What is SharePoint?

What is SharePoint?

When looking up what SharePoint is, you get a lot of different answers from the Internet:

• 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 bring their own functionalities to the table and build upon each other.

Windows SharePoint Services function the basic 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 email 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 from the Web2.0 side.

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 Collaboration, Portal, Search, Enterprise Content Management (ECM) , Business process management (BPM) and Business intelligence (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.

AIIM has developed a number of educational programs that deal with the question of planning before installing. Classes on Enterprise Content Management (ECM), Information Organization and Access (Enterprise Search), Business Process Management (BPM), Enterprise 2.0, Email Management and Electronic Records Management (ERM) help users in understanding the main components of each of these and then shows them how to apply these in a working environment. Programs will allow you to run the necessary investigations into your own business needs.

Also, visit www.aiim.org/SharePoint for articles, research, webinars, and more to determine what role, if any, SharePoint should have for your content-driven processes.

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