What Lightning Tools does

Lightning Tools LTD is a UK-headquartered, founder-led software vendor specializing in Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft 365 productivity and governance tools. Founded in 2007 and led by Microsoft MVP Brett Lonsdale, the company offers a portfolio of 10+ products built on the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) that operate natively within Microsoft 365 tenants, with an Azure-hosted Job Processor for scheduled operations. Target customers include Microsoft 365 and SharePoint Administrators, Site Owners, and Governance Leads, with particular relevance to organizations preparing for Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption and those migrating off InfoPath before its July 2026 end of life.

The product portfolio is organized into three software suites: (1) SharePoint Governance & Storage Control, anchored by DeliverPoint for permissions management and the new DeliverPoint Storage Management Premium add-on; (2) Forms, Automation & Document Generation, including Lightning Forms, Forms Studio (a low-code enterprise solution builder with AI Assistants for Expression Builder and CAML Builder), Lightning Tools Actions, Document Generator, and Form Migrator; and (3) Engagement, Insights & Intranet, comprising Lightning Conductor for cross-site content aggregation, Data Viewer for in-page data visualization, Social Squared for discussion forums, and SQList for SQL-to-SharePoint replication. Products integrate with external systems including JIRA, Salesforce, Azure SQL, Excel, and OData services through Microsoft Copilot Connectors.

The business operates on a recurring subscription model with annual billing, tiered per-product pricing, free trials, and software suites that bundle multiple products. Go-to-market combines enterprise field sales (direct website, "Book a Demo" CTAs), event-driven marketing (co-organizer of ECS since 2024, ESPC sponsorship), and a channel partner network of resellers and implementation partners. The company serves 2,000+ customers worldwide from offices in Lutterworth, UK (headquarters) and Orlando, FL (US regional office), and holds ISO 27001 certification. No external institutional funding has been disclosed.

Name

Lightning Tools

Legal name

Lightning Tools LTD

Website

https://lightningtools.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Lightning Tools is a UK-based Microsoft 365 software vendor offering 10+ SharePoint Framework products, including DeliverPoint for permissions management, Forms Studio, and Lightning Conductor for content aggregation, serving 2,000+ enterprise and mid-market customers globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

SharePoint and Microsoft 365 Productivity & Governance Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Document Creation & Office Suites (BPAMAMAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Data Security & Privacy Managed Services (DLP/Encryption) (BPAEADAL), Remote Review, Approval & Dailies (screening, annotations, version compare) (MPAHANAB)

Keywords

• SharePoint productivity software
• Microsoft 365 governance tools
• SharePoint permissions management
• SharePoint form design
• SharePoint content aggregation

Headquarters

HQ city

West Haddon

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses and Subscriptions: Annual subscription and perpetual license model for SharePoint add-on tools. Products include DeliverPoint (permissions management), Lightning Forms, Forms Studio, Lightning Conductor, Data Viewer, Social Squared, SQList, and Lightning Tools Actions. Pricing tiers exist for different product bundles and suites.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Lightning Tools develops and sells a portfolio of SharePoint Framework (SPFx)-based add-on software for Microsoft 365 and SharePoint. Its products cover SharePoint permissions management and storage control (DeliverPoint), forms design and automation (Lightning Forms, Forms Studio), cross-site content aggregation (Lightning Conductor), data visualization (Data Viewer), discussion forums (Social Squared), and SQL-to-SharePoint replication (SQList). The products are deployed natively within Microsoft 365 tenants and target enterprise SharePoint administrators, site owners, and Microsoft 365 governance leads.

Product overview

Lightning Tools is a SharePoint productivity and governance software vendor offering a portfolio of 10+ Microsoft 365/SharePoint products organized into three software suites: (1) Forms, Automation, & Document Generation — including Forms Studio, Lightning Forms, Lightning Tools Actions, Document Generator, and Form Migrator; (2) Productivity & Security — including DeliverPoint (permissions and storage management), Lightning Conductor (content aggregation), Data Viewer (data views and charts), Social Squared (discussion forums), and SQList (SQL-to-SharePoint replication); and (3) SharePoint Governance & Storage Control suite combining DeliverPoint's capabilities. The products are built on SharePoint Framework (SPFx) and operate natively within Microsoft 365 tenants, with an Azure-hosted Job Processor for scheduled operations. The company targets both Site Owners and Microsoft 365 Administrators.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• DeliverPoint SharePoint permissions management and storage management tool providing complete visibility into permissions, sharing links, and external access across SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive. Enables Site Owners and Administrators to discover oversharing, review permissions, manage sensitivity labels, audit access changes, and execute bulk remediation actions (Copy, Clone, Transfer, Delete). Premium tier adds storage consumption reporting, duplicate file identification, and excessive version detection.
• Lightning Forms SharePoint form designer for creating modern, professional forms for SharePoint lists with layouts, tabs, styling, calculated fields, visibility conditions, lookups, and sublists. Available for SharePoint Online and On-Premises, and positioned as an InfoPath replacement.
• Forms Studio

Quantifiable outcome

• Organizations can identify oversharing risks before Copilot exposes sensitive information
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• 365TribeminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Collaboration partner for ECS conference organization. Representatives from 365Tribe (Zoe Watson) participate in ECS core team planning meetings and event coordination.
• Experts InsideminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Consulting partner involved in ECS conference planning. Representatives participate in venue selection and event organization activities.
• EasyLife 365minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partner involved in ECS conference organization, including venue selection and sponsorship activities. Provided cocktails for sponsor party at ECS26.
• SkybowcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term partner relationship. Skybow hosts pre-ECS drinks party for sponsors and speakers. Products are complementary in the SharePoint productivity space.
• VoitanoscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorVoitanos (led by Andrew Connell, Voitanos CEO) is a partner that recommends Lightning Tools solutions to their customers. Voitanos describes Lightning Tools as industry-leading with tools like Lightning Conductor, Lightning Forms, and Data Viewer at the top of their recommendation list.
• ECS (European Collaboration Summit)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLightning Tools co-organizer and sponsor of ECS conference since 2024. Lightning Tools team members (Brett Lonsdale, Matthew Beighton) participate in core team planning, venue selection, and event execution. 2026 event in Cologne, 2027 planned for Düsseldorf.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• AvePoint: Largest independent SharePoint/Microsoft 365 governance, migration, and management ISV. Directly competes with Lightning Tools across permissions management, data protection, and Microsoft 365 governance — serving the same IT administrator buyer with overlapping capabilities at much greater scale.
• Powell Software: SharePoint-based intranet and digital workplace vendor. Overlaps with Lightning Tools' productivity suite (Lightning Conductor, Social Squared) in delivering employee engagement, intranet portals, and content experiences built on SharePoint.
• PointFire: Specialized SharePoint and Microsoft 365 tool vendor offering multilingual sites, navigation, and branding products. Adjacent peer addressing the same SharePoint administrator persona with complementary site governance capabilities.
• Collabware: SharePoint and Microsoft 365 content lifecycle, governance, and records management ISV. Overlaps with DeliverPoint's governance, retention, and compliance reporting capabilities for SharePoint administrators.
• Sharegate: SharePoint and Microsoft 365 migration, administration, and reporting tool. Competes directly with DeliverPoint in permissions/migration management and overlaps with the broader SharePoint administrator persona Lightning Tools targets.
• Rencore: Specialized Microsoft 365 governance and SharePoint customization governance ISV. Overlaps with Lightning Tools' DeliverPoint value proposition — particularly around permissions, governance reporting, and Microsoft Teams governance for IT administrators.

Emerging players

• Syskit (now part of Hornetsecurity): Microsoft 365 governance, security, and administration reporting toolset. Overlaps with DeliverPoint on permissions auditing, reporting, and governance across SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive — targeting the same IT governance buyer persona.
• Beezy: SharePoint-based digital workplace and intranet platform. Partially overlaps with Lightning Tools' productivity and engagement offerings (Social Squared, Lightning Conductor) for organizations building collaboration and intranet experiences on Microsoft 365.

Broad incumbents

• Quest Software: Broad enterprise software vendor (formerly part of Dell) with significant SharePoint migration, governance, and management offerings including Metalogix-derived products. Competes with Lightning Tools across the SharePoint admin workflow as part of a much wider IT management portfolio.
• Nintex: Process automation and workflow platform with deep SharePoint/Microsoft 365 roots. Competes with Lightning Forms, Forms Studio, and Lightning Tools Actions across forms design, workflow automation, and document generation on the Microsoft stack.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lightning-tools
• Xx.com/lightningtools

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lightning Tools