While many companies are turning to Sharepoint due to the costs savings, which can be up to one-tenth of competing solutions, early adopters are benefiting from collaborative capabilities, a reduced sales force and functionality that goes far beyond CRM.
The initial uptake of Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007 (MOSS) and Windows Sharepoint Services (WSS) has largely been in the mid-size markets. The power of MOSS has increased with the 2007 release and now goes well beyond the traditional storage and document sharing, and is becoming an attractive option for all business.
The Sharepoint Server 2007 now includes enterprise search, portal functionality, form services, business intelligence and basic content services. Add to this the fact that MOSS serves up some enterprise and content management capabilities such as Web content, records management and workflow, and it is clear that companies can now leverage these services to significantly increase productivity.
“Using MOSS, logistics company DHL has realised exceptional operational optimisation. Their sales force can now access client files on a single Web page on the go on their mobile phones. This means a huge increase in sales productivity, not to mention customer satisfaction,” comments Michael Hamilton, general manager, development at Swisttech.
With most companies focusing on cost cutting in the IT department, it is imperative to leverage IT capabilities that are already in place.
Sharepoint 2007 has increased its flexibility and now allows easy integration.
Many companies initially chose Sharepoint to deliver an intranet, however, the new collaborative functionality has meant a greater degree of internal team collaboration and business automation options. Some companies have taken the existing workflow options to a complete business process management level, and there are a number of tools and pre-configured applications to assist with this, should they choose to move outside the Sharepoint family.
“Many of our clients are looking to us to optimise the Sharepoint functionality rather than throwing new hardware at a problem. We find that the flexibility and openness of the server environment makes it easy for us to use to deliver new operational services without having to reinvent the wheel,” Hamilton explains.
That said, Hamilton says companies are also enjoying better performance from existing hardware investments. Now scanners and multifunctional peripheries can also be roped into efficacy, allowing for paper forms and documentation to be captured into the Sharepoint document libraries.
“This solution may be viewed as a mid-size company solution, but given the added functionality we are discovering in MOSS and MSS, Swisttech can also easily tailor a solution for enterprise clients should they choose,” Hamilton concludes.
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