Not anymore. The more collaboration and communication that exists between different people within a business, the better, and the good news is that there’s a Microsoft product - SharePoint - that integrates with the Windows Office software suite and benefits any size of company.

Essentially, it’s a web based collaboration platform that can be as simple or as sophisticated as the business requires, handling content publishing, content management, records management, or even business intelligence. An excellent index search facility means you can find and retrieve information quickly from anywhere within the business.

More importantly, SharePoint facilitates collaboration, enabling easy access to business critical information in a digital domain that can be accessed by anyone in the business, or even partners and customers.

 

SharePoint can improve efficiency and productivity. It allows an organisation to set up a web-based portal that can be used to implement more effective business processes. Workflow can be improved in numerous scenarios, account managers and financial controllers sharing files in the sales cycle, for example, or marketing and product managers developing material for a new launch.

For project teams it can be a highly productive and easily managed intranet where members go to share lists and libraries, and discuss ideas. It can be the communication centre for storing and tracking information. Document versions can be controlled and distributed from a central database, where revisions to items or files and their properties are stored. At its simplest, SharePoint is a wonderful way of cutting back on paperwork.

A portal can even be set up on the perimeter of the business and tailored to meet the needs of customers or business partners for business-to-business information exchange.

The basic version is available as Windows Share- Point Services 3.0, a free add-on to Windows Server software. A more sophisticated version, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, offers enhanced and additional features. It is a licensed product that must be purchased.

The software has the familiarity of a Microsoft product and is quite intuitive to use. SharePoint appears to end users as a web page. Because of its wide-ranging capabilities it can be heavily customised to meet specific business need. Individual users sign into the system through their home page which can be personalised for their requirements.

Access controls determine which parts of the portal are open to them and it is populated with announcements and document library links that relate directly to each user’s role.