How to deploy Office templates the modern way?

Office templates are pre-designed documents that can help save time and streamline workflows. These templates can be created in Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. When it comes to deploying these templates, a SharePoint library can be used to store and distribute them to users across an organization. In this blog post, we’ll discuss what SharePoint libraries are, how they can be used to deploy Office templates, and why this method is beneficial when using Microsoft Intune as your cloud device management system.

What is a SharePoint Library?

SharePoint is a web-based collaborative platform that integrates with Microsoft Office. It provides a central location for storing, organizing, and sharing documents and information. Within SharePoint, a library is a container for documents that can be accessed and managed by users. It’s similar to a folder in a file system, but it provides additional features such as version control, document approval workflows, and metadata.

How to Deploy Office Templates over a SharePoint Library?

To deploy Office templates over a SharePoint library, you’ll need to perform the following steps:

Create a SharePoint Library:

Create a new SharePoint library or use an existing one to store the Office templates. You can create a library by going to the SharePoint site, selecting Site Contents, and clicking on New -> Document Library.

Connect-PnPOnline -Url https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/testsite
New-PnPList -Title "Office Templates" -Template DocumentLibrary

Upload the Office Templates:

Upload the Office templates to the SharePoint library. You can do this by dragging and dropping the files into the library or by using the Upload button.

Connect-PnPOnline -Url https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/testsite
Add-PnPFile -Path "C:\Templates\template1.docx" -Folder "Office Templates"

Set Permissions:

Set the appropriate permissions for the SharePoint library. This will ensure that only authorized users have access to the templates. You can set permissions by going to the SharePoint site, selecting Site Permissions, and clicking on Grant Permissions.

Connect-PnPOnline -Url https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/testsite
Set-PnPListPermission -Identity "Office Templates" -User "user@contoso.com" -AddRole "Read"

Share the SharePoint Library: Share the SharePoint library with the intended users. You can do this by going to the SharePoint library, selecting the Share button, and entering the email addresses of the users.

Configure the SharePoint Libary to deploy the templates into Office:

Go to https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=255251 and Download the latest SharePoint Online Management Shell. Now Connect to SharePoint as a Global Administrator or SharePoint Administrator in Microsoft 365 and run the following command:

Add-SPOOrgAssetsLibrary -LibraryURL https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/branding/Assets -OrgAssetType OfficeTemplateLibrary

Adding an organization assets library will enable a content delivery network (CDN) for your organization to provide fast and reliable performance for shared assets. You’ll be prompted to enable a CDN for each organization asset library you add.

The office templates will now be visible in your office applications, if youre signed in with an account who has been added in the libary sharing:

Why Use SharePoint Libraries to Deploy Office Templates with Microsoft Intune?

Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based device management system that allows organizations to manage their devices and applications from a central location. When it comes to deploying Office templates, using a SharePoint library can provide the following benefits when using Microsoft Intune:

• Centralized Management: SharePoint libraries allow for centralized management of the Office templates. This means that all the templates can be stored in one location and accessed by authorized users.
• Easy Distribution: SharePoint libraries make it easy to distribute the Office templates to the intended users. Once the library is shared with the users, they can access the templates from any device with an internet connection.
• Access Control: SharePoint libraries provide access control, ensuring that only authorized users have access to the Office templates. This helps to maintain data security and confidentiality.

In an OnPrem (legacy) environment you would use the Office Enterprise or Workgroup Templates path where the template files would be located on an fileshare. But with Microsoft Intune and an cloud environment you maybe not have access to this fileshare all time or from everywhere so you can use SharePoint to deploy your organizations templates for everyone – everytime and from every location over the Internet.