SharePoint 2013 is the star of the show.

As we heard during the European SharePoint Conference, the buzz around the release of SharePoint 2013 has grown louder and louder. While everyone expected the next version of SharePoint – regardless of name, timing or features – to draw interest, it has been surprising to see the level of interest.

This point was hammered home as we conducted the SharePoint Content Survey in November at SPC 12. Of more than 100 SharePoint and IT professionals surveyed, from both the public and private sector, roughly 60 percent said they were planning a SharePoint 2013 upgrade within the next year. And this was before Microsoft had even announced a GA date! We weren’t the only ones to take notice – CMS Wire led off an article with that fact and got the social SharePoint community talking.

There has been a lot of discussion around SharePoint 2013 in general – but what are the specific features creating buzz? In our survey, we listed out 8 new, much-discussed features and asked which would they be most likely to deploy in SharePoint 2013 – they were allowed to pick more than one:

Clearly, mobile device support was the clear leader as most anticipated feature and it comes as no surprise. Our entire world is becoming mobile, as anyone who uses a smartphone or tablet can attest – especially those of you reading this right now on a smartphone or tablet. The pace of business is constantly speeding up and, with SharePoint established as the standard for knowledge sharing and collaboration, it needs to keep pace.

The next two on the list – New MySites and New Community Sites – play into the growth of SharePoint across the enterprise. With content growing at 75% per year and adoption usually organization-wide, these sites serve as way to better serve different departments and businesses cases. Throughout our history of helping customers with their SharePoint upgrade projects, moving and reorganizing sites has been a common theme and one that will continue through SharePoint 2013.

There are a couple possible reasons for this. The first could be the wording of the question – even if social isn’t the main reason for upgrading to SharePoint; it could certainly be an added benefit after the move.
The other possibility is that organizations will eventually roll out social features, but not immediately after making the move to SharePoint 2013. We have seen organizations of all sizes show a reluctance to immediately jump on board with social media – from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram – until it is established. There will always be early adopters, but will many take a wait and see approach?

The main takeaways from our survey on SharePoint 2013 are ones you probably could have guessed before reading – people are excited about upgrading with mobile device support driving the most interest. What you probably didn’t realize is that 60% of SharePoint professionals want SharePoint 2013 now – or at least very quickly.

Metalogix were Silver Exhibitors at ESPC 2013. For more SharePoint content check out our resource centre from SharePoint specialists!

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