What is the cost of migration to SharePoint 2016?

Below are the points to understand better how much the cost of migration to SharePoint 2016 could be for your organization:

• What version of SharePoint are you using?
  In general, moving to SharePoint 2016 is less expensive if you are currently using the most recent version, SharePoint 2013. This is because Microsoft only supports upgrades from SharePoint 2013, not from older versions such as SharePoint 2010, 2007 or 2003. If you are using an older version, you can first update to 2013 and then update to 2016, but this is time-consuming and costly. The alternative is to use a migration tool such as Metalogix Content Matrix or ShareGate to upgrade your old version of SharePoint to SharePoint 2016.

• Do you understand the features that have been removed in SharePoint 2016?
  Every time Microsoft updates its software, it takes the opportunity to remove features that are rarely used and replace those that don't work well. If you are using any of these features, you will need to come up with a plan for managing the change – which, of course, can increase the time and costs of migration. 

• Is your current SharePoint system highly customized?
  If you have implemented a lot of custom settings on your SharePoint system, be aware they might not automatically carry over into SharePoint 2016. You may have to spend time upgrading your customization and setting them up again on the new system.
  

• Are you using third-party tools?
  Third-party tools that you use with your current SharePoint version might not work with SharePoint 2016. So you may need to upgrade the tools to their newest versions, which could involve upgrade or new licenses fees.

Understanding the Cost of Moving to SharePoint 2016

The key to understanding how much SharePoint 2016 migration will cost is to know your current system inside out. Make a detailed inventory of your content and customization so you know what needs to move to the new platform.

There is no one-size-fits-all cost of migrating to SharePoint 2016, but understanding the variables that affect the cost can help you come up with an accurate estimate for your organization.

REST Or JSOM

REST

REST is Representational State Transfer. It is an architectural style and uses HTTP protocol. SharePoint 2013 onwards REST API is supported.

For filtering data, REST supports OData protocol.

One of the example of REST URL is given below:

http://server/_api/web/lists


JSOM

JSOM (JavaScript Object Model) is a CSOM (Client Side Object Model) interacting with SharePoint. This programming way is available from SharePoint 2010 onwards. JSOM programming requires the following:

1. Deeper understanding of the SharePoint CSOM API.
2. Reference to JSOM JavaScript files.
3. CAML query used for filtering.

Here's an example code for JSOM:

.          var listTitle = "Contacts";  

.          using(var context = new ClientContext(“http://url”))  

.          {  

.             var list = context.Web.Lists.GetByTitle(listTitle);  

.             context.Load(list);  

.             context.ExecuteQuery();  

.          }  

REST Advantages

The following are the advantages of going with REST: 

1. REST web requests are easier to work with that we can use Browser to test them.
2. No overheads of WSDL creation Or Detailed SharePoint knowledge required.
3. No overheads of tying up with Service Reference.
4. Direct calls for fetch, insert, update, delete, and find operations.
5. Better Interoperability supporting different clients on different platforms, programming models.
   
   In this way REST is more preferred among SharePoint Programmers.

JSOM Advantages

The following are the advantages of JSOM over REST which I would prefer to use only in particular scenarios.

JSOM supports Batching

Batching is the technique of tying multiple queries and sending to server. In this way, the roundtrip can be reduced to one.

Scenario: You have a Web Page where 10 list items need to be loaded. In the case of REST, this will require 10 roundtrips to the server, right?

But if you are using JSOM, you can wrap all the queries into one roundtrip. Invoke the Load() method multiple times as shown below.

1. context.Load(list1);  
2. context.Load(list2);  
3. context.Load(list10);  

Then we can call the ExecuteQuery() method which will actually send the query to the server. This is the advantage of Batching in JSOM.



Note: Chattier is another term that means the opposite of Batching. Chattier means it requires chat like request-response between client & server. So REST is chattier & JSOM not.

Difference between event receivers and workflows?

1. Unlike Workflows, Event Receivers cannot be triggered manually. SharePoint event handlers run for a short period of time (generally seconds), while SharePoint workflows may run for a much longer time period (days, months, or even years).
2. Workflows run asynchronously means we can trigger the workflows only when an item is created and when an item is modified but event receivers can work either synchronously and asynchronously.
3. Workflows can start manually but Event Receivers cannot.
4. Can cancel the operation in Workflows but in SharePoint 2010 we can cancel the event receivers also.
5. We can create workflows either by using SharePoint designer or visual studio but we should create an event receivers using visual studio only.
6. SharePoint event handlers are automatically initiated, while SharePoint workflows can be initiated either automatically or manually.
7. There is no User Interface(UI) for the event receivers.