What Is SharePoint
ERM, SharePoint & ECM Community Wiki
Depending on where you look on the Internet, your definition of SharePoint will surely vary. The following are among the most common definitions.
- "Microsoft SharePoint is a browser-based collaboration and document management platform from Microsoft." - Wikipedia
- "Microsoft's content management system. It allows groups to set up a centralized, password-protected space for document sharing. Documents can be stored, downloaded and edited, then uploaded for continued sharing." - SAIT Polytechnic Teaching - Glossary
- "SharePoint is a web-based intranet that can help improve your organisation's effectiveness by streamlining the management of and access to data." - Creative SharePoint
- "SharePoint is an enterprise information portal, from Microsoft, that can be configured to run Intranet, Extranet and Internet sites." - SharePoint HQ
- "... SharePoint is a sort of sharing/blogging/wiki-style server that mainly provides a back end to Microsoft Office." - Jack Schofield, Technical Writer Guardian newspaper, UK.
So what is SharePoint? Let's first look at it from a technical perspective. There are the Windows SharePoint Services (WSS), the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) and Microsoft Search Server. Each brings their own functionalities to the table and builds upon each other.
Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) bring the functionality that Gartner calls Basic Content Services. It offers the user access to Versioning and Check-in/Checkout functionality. WSS can then be extended through the use of the applets to add additional collaborative functions like e-mail alerts, shared calendars, etc.
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) sits on top of WSS and adds additional features, both to the underlying WSS layer, as well as additional ways for the end-user to interact with the repository. The data resides in a SQL Database. Using Webparts it can then present this information to the user using a wide range of different modules and for interaction in different business scenarios. These include such diverse applications as Collaboration, Document management, Records Management (including DOD 5015.2 certified components), Workflow, Personalization, more complex metadata models as well as Blogs and Wikis on the Web 2.0 side.
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 adds some more features: Enterprise Metadata Management (Taxonomies, Categorization, Tagging, CKM), Social Networking (similar to Facebook) and External Data Integration (BCS) and some more Business intelligence (BI).
Finally there is the Microsoft Search Server, an Enterprise Search engine that provides advanced indexing and searching capabilities that can be integrated into a MOSS Web-based interface.
Microsoft itself describes SharePoint as a platform for Collaboration, Portal, Search, Enterprise Content Management (ECM), Business Process Management (BPM) and BI, so again a lot to chose from.
Research by AIIM has shown that even today many people start their large information management projects without a clear plan, or without a plan altogether, or steadfastly ignoring the one that you have. For a product that has so many facets as a SharePoint installation can potentially have, it is choice that needs to be made before you jump in.
