documents.
2. The home site will have links to each department site.
3. Each department site will have its own News/Announcement and Templates/Documents.
4. We will start by 3 departments: HR, IT & Finance.

We need to decide if we should go with SharePoint Online only, on-premises only or build a hybrid environment?

I am suggesting these Points/Approach:-

1. Since we need a basic setup and there are not any compliance requirements to use on-premises, we can do all the above inside SharePoint Online.
2. in the future if certain departments have specific compliances requirements, we can set up the SharePoint subscription server edition and build a hybrid environment with the available online

Can anyone advice on which approach to follow? and does my suggested approach makes sense?

Thanks

Answer 1

Your suggested approach is definitely the best.

For the setup you mentioned, with no additional requirements, SharePoint Online is the optimal solution.

However, consider this:

• When will you know the additional compliance requirements? In a month? In 5 years? If it's 5 years, it makes sense to redesign the solution later. If one month, it makes sense to speed up the requirements gathering.

Do NOT underestimate the effort, initial setup and adoption will take. Any change that big later may double that effort.

• What do the similar companies in your sector decide for? Use those stereotypes. E.g. if my customer is a bank, I am mentally prepared for SharePoint Server - that's typical for the sector (but there are exceptions). If I have a cozy family firm with 50 people - SharePoint Online, they don't want to bother too much with all the IT and infrastructure stuff.

• Do you have any existing infrastructure? How do you connect it? How do you integrate it? Any on prem apps? Anything you need to migrate? If you are starting from zero - SharePoint Online.

• Some of the compliance requirements can be also managed in SharePoint Online - data residency with GEO Location, etc. Even when some weird requirements pop up - check for the possibilities in SharePoint Online. They are constantly updated and improved

Answer 2

Hybrid setup is really tricky. It would require advanced SharePoint skills. So if you are just starting SharePoint - I'd recommend online only setup.