Sharepoint Online

tara — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:36:12 GMT

Just when you thought Sharepoint could not possibly be any more fantastic, Microsoft announce the release of Sharepoint Online!

This is a hosted service, which means customers no longer need to worry about deployment, configuration and management of Sharepoint server farms, but can still make use of the excellent collaboration and information sharing possibilities that Sharepoint provides.

There are two service offerings for Sharepoint Online (and for all other Microsoft Online Services): Standard and Dedicated.

Standard, where many companies will securely use the same architecture, has a minimum requirement of only 5 seats, so Sharepoint Online is available for even the smallest of businesses.

Dedicated, where each company has access to an individual, dedicated architecture, is also available, giving Enterprise level organisations access to more server features.

Troy Hopwood gave an excellent PDC session on Sharepoint Online. Check it out here. It's well worth viewing the whole session, but if you're not too techy, or don't have 75 mins to spare, make sure you watch the first 15 mins for a great overview of Sharepoint Online plus a quick high level demo. Troy also fields some interesting questions from 59 mins onwards. And don't forget to download the PowerPoint presentation that accompanies the session as a reference for the differences between standard and dedicated, as well as a feature comparison of MOSS and Sharepoint Online.

Last but not least, sign up for the beta of Sharepoint Online from www.microsoft.com/online.

The Magical World of Sharepoint - A Brief Overview

tara — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:08:40 GMT

Starting at Microsoft has introduced me to an amazing technology - Sharepoint. Although I'm slightly late on the uptake (Sharepoint has been around in various forms since since 2001 and has been hugely successful for Microsoft), I'm sure there are still many partners who are unaware if the benefits Sharepoint can bring to their business, and just as many who have deployed Sharepoint, but aren't using it to it's full capability.

So what can Sharepoint do? Or maybe a better question is, what can't it do? In official marketing terms, Sharepoint is a collaboration,portal, document management, enterprise search, business intelligence and business process tool. (phew!)

Watch this space for future posts on each of these areas...

Sharepoint comes in three main 'flavours': Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 (WSS), Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server (MOSS) Standard CAL and MOSS Enterprise CAL.

There are also additional server products, for example Office Forms Server and Microsoft Search Server 2008, which can also be incorporated to further increase the functionality of Sharepoint.

Windows Sharepoint Services (WSS) is the backbone to Sharepoint. It's an enabling technology, that is included (for no additional cost!) with Windows Server 2003 and 2008. WSS provides the ability for workers to easily and effectively collaborate using team sites, giving them access to the information they need to make informed, smart decisions.

Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server (MOSS) utilises WSS technology, but extends the functionality to include additional features, such as out-of-the-box workflows and enterprise-level search (Standard CAL) and Business Data Catalogue and Excel Services (Enterprise CAL).

There will be many more Sharepoint-based posts on this blog in the months to come, especially focused around Enterprise Content Management, so stay tuned to learn more.

If you can't possibly wait that long, then why not check out some of these links:

Sharepoint Product Page

Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0

Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007

There's also plenty of great Sharepoint training tools out there. One particularly useful one I've come across is:

Sharepoint Server 2007 Training Courses

The Amazing Adventures of Geek Girl : wss

Sharepoint Online

The Magical World of Sharepoint - A Brief Overview