A hub site is an intranet-type interface that is populated by content published in team sites and communication sites, which are two types of SharePoint sites. In essence, a hub site is an aggregator of news, activities, and other information from these sites.
(March 16, 2018: For updates on the release date, see this Microsoft blog.)
Is a hub site an intranet? Will hub sites become the preferred method of creating corporate intranets? And should the many “intranet-in-a-box” vendors be worried about being replaced by this free offering from Microsoft?
As would be expected, there has been a flurry of blogs — written by companies that offer SharePoint “intranets-in-a-box” — that downplay this possibility. Their claim is that hub sites will be a lightweight version of an intranet, not substantial enough to replace a “true” intranet, and that their offerings provide a wider range of features commonly found in intranets.
But it is premature to come to any conclusion and the debate is wide-open. For example, Joel Oleson, well-known SharePoint expert (see his blog: https://collabshow.com/), is giving the following session at the upcoming San Diego SharePoint Saturday January 13th:
“Communication Sites vs. Intranet in a Box – Debate!”
Communication sites are pretty cool, but are they cool enough to be the Intranet? What value do I get out of Intranet in a box solutions? In this session we’ll dig into the ins and outs of SharePoint Online Intranets. I also hope to show off some of the latest and greatest in Intranet in a box solutions from folks like Valo, Powell, and Bonzai.
With hub sites fresh out of the oven, it will take some time before we see how they are used. Clearly, though, hub sites will present a challenge to “intranet-in-a-box” providers. Number one, hub sites will come free with most versions of Office 365 — a hard-to-beat price, especially when the “in-a-box” price tags reach into the many thousands.
Second, hub sites are fluid and dynamic, meaning different communication and team sites can be attached to a hub and then moved around to other hubs as organizational needs change.
Third, navigation, look-and-feel, search, theme, and other UI elements are inherited by the linked communication and team sites, simplifying branding, search, and navigation.
Let’s dig into hub sites in a bit more detail and see what Microsoft is offering. A hub site:
A hub site can be comprised of multiple team sites, communication sites, and also site collections. Sites can only be associated with one hub site at a time and users will not be able to join multiple hub sites to each other.
The design concept of hub sites is to present a common navigational structure, look and feel, and search capabilities across associated sites. This common structure is defined from the top-down. When a team site or comm site is associated to a hub site, it inherits the following characteristics from the hub site:
The audience and purpose of a hub site is similar to a comm site: it’s designed to be aesthetically-pleasing while reaching a wide audience. Hub sites are a way to convey content to a large audience. In a typical enterprise hierarchy, a hub site may be intended for viewing at the division level and populated by multiple sites from the department level downwards. It is meant as a way for segments within large organizations to communicate with colleagues who have contributed in some fashion, whether directly or indirectly.
Hub site content is handled in the following manner:
For a more in-depth look at hub sites, see “SharePoint Hub Sites Overview”, a video by Mark Kashman, Senior Product Manager at Microsoft, and “Building Blocks for Your Intranet”, a LinkedIn post, also by Mark Kashman.
Microsoft’s new hub sites will undoubtedly become a popular feature for large enterprises where the employee count is in the thousands. In these scenarios, disseminating information efficiently becomes a high priority and hub sites could become a much-used feature by directors and division heads who value internal marketing opportunities. Small to mid-sized businesses will also find opportunities to leverage the power of hub sites.
Time will tell if hub sites replace or simply complement third-party SharePoint intranets. Meanwhile, as the Office 365 community anticipates the release of hub sites, the debate about the usage and functionality rages on!
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