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Deleted's avatar
Deleted
Apr 04, 2017

SharePoint Online vs. Microsoft Teams for Project Management and Cross-Site Document Searchability

Hello:   I am the PMO Senior Manager for a large global CPG company's R&D department.  Note: I am in the business (not IT), and can't get the guidance / options / clarity I need before choosing to ...
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Deleted's avatar
Deleted
Apr 12, 2017

Thanks for the responses EricDavisTech, Edward Lee, & keith Caravelli,

 

Microsoft Teams does not build a Sharepoint site that automatically imbeds into a seperate full-scale SharePoint Online site collection.  Microsoft Teams generates its own mini sharepoint site collection that does not integrate into SharePoint online; unless the IT department enables Enterprise Search capability and Publishing functionality.  The SharePoint Online site that I was provisioned unfortuatly was a basic Online site with no advanced functionality (including Enterprise Search)....to search across multiple site collections.

 

-Doug

John Peluso's avatar
John Peluso
Iron Contributor
Apr 12, 2017

Hey Deleted, are you saying that when you use the search  box at the top-left of the "SharePoint" home page you cannot find the file you stuck in the Teams app? I've taken a look under the hood at the SharePoint sites provisioned with groups I created in Microsoft Teams, and they look like full-on, modern SharePoint Team Sites.

 

I did a quick test and tried the following-- are you not seeing similar in your tenant?

1- Add a file to a channel in Microsoft Teams (or even better, do this test using a file that is already uploaded to Teams so you don't have to wait for SharePoint to index the file):

 

Add a file to TeamsAccess SharePoint Search from the SharePoint landing pageSearch for and find your MS Teams file

  • John Peluso's avatar
    John Peluso
    Iron Contributor
    Apr 12, 2017

    Just another comment here-- using the search within MS Teams you should be able to search files across teams and channels as long as you are a member of those teams:

  • Deleted's avatar
    Deleted
    Apr 12, 2017

    Hi John Peluso,

     

    What I am saying is that If I load a file to a Teams category, it will be put into the sharepoint site that is tied to the team site that it was created for.  This inherantly is a "site collection" in SharePoint.

     

    My overall question is around enabling SharePoint Online (which is completly different from a single sharepoint site collection created in Teams) to be able to search within its SharePoint Online site structure (i.e. all sites created under the SP Online site collection) AND the 1 or many standalone SharePoint site collections that are created for each MS Teams created.

     

    In full disclosure, currently I have 1 fresh sharepoint online site to configure from my IT department.  We also have Teams...however, there is an issue with Teams at our company; so I cannot test it out per say....but given my research, there is no way to connect each individual Teams Sharepoint site together with the SharePoint Online site (which maybe you can think of as a central ECM portal)....unless you use something called the "Enterprise Search Center."

     

    The "Enterprise Search Center" does not come with the provisioning of basic SharePoint Online instances....aparantly there are more advanced SharePoint Online sites out there that can be provisioned at a higher cost that delivers Enterprise Search (cross site-collection) capability.

     

    -Doug

    • John Peluso's avatar
      John Peluso
      Iron Contributor
      Apr 12, 2017

      I think I understand Deleted... SharePoint onine site collections are all peers of each other. Each site collection, including ones created as "SharePoint" site collections, those created with Groups, and, by extension, those created within Teams are essentially a flat structure. Hierarchy does not come into play unless you start creating sites below those collections. By default, when you use the search box from within a site collection, you search only that siste collection and its subsites. This is why you are not seeing cross-site search results very likely.

       

      The Search you access from the landing page of the "SharePoint tile in the App Launcher invokes SharePoint Enterprise search which searches accross all site collections (filtered of course by what you have the rights to see).

       

      But see my other response as well... You should be able to use search within Teams to find files accross all your teams and channels.

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