Overall Satisfaction with MS SharePoint / SQL
We are using MS SharePoint across our entire organization. We have implemented it to include our tuck-in companies along with divisions and regions. SharePoint has allowed us to centralize and standardize on a single intranet platform that can be customized to show company or region-specific information. SharePoint team sites allow our users to share and collaborate on projects internally and externally.
- Team sites is a great way to keep your users up to date with documents. Users can subscribe to document libraries allowing them to receive notifications when documents are added or changed.
- File versioning is something that cannot be done with a standard file server. SharePoint allows the users to see what versions of files they have and what changes may have been made.
- Workflow is a great feature that can be used to automate the process of signatures and internal back office procedures that can otherwise get stuck on someones desk for days or weeks.
- Customizing beyond the out of box experience can be difficult. There are many bolt on products that can be used with SharePoint but when its time to upgrade SharePoint this can be difficult because any custom coding or bolt on products will need to be verified.
- Having a more robust integration with custom built applications is needed. In house developed applications using the Microsoft .NET frame work can be difficult to integrate with SharePoint and utilize the features of SharePoint.
- Cost. SharePoint can be an expensive product to add into your organization. With all the benefits SharePoint can provide it would be nice to see Microsoft bring the price down.
I personally have not used other document sharing products other that in house developed. SharePoint provides easy ways for users to create new sites and share content. This is key to end user acceptance and adoption.