SharePoint turning 25 offers the perfect excuse to step back and look at how much the platform has changed, and how the way organisations use it continues to evolve. To mark the occasion, Stratos Technology Partners hosted a live AMA with Steve Knutson, who has spent most of those 25 years helping organisations design, build, tidy, fix, upgrade, migrate, and make peace with their SharePoint environments.

The conversation covered everything from the early days of custom portals to modern Microsoft 365 governance, and the themes that came through were surprisingly consistent: keep things simple, focus on structure, and design with real people in mind.

How SharePoint Has Evolved

Looking back, early SharePoint projects were dominated by custom development. Entire intranets were shaped by bespoke code, unique branding, and creative layouts that worked beautifully… until it was time to upgrade. That era was powerful but fragile.

Modern SharePoint is a completely different experience. Microsoft continues to roll out new features at speed, and the platform has shifted heavily toward configuration rather than customisation. Out-of-the-box components, templates, and site designs now play a central role. This move has made SharePoint far more stable and easier to manage, and has opened the door for business teams to take ownership, rather than relying on developers for every change.

The Challenges Organisations Still Face

Even with better tools and patterns, some issues continue to crop up again and again.

Many intranets launch with strong enthusiasm only to drift without a clear owner. Migrations often bring across years' worth of content without reviewing what’s still relevant. Folder structures mirror old file servers, complete with deep nesting and person-based organisation. Teams proliferate without oversight, creating hard-to-track sprawl. And permissions become increasingly tangled when access gets granted to individuals rather than managed through groups.

None of these problems are unusual, in fact, they’re some of the most common reasons organisations reach out for help.

Folders and Metadata: Finding the Balance

The “folders vs metadata” discussion has been around almost as long as SharePoint itself. People tend to sit firmly on one side or the other, but the reality is far more balanced.

Metadata shines when documents follow a specific process or need to be classified for compliance, automation, or lifecycle management. It’s also essential for organisations wanting to make the most of sensitivity labels, retention rules, or Purview.

But folders continue to have their place, especially for users who work offline or prefer a simple, predictable structure. In these cases, a folder approach supported by default metadata can offer the best of both worlds.

In practice, the goal is to understand how your users actually work and design accordingly.

Easy Wins That Improve User Experience

Some features don’t get enough attention, even though they can immediately make life easier:

• Rules, which quietly notify you about activity in a library
• JSON formatting, which helps transform lists and libraries into cleaner, more intuitive experiences

These small improvements can make a big difference in day-to-day usability.

Making Permissions Manageable

Permissions have always been one of SharePoint’s trickiest areas. The biggest problems come from inconsistency, especially when people apply access directly to individuals.

A group-based approach is not only cleaner but far easier to maintain over time. Choosing one permission model (Microsoft 365 groups or SharePoint groups) and sticking to it helps avoid confusion, and setting sharing defaults to “existing access” prevents accidental permission spread.

Clear governance around site creation and ownership also plays a major role in keeping things tidy.

What Good Governance Looks Like Today

Governance isn’t about locking things down; it’s about creating a predictable, well-understood environment. Good governance supports users by helping them make sense of where things belong, how content should be structured, and how long information should be retained.

A solid governance model typically includes:

• A clear information architecture
• Metadata and classification standards
• Site templates
• Naming conventions
• Lifecycle and archival processes
• Sensitivity and retention policies
• Clear ownership and review cycles.

Importantly, governance should be right-sized, practical for the organisation’s capacity and maturity, not overwhelming.

Navigating Archiving and Storage

Archiving can be surprisingly misunderstood. For example, archiving a Team does not reduce storage; it simply makes the Team read-only.

True archiving options, such as Microsoft 365 Archive, allow organisations to move unused sites into a lower-cost storage tier while keeping metadata, structure, and compliance policies intact. Third-party tools can help automate this at scale.

The key is preserving context and ensuring anything archived can be restored if needed.

AI and the Future of SharePoint

As organisations rely more heavily on Microsoft 365, AI is increasingly becoming the way users interact with information. Instead of searching through libraries and sites, people are beginning to ask natural questions and let AI surface the content they need.

SharePoint remains the backbone that stores and manages information. AI becomes the layer that helps people access it more easily.

This shift makes good structure, well-managed metadata, and strong governance more important than ever.

Staying Ahead Without Feeling Overwhelmed

Microsoft’s release cycle can feel relentless. New features arrive constantly, and it’s easy to feel like you’re always catching up. A few simple habits can help:

• Checking the Message Center
• Keeping an eye on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap
• Using a dev tenant to preview features early
• Following update-focused podcasts and community voices.

This creates breathing room and gives teams time to prepare.

Final Thoughts

SharePoint has evolved dramatically over the past 25 years, but the heart of it remains the same: helping people store, share, and manage information in ways that make sense.

When organisations take the time to structure things well, set up helpful governance, use metadata where it matters, and keep permissions clean, everything else, including AI, works better.

If you’re on this journey, you’re not alone. Every organisation has quirks, history, and a few messy libraries tucked away somewhere. What matters most is having a direction, a rhythm, and a structure that supports the people using it.