Item: Microsoft SharePoint
Rating: 8
Author: Brian Munn

Overall Satisfaction with MS SharePoint / SQL

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

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.

Pros and Cons

Pros

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.

Cons

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.

Alternatives Considered

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.

Other Software Used

WebEx Meetings, Cisco Spark, PRTG Network Monitor

Likelihood to Recommend

SharePoint is well suited for most businesses. It provides many features companies are looking for but cost is a factor. If you are looking for an out of box product that can be used to share files and provide spaces for users to collaborate SharePoint is well suited for this use.

If you are looking for a more customized solution SharePoint can be used but more than likely you will need to engage a SharePoint consultant to work on the details and changes needed. This can be costly and time consuming.

SharePoint Feature Ratings

Comments

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MS SharePoint - Easy to use, create and Share