The top 5 benefits of PleaseReview vs. SharePoint Online

Document collaboration platforms like PleaseReview or SharePoint Online are a must-have for teams that need to write and review important documents together. The right system can break down the barriers to productivity that slow people and projects down, while also improving the quality of the content.

There are a few important things to consider when choosing the best document collaboration software for your organisation. The answers will depend on the types of document you need to produce and the industry that you operate in. Here, we compare two popular choices: PleaseReview and SharePoint.

What is PleaseReview?

PleaseReview is a dedicated document review and co-authoring system. It is fully web-based and allows for easy and secure collaboration with people inside and outside your organisation.

What is SharePoint?

SharePoint is part of Microsoft 365 and is used for online document management and collaboration. It can also be used to build an intranet, alongside other apps.

What are the differences between PleaseReview and SharePoint?

Both systems provide a collaborative online workspace where documents can be co-authored and reviewed. But the functionality of each system varies, as does the level of in-document control that is available. Here are the top 5 benefits of PleaseReview vs. SharePoint Online to help you better understand each system when sourcing the best document collaboration tool:

In PleaseReview, the document owner has full control over what each person can see within the document, the actions they can take and when they can do it, even down to individual paragraphs. The document owner is the only person who can decide which changes to incorporate.
SharePoint users are working on the master document, and it is possible for people to overwrite each other’s work and for changes and feedback to go unnoticed. There is no separation of roles between co-authoring and review, so collaborations rely on people keeping to their own remits.

Several people can work on the same document at the same time in PleaseReview without affecting each other’s work. Everyone works on a single version of the document, so all communication is gathered in one place and nothing gets lost. All activity is tracked and reported, leaving a full audit trail. This is especially useful for documents that must be submitted to regulatory bodies.
In SharePoint, everyone is working on one version of the document, but changes are not tracked and reported automatically. It is possible to turn on ‘versioning’ so that previous versions of the document can be restored if needed, but this must be configured and may not be straightforward.

When you need to collaborate with people outside of your organisation, they can easily be added to your project in PleaseReview. The document owner can control which documents they can access, and what they can see and do within that document. This makes it a very secure environment.

To work with third parties within SharePoint, those people must be given access to your server, which may pose security risks. It is common for users to share documents with third parties via email. There may also be conflicts between the styles and templates of the documents being shared.

When you’re collaborating across teams and with various types of content, there will likely be more than one format involved. PleaseReview supports all Microsoft Office formats, plus non-Office formats such as PDF, plain text, images and source code. This is a standard feature and involves no extra work for the user. It is also possible to review sets of documents in a single project.

As a Microsoft product, SharePoint can collaborate on Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents as standard. It is only possible to collaborate on PDFs if SharePoint is integrated with Adobe products, and you may need to configure the system to support additional non-Office formats.

Both PleaseReview and SharePoint are ISO 27001 registered and are FedRAMP Moderate compliant in the US (The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program). The US Government version of SharePoint has high compliance for FedRAMP. Both PleaseReview and SharePoint are suitable for companies that work in a highly regulated environment.

PleaseReview goes a step further when it comes to in-document security. It records a full audit trail of all the activity that happens in each document and gives summary reports at the end of each review. And to help users protect sensitive data, PleaseReview has a redaction tool so there is no need for extra tools like Adobe.

Choosing the best document collaboration tool

In summary, SharePoint Online provides a less controlled environment. It may require a lot of background configuration to give users the flexibility they need to collaborate and achieve their goals. PleaseReview on the other hand is a dedicated document review and co-authoring system that is not limited to Microsoft apps. It gives project owners complete control over who can view, edit and approve specific content in any document. This is also backed up with comprehensive reporting and makes it ideal for businesses that operate in heavily regulated industries, or that handle sensitive information with third parties. Find out more about PleaseReview and it's features.

Written by

Alexandria Claypole

As Content Marketing Executive at Ideagen, Alex delivers insightful and actionable content to help organisations worldwide better understand the intricacies of the auditing, risk and compliance world. With strong roots in the technology sector, Alex is committed to advocating software solutions that support businesses in both achieving and exceeding their objectives.