What is SharePoint?
SharePoint is an enterprise information portal,
from Microsoft, that can be configured to run Intranet, Extranet and Internet
sites. Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 allows people, teams and
expertise to connect and collaborate. A SharePoint enterprise portal is composed
of both SharePoint Portal and Windows SharePoint Services, with SharePoint being
built upon WSS. WSS is typically used by small teams, projects and companies.
SharePoint Server is designed for individuals, teams and projects within a
medium to large company wide enterprise portal.
Why should you use
SharePoint?
- As companies grow so does the amount of their files. It soon becomes
difficult to keep track of the multiplying documents and their locations.
SharePoint overcomes this by allowing you to store and share your files in a
central site.
- Sharing work files through email is a cumbersome process. SharePoint
eliminates this by allowing files to be stored in one location, allowing easy
access to all team members
- Business Intelligence has traditionally remained in the hands of a few key
decision makers within organizations. For years, it has been the goal of BI
providers to “democratize business intelligence” by making it available to all
levels of workers throughout companies. With the addition of Performance Point
to the SharePoint Enterprise version of SharePoint, this vision is realized,
finally taking business intelligence out of the hands of the few and into the
hands of many.
- Today’s work occurs over multiple locations, whether it is in different
countries, office locations, separate departments or at your home office.
SharePoint enables teams and individuals to connect and collaborate together
regardless of where they are located
- Surveys have shown that employees can spend up to 20 – 30 % of their day
searching for data and information. SharePoint eliminates this drag on
productivity by providing the robust search functionality needed to find the
information and expertise buried in the thousands, or hundreds of thousands of
files a company generates in the course of business.
- It’s difficult and time consuming to create and maintain sites. SharePoint
allows anyone to create sites for use within their company’s Intranet, as they
are needed, whether they are departmental sites, document libraries, meetings
sites, survey sites, or discussion boards.
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is a collaborative enterprise portal
that is built upon WSS 3.0. MOSS 2007 allows people, teams and expertise to
connect and collaborate. Unlike WSS, SharePoint Server is not free and requires
an additional license. MOSS 2007 comes in two versions – Standard and
Enterprise.
The main components of SharePoint 2007 are collaboration, portals,
enterprise search, enterprise content management, business process and forms,
and business intelligence. Previous versions of SharePoint Server
included SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and before that SharePoint Portal Server
2001.
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 is the platform on which all SharePoint
Products and Technologies are built. WSS 3.0 is for is suitable for small teams,
projects and organizations.
WSS’s project collaboration, document workspace, meeting sub-site, and
discussion board features allow individuals and small teams to collaborate and
share information online. Past versions of Windows SharePoint Services included
Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 and SharePoint Team Services. New features in
WSS 3.0 include integrated workflows, RSS feeds, blogs, wikis and ASP-style Web
parts.
Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007
Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 is the next generation of Microsoft
FrontPage that enables both the design and customization of SharePoint 2007
sites. SharePoint Designer 2007 allows organizations to automate common business
processes through simple or complex custom workflows. Corporations can apply
their corporate branding to their SharePoint portal providing a unified look and
feel to all their end users. Companies can also create customized SharePoint
sites based upon the unique needs of your company's end users, teams, or
departments without having to turn to outside consultants. In 2008, Microsoft
made SharePoint Designer 2007 available for free.
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Top 10 Benefits