SharePoint Software Service

Features and Benefits

• Document Management
  Store, organize, and version files with robust search and metadata capabilities.
• Intranet & Communication Sites
  Build engaging, mobile-friendly sites to communicate news, resources, and updates across faculties and departments.
• Collaboration & Team Sites
  Enable teams to work together in real time in shared workspaces using SharePoint connected Teams sites.
• Anywhere Access
  Securely access content from desktop, web, or mobile devices.
• Integration with Microsoft 365
  Seamless connectivity with Teams, OneDrive, Outlook, Word, Excel and other M365 services.
• Security & Compliance
  Built-in data protection, permissions management, and alignment with UBC security standards.

Intended Use

SharePoint Online is recommended for:

• Faculty and department document repositories
• Project collaboration spaces
• Internal websites (Intranets) and knowledge bases

SharePoint Online is not intended for:

• Public websites – Consider using Drupal as an alternative for this use case.
• Sharing files externally – Consider using Microsoft Teams for these scenarios.

Getting Started

• Eligibility
  • Only active UBC Faculty or Staff members can request a SharePoint site
  • Every site must have a designated Site Collection Administrator
  • Site Collection Administrators must go through training
• Pricing
  • Pricing information will be available in the summer of 2026.

• Requesting a SharePoint Site

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• Before submitting a request:
  • Review the Eligibility criteria
  • Acknowledge that SharePoint Online is a costed service
• To request a site, please submit a ticket in Service Now: https://ubc.service-now.com/selfservice
• We recommend including the following information:
  • Purpose / Description – What the site will be used for
  • Site Owner(s) – Primary and secondary owners responsible for site design and content
  • Content Sensitivity – Classification of data (low, medium, high or very-high risk as per the Information Security Standard U1)
  • Intended Audience – User types and approximate number of users
  • Storage Requirements – Estimated storage needs
  • Associated Microsoft Team(s) – If integration is required
  • Prior Experience – Indicate if you have prior SharePoint and/or web content management expertise
  • Professional Services – Indicate if additional support is needed to build a site
• Accessing SharePoint Online
  • Log into https://ubcca.sharepoint.com/

Limitations and other Considerations

1. External Access
   1. External sharing in SharePoint Online is more restrictive than Microsoft Teams. The intention is to reduce the risk of data exfiltration.
   2. To grant access to an external user:
      1. A faculty or staff member must sponsor a guest account via AccessUBC
      2. Submit a ticket to the IT Service Centre to enable Microsoft 365 access
      3. Provide the assigned CWL username and request the “FASmail Manual Provision Role”
   3. An M365 account (including mailbox) will be provisioned, enabling access to the UBC M365 environment and SharePoint Online.

2. Permissions

   1. SharePoint Online uses a flat (non-hierarchical) structure, enabling a more modular and modern approach to site management.
   2. Traditional SharePoint groups cannot be reused across sites.

   Supported permission models:

   1. Automated groups from AccessUBC
      1. Based on Workday Functional Unit Hierarchy (FUH)
      2. Managed via AccessUBC (provisioned by UBC IT)
   2. SharePoint groups
      1. Managed at the site level only
      2. Cannot be reused across sites
      3. Managed by Site Collection Administrators
   3. Entra ID Security groups
      1. Centrally managed by UBC IT
      2. In some cases, delegated to Site Collection Administrators
3. Customizations
   1. UBC will minimize customizations in SharePoint Online to:
      1. Reduce upgrade and support risks
      2. Improve long-term maintainability
      3. Enable adoption of future Microsoft 365 capabilities
   2. Custom solutions may:
      1. Break during platform updates
      2. Complicate site retirement or archival
      3. Limit access to new Microsoft 365 features
4. Forms and Workflows
   1. Advanced forms and workflows (leveraging Power Apps and Power Automate) will require additional licensing.
   2. Initially developed and maintained by the SharePoint team:
      1. This model may evolve over time
   3. For more complex solutions:
      1. A Professional Services engagement may be required for scoping and delivery
5. Add-ins / Integrations
   1. Not included in the initial release of SharePoint Online
   2. Future integrations will require:
      1. Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)
      2. Security Review
   3. Integrations will be enabled incrementally once approved for the UBC tenant.

Governance

• Roles and Responsibilities
  • Business Site Owners & Content Authors
    • Responsible for the accuracy, timeliness, and quality of content within their sites
    • Site Collection Administrators manage permissions for their teams where not automated
  • UBC IT SharePoint Team
    • Provides platform guidance, governance standards, and best practices
    • Does not manage day-to-day content authoring or site maintenance
  • Professional Services
    • Available to support site design, build, and development of forms and workflows
    • Provided on a fee-for-service basis
• Site Lifecycling
  • Active Use
    • SharePoint sites remain active while the service is funded
  • Decommissioning & Archival
    • If funding stops or a site is decommissioned:
    • The site will be archived for one (1) year
    • Content is permanently deleted after the retention period
  • Records Management
    • Site Collection Administrators and users are responsible for:
    • Compliance with the UBC Records Retention Schedule
    • Exporting and retaining any records required beyond the service lifecycle
  • Inactive Sites
    • If a site shows prolonged inactivity:
    • UBC IT may request confirmation (attestation) that the site is still required
• Content Deletion Lifecycle

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• Naming Conventions

  A site name must consist of three parts: the Functional Unit Hierarchy code, a descriptive site name, and a Hub Site identifier (if one exists).

  Part 1 (Functional Unit Hierarchy) – Mandatory	Part 2 (Site Descriptive Name) – Mandatory	Part 3 (Hub Site Identifier) – Optional
  The acronym of a department/business unit that a site belongs to: ATHL = Athletics and Recreation (UBCV) AUDI = Audiology and Speech Sciences AVAC = Associate VP Academic Affairs AVAF = Associate VP Development DAE = Development, Alumni, and Engagement AVAP = Associate VP Academic Resources AVPC = Associate VP UBC Extended Learning Etc…	The descriptive name which identifies the purpose of the site. For example, this can be the project, initiative, and/or topic for the site.	If the site is a Hub site, the following will be postfixed at the end of the site name: “- Hub”

  For example, a hub site in Sauder may be named “SAUD Resource Centre – Hub”.

Support

• Usage Guides
  Microsoft SharePoint Online training and support links
  The following Microsoft resources can help UBC community members learn how to use SharePoint Online.
  
  Please Note: These are general Microsoft support materials. Not all SharePoint Online functionality noted in the below apply to UBC.

Useful Links

• Foundation Services Project – SharePoint Online Migration

Contact Us

• To request a new site, please review the instructions noted above in the “Requesting a SharePoint Site” section.
• If you have any other inquiries related to SharePoint, please submit a ticket to the IT Service Centre.