Know the Benefits of Integrating SharePoint with Salesforce

Salesforce and SharePoint are two of the most widely used platforms by businesses worldwide. The former is a leading Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform, while the latter excels in document management and collaboration. When connected, these two platforms offer extraordinary benefits; organizations can unlock a host of benefits to drive efficiency, reduce costs, and improve overall business productivity. We will go in-depth at the key advantages of integrating SharePoint with Salesforce and how XfilesPro can make this process seamless and efficient.

What is SharePoint Integration In Salesforce?

Salesforce is a CRM and SharePoint is for storage, and together they make a pair that supports effortless file and data management, enabling seamless data exchange and streamlined workflows between the two platforms. The integration allows users to store, manage, and share Salesforce documents directly within SharePoint, leveraging SharePoint’s advanced document management capabilities while maintaining Salesforce’s CRM functionality.

Here’s what connecting data flow between these two systems will get you:

• File Sharing & Storage: Automatically store and share Salesforce-generated documents like contracts, invoices, and proposals in SharePoint.
• Collaboration: Teams can collaborate on files stored in SharePoint while associating them with Salesforce records.
• Access Control: Manage permissions for documents via SharePoint while keeping them linked to Salesforce data.

But, are these factors sufficient to drive the integration process? The amount of time and resources required to link Salesforce with SharePoint should be proportional to the benefits you receive.

That’s why, you list down the limitations that are sure to come up when your business scales and Salesforce can’t keep up!

Limitations of Managing Documents within Salesforce

Although Salesforce boasts nearly 1.5 million customers (as of 2024), it still does not support vast storage options simply because it is not a repository. You need to shell out money, that too a huge amount, for extra space that can run out quickly enough.

Some more limitations include:

• Basic Document Management: Native file management lacks advanced features like version control and detailed permissions.
• Inefficient Collaboration: Sharing and collaborating on files is less intuitive compared to dedicated document management platforms like SharePoint.
• Record and File Size Limits: The maximum storage size for PDFs is 100MB and 5GB for CSV. Similarly, the file size limit is 100 MB or 32 MB for zipped files. 
• Visualization and Sharing: Standard Salesforce tools offer limited visualization and sharing options, which are often difficult to grasp for non-technical users.
• Technical Expertise: As a CRM, Salesforce is often considered too complex for users who are not aware of technical jargon and workflows.
• Possible Integration Complexities: Although Salesforce offers multiple integration options, it can still be arduous to implement connections in some cases.

Clearly, you can’t forgo every drawback. But when it comes to your business data management, you can rely on XfilesPro to eliminate all these roadblocks easily. One way to do it is by integrating SharePoint with Salesforce, which is a quick and effortless process when done using XfilesPro

Top 7 Benefits of Integrating Salesforce with SharePoint

Besides the obvious increase in ROI and better data management, the advantages of connecting SharePoint and Salesforce are:

Detailed Reporting and Analytics

Analysis and documentation is an important part of any data management process. And when it comes to handling that data in CRM, this action becomes much more critical. Integration of Salesforce with SharePoint allows businesses to generate comprehensive reports that combine CRM data with document management insights. For example, businesses that use Salesforce with SharePoint find it easy to analyze customer purchase contracts and associated documents. 

By combining CRM data with document usage insights, they generate detailed reports that reveal customer behavior trends, aiding targeted marketing strategies and boosting sales.

Better File Security

Every customer/business data comes with an advantage, but that needs to be protected. File security within the CRM or your external storage option is necessary to avoid breaches or non-compliance. SharePoint offers advanced security features, including encryption, permission settings, and compliance tools. When added with Salesforce, it ensures sensitive documents are stored securely, reducing the risk of data breaches.

Easy Collaboration

A globalized workforce means multiple teams and simultaneous reviews. If your team also works together to create and review documents, limiting them due to lack of version control is a bad business decision.

With the integration in place, your team can collaborate in real time and work together on a single document without missing critical information. So, if your global sales team uses Salesforce for customer data and SharePoint for collaboration, integration allows them to access and update proposals linked to Salesforce opportunities in real time.

Compliance Friendly

Globally, data regulations change every year if not every day. If you move deeper down, these guidelines are segregated based on business verticals, such as healthcare, digital, and financial. Using SharePoint’s compliance tools ensures documents adhere to industry regulations, and integration with Salesforce provides an audit trail for all document activities.

Streamlined Workflows

Speaking of automation, another Salesforce and SharePoint integration advantage is streamlined workflows, such as automatic document transfers, approval processes, and task notifications. Suppose your legal firm generates client agreements in Salesforce. These agreements are automatically transferred to SharePoint, where predefined workflows are sent for review and approval.

XfilesPro acts as the bridge between SharePoint and Salesforce to carry out tasks, like automatic file transfers, bi-sync of files, and folder structuring.

Enhanced Load Balancing

When you offload heavy document storage to SharePoint, Salesforce’s performance improves, leading to faster data retrieval and better user experiences. Businesses experiencing slow Salesforce performance due to heavy storage usage can integrate with SharePoint to offload large document files to improve Salesforce query response times and overall system performance.

Scalability and Productivity

All the above benefits of integrating Salesforce with SharePoint lead to one singular point—your business is scaling. It allows businesses to handle growing volumes of data and documents without compromising on performance or storage limits. Further, having centralized access to all files through Salesforce enables team members to save hours previously spent on locating, sharing, and managing documents. All of these jobs are automated.

Leverage all these Benefits with XfilesPro

When integrating Salesforce with any external storage system, in this case, SharePoint, using a document management solution like XfilesPro helps tremendously. It aids in easily and quickly developing the connection between the two platforms to begin the file transfer process as soon as possible. Moreover, XfilesPro is user-friendly and does not require extensive technical knowledge to be set up.

XfilesPro Features

• Powerful Integrations: Easily connect Salesforce with SharePoint and other storage systems (Google Drive, One Drive, and AWS S3) to move your files automatically using XfilesPro. It helps manage Salesforce storage and reduces manual effort in handling numerous business-related documents.
• Version Tracking: XfilesPro provides robust version-tracking capabilities to record all document revisions. This feature allows users to view document history, retrieve older versions, and maintain an organized repository of updates.
• Folder Structure: XfilesPro enables businesses to implement a logical and customizable folder structure for storing documents. This ensures that files are organized to mirror the company’s workflows, making it easier for users to navigate and locate specific documents efficiently.
• Bi-Sync Component: With bi-directional synchronization, XfilesPro ensures that changes made in Salesforce or SharePoint are automatically reflected in both systems to eliminate duplication, keep data consistent, and ensure real-time updates.
• Get Files: The Get Files feature allows users to retrieve documents stored in SharePoint directly from Salesforce. This seamless access saves time, enhances productivity, and ensures that users always have the necessary information at their fingertips without switching platforms.

Explore our tool in AppExchange or Request for a Demo to see it in action!

Conclusion

To get the best out of Salesforce, using it as CRM is one way, but integrating it with SharePoint is the best way. Most businesses opt for this connection as a strategic move to optimize document management, reduce costs, and improve collaboration. 

With advanced tools like XfilesPro, the integration process becomes seamless and highly effective leveraging the strengths of both platforms, while adding more features in the data workflow.