Flip SharePoint Sync is a platform option of the Flip platform. It transfers content selected by the Customer from its SharePoint Online environment (Microsoft 365) to the Flip platform, as posts in channels (newsfeed) or as pages of the knowledge base. Synchronisation is strictly one-way, from SharePoint to Flip. Imported content is created in Flip as posts and knowledge base pages and is thereafter available to the AI-assisted search in the same way as other content in those areas. Flip SharePoint Sync provides the following functions:

Synchronisation

Synchronised content. Site pages and news pages from the SharePoint sites released by the Customer are created as posts in Flip channels or as pages of the Flip knowledge base. When changes to a page are published in SharePoint, the software service updates the related post or page in Flip. When a page is deleted in SharePoint, the software service archives the posts and knowledge base pages synchronised from it in Flip; they are permanently deleted after 30 days. The same applies where the Customer removes the sync flag from a page. The software service checks the released sites for changes at regular intervals (by default every minute). Files referenced by a synchronised page, in particular images, videos and documents from web parts, are transferred to Flip as attachments. Where a page contains an Events web part, the events displayed are transferred as calendar files (.ics) and included as attachments. Terms from the configured managed-metadata columns are transferred as tags.

Control by the Customer. The Customer determines in SharePoint which content is synchronised to which target. In the recommended configuration this is done via a yes/no column (sync flag) and via terms in the term store, each mapped to a Flip channel or a knowledge base page; only content the Customer flags in this way is then synchronised. Deviating configurations are agreed at set-up.

No write-back. The software service does not write any data to SharePoint and does not change content, permissions or settings there.

Supported web parts. The web parts supported by the Provider are transferred; the current list is available from the Provider on request. Unsupported web parts are skipped during synchronisation. Where linked content, an image or a video cannot be transferred, Flip displays a fallback link, fallback image or fallback video defined by the Customer.

Publication via a technical user. Synchronised posts are published in Flip by a technical user (API client) that the Customer creates and whose appearance (display name, profile picture, description) the Customer defines.

Visibility in Flip. Permissions from SharePoint are not transferred. Audience targeting or any other restriction of a page’s visibility configured in SharePoint is not evaluated during transfer; a page accessible only to a small group there may thereby become visible to a wider group in Flip. Who can see synchronised content in Flip is determined solely by the configuration of the relevant channel or page in the Flip platform. By selecting the sites, flagging the content and configuring the Flip targets, the Customer ensures that content only becomes accessible to persons entitled to see it.

Access to SharePoint

Scope of access. The software service has read-only access, limited to the sites expressly named in the configuration and their sub-sites. It reads the Site Pages list, for Events web parts the items of the related events list (ID, category, title, start, end, description, location), the page metadata required for synchronisation (in particular title, description, created and first-published date, page ID and URL, promoted state, translation information and terms from the configured metadata columns) and the site data title, ID, hub-site ID and homepage URL. Document libraries are not crawled; individual files are retrieved only where a synchronised page references them.

Personal details on pages. User accounts from SharePoint or Microsoft Entra ID are not synchronised. Where a synchronised page contains a People web part, the details displayed there (name, email address, telephone number) are transferred as part of the page.

App registration permissions. The Customer creates an app registration in its Microsoft Entra ID and grants it read-only application permissions. Sites.Selected is recommended and limits access to the sites individually released; alternatively, the Customer may grant Sites.Read.All at its own discretion. TermStore.Read.All is additionally required for mapping content to targets. This permission is not limited to the released sites but allows read access to the term store of the entire tenant; Microsoft does not offer a variant limited to individual sites. The software service reads from it only the terms required for mapping content to targets. Authentication uses a certificate provided by the Provider. The Customer may restrict or revoke the permissions at any time; synchronisation of the affected content then ends.

Interface. The software service communicates directly with the Customer’s SharePoint Online tenant via the SharePoint REST API. SharePoint remains a system of the Customer, operated by Microsoft under the contract between the Customer and Microsoft.

Set-up and operation

Set-up. The Provider sets up a dedicated instance of the software service for each Customer. The Customer cooperates in accordance with Section 6 of the General Terms and Conditions, in particular by creating the technical user, the target channels, the knowledge base pages and the fallback page in Flip, by creating and authorising the app registration in Microsoft Entra ID, and by setting up the sync flag, term store, metadata columns and fallback media in SharePoint. Details are set out in the Provider’s set-up guide.

Operating environment. Each customer instance is operated in an integration environment of the Provider in Microsoft Azure, region Germany West Central (Frankfurt am Main), separate from the core platform. The instance’s synchronisation data are held in a database in the same region. Instances run in hardened containers without elevated privileges; credentials are stored encrypted.

Dependency on Microsoft interfaces. The function requires SharePoint Online and its interfaces to be available. If Microsoft changes or restricts these interfaces, the Provider adapts the software service within the limits of what is commercially reasonable; in all other respects Section 2.9 of the General Terms and Conditions applies.

Error handling. Where a page cannot be synchronised, the error is logged in the Provider’s operating environment.

Availability reporting. The availability status can be viewed at any time at getflip.com/status/.

Content and data protection

Customer content. Synchronised content is Customer Content within the meaning of Section 9 of the General Terms and Conditions. The Provider transfers content only in accordance with the configuration set up by the Customer. The Customer ensures that it is entitled to use the synchronised content in Flip. This also applies to images, templates and other content made available by Microsoft or third parties within Microsoft 365, whose licence terms may restrict use outside Microsoft applications.

Data protection. Personal data is processed in accordance with the platform data processing agreement (processing on behalf under Art. 28 GDPR). SharePoint pages may contain personal data of persons who are not users of Flip. The software service does not filter content; Section 3.6 of the DPA applies to special categories of personal data. The Customer controls through flagging which content is transferred.

Retention and export

The retention periods for the individual data categories are set out in the table below. Customer content can be exported in the formats and via the routes stated. In all other respects, deletion after the end of the contract is governed by the main agreement and the data processing agreement.

No backups are made of the instance database. When the connection is removed and after the end of the contract, the Provider deletes the customer instance, its database and its configuration. Until then, synchronised content remains content of the Flip platform and is deleted in accordance with the platform service description and the DPA. The source content remains unchanged in SharePoint. The entries in the “Export” column refer to the export functions available during the term of the contract; the Customer’s rights under the main agreement (switching support) and under the data processing agreement remain unaffected.

System requirements

• SharePoint Online as part of a Microsoft 365 tenant of the Customer, with modern site pages

• Microsoft Entra ID with administrator rights to create and authorise the app registration

• Administrator rights for the sites to be synchronised and for the term store

• Use of the Flip platform; its system requirements apply in addition

Legal framework

This software service description sets out the characteristics of the Flip SharePoint Sync software service. Which functions are owed in a specific case follows from the order form in conjunction with the main agreement. Flip SharePoint Sync requires the use of the Flip platform; the software service description of the Flip platform applies in addition. The service quality owed is governed by the Service Level Agreement for the Flip platform in accordance with its provision on Flip SharePoint Sync. The Provider may develop the service further within the scope of the contractual provisions.