Microsoft updates its OneDrive for Business roadmap
It's been a while since Microsoft provided an update to its OneDrive cloud-storage roadmaps. (I think the last full-fledged one I saw was in May 2015.)
However, at a recent Microsoft cloud roadshow event, company executives shared an updated look at where the company is with various new user and IT features for OneDrive for Business.
The slide above is from Aaron Rimmer's talk at the Microsoft Cloud Roadshow a week ago. (Thanks to The Final Step's Guy Gregory, who attended, for the pointer to it.)
Here's what's on the OneDrive for Business line-up. Note that only two of the Q1 items -- Outlook Mobile iOS integration and auditing and actuity reporting -- are currently available. The rest are still in the pipeline, apparently:
FOR USERS
Q1
- Outlook Mobile iOS integration (still not yet available; corrected from my original post which said it was)
- PDF annotation support for Android
- Drive discovery and recent files view in browser client
- Windows 8.1 support for Next-Gen Sync
- Streamlined Microsoft Account creation
Q2
- iOS access to SharePoint Online files
- Self-service NGSC (Next Generation Sync Client) setup and groove.exe takeover
- Pause Sync
- Curate the "Share with Me" view
Committed (no timeline yet/engineering planning in progress)
- Sync of shared folders
- Sync of SharePoint document libraries
- Notifications
- SharePoint on-prem support for iOS
- Android access to SharePoint Online files"Shared by Me" view
FOR IT
Q1
- Auditing and Actuity Reporting (available now)
- DLP support for mobile apps
- Deny list of file types for sync
- Customer Location
Q2
- Link encryption IT controls
- Data retention settings for deleted users
- DLP (Data Loss Prevention) custom classifications
- Bandwidth throttling controls for sync
- External sharing domain allow/deny list
Committed (no timeline yet/engineering planning in progress)
- Removal of #, % blocked characters
- Max path length increase
- Differential and RMS sync support
- IT insights reporting
- AAD (Azure Active Directory) Conditional access for NGSC (Next Generation Sync Client)
If you're one of the many folks waiting for the Next Generation Sync Client to add support for SharePoint, you may be dismayed to see "Sync of SharePoint Document Libraries, as well as a number of other SharePoint features, listed as "Committed" but with no imminent arrival date. In December 2015, Microsoft officials said SharePoint sync was coming to OneDrive for Business in "a future release," but didn't provide an actual time commitment.
Microsoft's guidance for those awaiting the SharePoint integration is to run the NGSC side-by-side with Groove for now, and expect a graceful handoff when it's eventually supported.