manage SharePoint Online tenant and site settings

Managing a SharePoint Online tenant and site settings is an essential skill for an administrator preparing for the MS-100 Microsoft 365 Identity and Services exam. A SharePoint Online tenant is a collection of sites under a common management and accessibility structure. Here’s an overview of key management activities for SharePoint Online tenant and site settings.

Understanding SharePoint Online Administration

The SharePoint admin center is the primary tool used to manage your SharePoint Online tenant. Here you can create and manage sites, configure sharing settings, monitor SharePoint activity, and more.

Tenant-level Settings

• Sharing Settings:
  • External Sharing: Determine whether to allow users to share content with people outside your organization.
  • Guest Access: Configure the level of access for guests, including what they can see or do within your tenant.
• Site Storage Limits:
  • You can set storage limits for sites to ensure no single site collection exceeds a certain quota.
• Search Configuration:
  • Customize the search experience across your SharePoint Online tenant.
• Access Control:
  • Set policies for access from untrusted devices or locations.

Site-level Settings

• Site Collection Administration:
  • Each site collection can have its own administrators and settings, separate from the tenant-level settings.
• Permissions:
  • Define who has access to specific content within a site.
• Navigation and Look:
  • Customize the appearance and navigation of the site to align with your organization’s branding.
• Content Deletion and Retention Policies:
  • Setup policies for how long content is kept before being deleted or archived.

Managing Sites and Collections

Creating and managing site collections is one of the key responsibilities of a SharePoint Online administrator. You need to:

• Create New Sites:
  • Choose between a team site (connected to an Office 365 group) and a communication site based on your needs.
• Site Collection Features:
  • Enable or disable specific features at the site collection level.
• Site Templates:
  • Choose a template that suits the purpose of your site.
• Delete Sites:
  • When a site is no longer needed, you can delete it or schedule it for deletion.
• Recover Deleted Sites:
  • SharePoint Online retains deleted sites for 93 days, during which they can be restored.

Monitoring SharePoint Online Usage

Monitoring how your SharePoint Online environment is being used is critical.

• Usage Reports:
  • The SharePoint admin center provides detailed reports on how your sites are being used, including file activities and search statistics.
• Audit Log Reports:
  • Enable auditing to track and report on user activities for compliance and monitoring purposes.

Security and Compliance in SharePoint Online

Security and compliance are critical components that need to be managed effectively.

• Data Loss Prevention (DLP):
  • Create DLP policies to protect sensitive information from being shared inappropriately.
• Sensitivity Labels:
  • Apply labels to content to manage access and sharing based on sensitivity.
• Information Rights Management (IRM):
  • Protect documents at the file level with IRM policies.

SharePoint Online Tenant and Site Settings Best Practices

• Regular Reviews:
  • Periodically review tenant and site settings to ensure they align with organizational policies and security standards.
• Training and Communication:
  • Ensure users are trained on SharePoint Online best practices and understand the organizational policies for content management and sharing.
• Backup and Recovery:
  • Although SharePoint Online offers robust recovery options, consider third-party backup solutions for critical data.

By mastering the management of SharePoint Online tenant and site settings, administrators can ensure their organization’s SharePoint environment is secure, compliant, and optimized for collaboration. Preparing for the MS-100 exam involves understanding these concepts in depth, along with gaining hands-on experience in the SharePoint admin center.