What It Is:

One of the bigger topics of 2017 (in my opinion) was the continued complexity around sharing externally. Why this is a big deal is that the more difficult it is for employees to collaborate with the right people and at the right time, the more likely they will go around your security and compliance systems to get work done. Sharing content is the leading driver of “Shadow IT” efforts within most companies. Hey, we’ve all done it — in the not-so-distant past of OneDrive, for example, when my files were lost via a broken sync yet again, I paid for Dropbox. I needed something more reliable at the time. While I still use Dropbox with some clients, most of my file sharing is back to SharePoint and OneDrive now that quality has greatly improved.

In the  November update to Office 365, one of the new features mentioned was the ability to share secure external links in OneDrive and SharePoint Online, which includes sending an email-based verification code that can be “time bombed” by administrators. It’s a nice feature that is NOT restricted by Microsoft account status, so you can send links to partners and customers who do not have Microsoft accounts. That’s a big deal for the Office 365 world, and a huge step in the right direction for external collaboration.

As part of my ‘365 articles in 365 days’ attempt, I’ve put together a number of informative posts on key features and announcements. I’m doing this partly for my own benefit — I retain knowledge better when I’ve had a chance to read and review something, and then document it myself. Hopefully you’ll find this information useful. Obviously, the details provided below are not all-inclusive, but its enough to get you pointed in the right direction, and a lot of the content within this series will follow the same format.

High-level Description:

From support.microsoft.com:

A new method of securely sharing files and folders with external users is being implemented. Previously, when securely sharing with users who were not in the organization’s directory, these users were sent an invitation and had to log in using a Microsoft Account or a Work or School Account. They were then added to the directory as guests and given permissions to the file or folder.

Now, if you share with a user who is not in the directory, they are sent a one-time code that they can use to verify their identity. They are not required to log in using a Microsoft Account or a Work or School Account. [Read More]

Recent News/Media:

“New secure external sharing experience SharePoint Online”

This blog is about external sharing in SharePoint and OneDrive. Last Ignite (September 2017) Microsoft announced some improvements here. And these have rolled out to 1st release tenants. And it works great! What is it all about? Previously, you could share content from SharePoint or OneDrive with external contacts only if these contacts had a Microsoft account. This is going to change. From now, you can share your content (if enabled) with anyone outside of the organization. [Read More]

“Microsoft rolls out secure external sharing experience for OneDrive and SharePoint”

At Ignite few months back, Microsoft announced a new secure way for external sharing of files and folders in both OneDrive and SharePoint in Office 365. This new experience is now rolling out to all Office 365 users around the world. Office 365 already allows users to share files and folders by creating shareable links that can be used by anyone, and links that are internally shareable within a specific organization. But in some cases, users might need to share with additional security and require that people with the link prove that they are intended recipients. Microsoft’s new feature allows users to achieve this. [Read More]

Support Articles:

“Secure SharePoint Online sites and files”

While it might seem counterintuitive to allow external sharing, this approach provides more control over file sharing compared to sending files in email. SharePoint Online and Outlook work together to provide secure collaboration on files. +

–By default, Outlook shares a link to a file instead of sending the file in email.

–SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business make it easy to share links to files with contributors who are both inside and outside your organization.

You also have controls to help govern external sharing. For example… [Read More]

“Secure external sharing”

Secure external sharing in SharePoint and OneDrive provides a seamless external sharing experience enabling sending of secure links to recipients outside of your organization, those recipients will be sent an email message with a time-limited, single-use verification code when they open the link. By entering the verification code, the user proves ownership of the email account to which the secure link was sent. [Read More]

“Manage external sharing for your SharePoint Online environment”

If your organization performs work that involves sharing documents or collaborating directly with vendors, clients, or customers, then you can use the external sharing features of SharePoint Online to share content with people outside your organization. Or, if this is not the case, you may want to limit the use of external sharing in your organization. In this article, we look at the SharePoint Online sharing options and how to plan for them. [Read More]

“Manage sharing in OneDrive and SharePoint”

As a global admin or SharePoint admin in Office 365, you can use the OneDrive admin center to control how sharing works at the tenant level in OneDrive and SharePoint Online. Because each OneDrive is a site collection within SharePoint, your organization’s SharePoint settings and OneDrive settings are related. [Read More]

“The Definitive Guide to Office 365 External Sharing”

In any organization, whether large or small, sharing content with external users is an important piece of the Office 365 collaboration puzzle. Especially when working with clients, vendors or anyone else that users would need to collaborate with outside of the organization.
With the rise of the cloud, sharing content externally is easier than ever for users, but it does have its risks.
That’s why we wrote this complete and definitive guide, so you can stay in control of the who, what, where, and when of external sharing. [Read More]

Relevant Videos:

Office 365 External Sharing Webinar – November 7, 2017 (Envision IT)

 

Enable external sharing and collaboration with OneDrive and SharePoint – BRK2245 (Microsoft Ignite)

Microsoft Tech Community Discussions:

“Introducing a new secure external sharing experience”

At Ignite we announced a major improvement to the way secure external sharing of files and folders works in both OneDrive and SharePoint in Office 365 and we wanted to share what this means for users and IT administrators alike. Based on your feedback, we have focused our updates on two key areas: ensuring intended recipients get access 100% of the time, and continual reverification of identity. [Read More]

“New secure external sharing experience in OneDrive and SharePoint”

Office 365 makes it easy to share files and folders by creating a shareable link. Recipients can click the link and immediately access the file without having to go through any additional process. You can already create links that can be used by anyone, and links that are internally shareable within people in your organization.

Sometimes you need to share with additional security and require that people with the link prove that they are intended recipients. Office 365 also makes it easy to do this by allowing you to send links that work only for specific people.  [Read More]