As we approach the halfway point for 2020, it’s fair to say that it’s been an eventful start to the new decade, with many businesses still feeling the strain from the coronavirus crisis.
With entire workforces currently working from home, Microsoft has been busy improving its most popular services, so that important operations can continue as normal, despite the ongoing uncertainty.
SharePoint has been no different, as Microsoft recently announced a range of exciting new updates within its latest Roadmap Pitstop, designed to enhance the user experience for its customers.
Microsoft Lists is one of the most highly anticipated improvements, building on the original SharePoint Lists service to support businesses across a range of work management scenarios.
In this blog, we’ve taken a closer look at some of the other significant updates announced in the latest Roadmap Pitstop.
Scheduling pages and news posts
When it comes to strategising and planning future content, it’s not always feasible to post at the times you’ve planned, especially if this involves posting outside of normal working hours.
For this reason, SharePoint page authors have been given the ability to schedule pages and news posts for publication at a future date and time, like how social media content is managed across major platforms.
Once scheduling has been enabled, users can set a date and time for their pages and news posts to go live, allowing businesses to plan ahead and ensure content is posted at the best times to maximise engagement.
If you need to update the content or change the scheduled date and time, the page can be edited by selecting the ‘schedule’ option. If you don’t do this, the page will not publish at any time.
Scheduling can also be removed entirely if you’d prefer to publish content immediately. This can be done by selecting either Publish, Post news, Republish or Update News.


Microsoft Lists
SharePoint Lists has built a reputation for helping businesses become better organised, supporting them across a range of work management scenarios.
Microsoft Lists is an evolution of this service, allowing businesses to keep track of what matters most, like tracking issues, asset management, managing events and inventory tracking.
Complimenting the productivity portfolio alongside task management apps like planner, group calendars and file management, Microsoft Lists facilitates sharing and collaboration, using customisable views and smart rules to keep workers in sync.
Over the coming months, users can expect a range of new capabilities relating to Microsoft Lists, including the new Lists home page, ready-made templates, customisable forms and access to the service in Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft has also revealed plans for a Lists mobile app, which will be available on iOS later this year.
Microsoft Stream to record your screen
Within the latest Roadmap Pitstop, Microsoft also announced some significant updates under the banner ‘related technology’, providing users with yet more experience-enhancing tools.
One such update is the release of Microsoft Stream, which allows users to create short screen recordings of up to 15 minutes, including your camera and microphone, without the need for additional software.
Using the service, video creators can record any window or screen, adding a mic or system audio and webcam video if needed. The web-based tool also works with the latest version of Edge and Chrome.
Streamlined within Microsoft 365, this new service gives businesses the power to build their own training materials or demonstrate a new app or tool, without the need for expensive third-party software.


Microsoft 365 Records Management
Another important ‘related technology’ update is Microsoft 365 Records Management, which has now been made generally available for users.
Businesses can utilise the Records Management solution to help them meet their legal, business and regulatory record-keeping obligations, creating retention labels and author policies from within the Microsoft 365 compliance centre.
Offering a forward-looking approach to record management, the solution allows businesses to discover, classify, label, retain and defensibly delete content across the Microsoft 365 tenant.
With remote working becoming the new normal, securing and governing your company’s most critical data is of paramount importance, and this solution will give businesses greater depth in protecting sensitive information.
Mapping out your future…
Microsoft’s commitment to quality is clear to see, with new and exciting updates released regularly to help businesses access the support they need.
Like their monthly update cycles, the Roadmap Pitstops are designed to address the biggest issues currently faced by users, with Microsoft listening closely to customer feedback before implementing new features.
With the coronavirus crisis causing widespread uncertainty, it’s more important than ever for businesses to be on top of their work, ensuring operations continue running smoothly with the help of programmes like SharePoint and Microsoft Teams.
If you’d like to unlock the full potential of Microsoft 365 and its related services, then contact our in-house team of experts and find a solution that meets your requirements.
