Guest Contribution by Anastasia Stefanuk

Sharepoint is a collaborative platform that allows documents and internal processes management. Sharepoint developer is a professional, who helps to customize the platform to a particular client’s needs. Although the software offers many features ready as templates, it takes a lot of planning and development to adjust them to specific business processes according to the industry.

Sharepoint developer creates custom code and applications to solve issues of a company and provide it with the best experience using the software. This job requires in-depth programming skills with the use of several languages and technologies.

Sharepoint platform is pretty complex and includes several dimensions when it comes to development. A professional Microsoft Sharepoint developer is knowledgeable not only in specific development languages but also has expertise when it comes to business analytics and information architecture design.

The key responsibilities include custom web parts and components development. The important factor for this professional is to have a deep knowledge of a platform and ready solutions, which can be customized. Sharepoint developer communicates with the client directly to understand the required processes and implement them into the solution.

8 Essential Skills of Sharepoint Development

Custom Sharepoint development requires a high level of expertise in many aspects. The main focus is to answer the specific needs of a business with the functionality of this platform. The developer is in charge of implementation and maintenance, starting from custom workflows and up to data migration. Here are key skills a great professional needs to have:

1. Experience and knowledge of several programs, namely:

–   Sharepoint designer

–   Visio

–   PowerShell

–   Visual Studio

2.     Knowledge of several programming languages, such as:

–   ASP. NET (as the solution is NET-based overall)

–   C#

–   CSS

–   HTML5

–   JavaScript

–   jQuery

3. Understanding out of box tools that are already available for Sharepoint. It is vital as it saves a lot of time and money to use already existing features rather than coding them from scratch. Sharepoint programmer has to have a deep insight into the templates, apps and third-party developments before starting to create something new.
4. Focus on end-users experience. A programmer needs to understand how end-users access information and work with the platform. This information is extremely important in designing and customization of the solution.
5. Be able to create web-parts, which are basic units of Sharepoint.
6. Rest API. This is the necessary software to implement advanced features and increase customization.
7. Communication. A developer needs to work with tight collaboration with a client, to understand the needs and requirements. It is vital to have constant communication to implement all the changes effectively.
8. Business analysis and understanding of an industry. To build a custom solution that increases the efficiency of processes, the developer needs to have knowledge of business processes in general and specific features of a particular industry the company works in.

Other skills include work with documentation, it is creation and maintenance. Sharepoint developer is also responsible for software testing and data storage. Microsoft Sharepoint certification provides exams that prove the proficiency of a programmer.

Future Prospects for Sharepoint Developers

This job position is in high demand since the release of the Sharepoint platform. The main reason is the complexity of the software that requires a client-oriented and individual approach. According to ITJobsWatch, the annual salary continues to grow for Sharepoint developers.

This tendency is believed to grow as the software is used by a huge number of businesses. The main change in the future happens in terms of choosing an on-premise or a cloud solution. According to Statista, more companies select a cloud hosting option. It is a more flexible version that has many advantages, so this trend will grow in the future.

Here are just several numbers to illustrate the spread of Sharepoint all over the world:

–   It is the fastest sold Microsoft solution in history

–   There are about 20,000 new users added per day

–   It gets 7.3 million new users per year

–   About 78% of Fortune 500 companies use Sharepoint

This is a great and all-in-one solution for businesses, that integrates flawlessly with other Microsoft products. Therefore, it is predicted to grow in numbers. As a result, Sharepoint development will remain in great demand.

Companies Using Sharepoint

Sharepoint is one of the best collaborative solutions, that’s why many companies have implemented it in their work. For example:

–   J.P. Morgan

–   INTL

–   Takeda Pharmaceuticals

–   FCA North America

–   Citibank

–   Procter & Gamble

–   Nestle

–   Emerson

–   PMI

–   Dell

–   Viacom and others