SharePoint Embedded: Document Management Without SharePoint

• SharePoint Embedded provides storage in Microsoft 365 with built-in document management for custom apps but should not be confused with SharePoint.
• Costs shift from Per‑User M365 licenses to app‑based consumption, enabling charge-back models or reducing licenses but requiring cost oversight.
• Custom SPE apps enable more control and reduce SharePoint interface risks, but require custom UI development, access management, and archiving.
• Billing and ownership decisions during development set long-term risk and can’t be changed.

SharePoint Embedded (SPE) speeds building custom apps with the document management capabilities of SharePoint and the security and compliance controls of M365. SPE is suited to document-focused business workflows where compliance is critical to control or using SharePoint poses oversharing risks and excessive licensing costs (like when there are external users). Because SPE has no native interface, the responsibility for access control, UI development, life-cycle management, and cost governance shifts from SharePoint site owners to app owners. SPE’s document management capabilities also make it a better choice than Azure Storage.