What is SharePoint exactly?

Microsoft’s collaboration platform. It is designed to share all sorts of information, from office documents, discussions, blogs, wikis, messages and meetings to business intelligence and key performance indicators. Now on version 2010 (Enterprise or Foundation) with previous versions 2007 (MOSS) and WSS3. Microsoft’s cloud-based Office 365 offers SharePoint Foundation Server 2010 inclusive.

What does SharePoint do?

Here are just a few fantastic features offered 'out of the box':

• Metadata-enabled document libraries (Visio, Project)
• Records Management and version control
• Shared calendars, task lists and contacts
• Wikis, blogs and discussion boards
• Powerful indexing and search capability
• RSS feeds, email alerts and SMS
• Content management and publishing
• Electronic forms and data collection
• Business pipelines using workflows
• Data connections and business intelligence, KPIs
• MS Office integration on and offline (inc. PowerPivot)
• Personalisation and profiling via MySites
• Self-service site creation and management
• Internet, extranet and intranet presence

With customisation it can be tailored to your branding and business processes using workflows and add-ins to create a personalised work portal.

What can I do in SharePoint that I can’t do in other ways?

Work with Office documents in a more streamlined way, gather and process information more effectively, locate resources more appropriately. In general, increase work efficiency.

How can SharePoint help me and my business?

Properly configured, SharePoint should be where you do your work. As a tool it can give you the ability to personalise your interactions with documents and people in a similar way to social networking tools, allowing you to organise the information that is most important to you within easy reach. It also integrates tightly with Microsoft Office, offering a familiar user interface and all the usual functionality.

As a business tool it can mine business data from SharePoint libraries and lists, other databases or data sources (even external websites) and process this using a variety of analytical tools to create snapshots of business health and performance. It can support records management and pipeline processes using workflows. The electronic office can be facilitated through InfoPath form creation and processing software.

For the IT department it allows self-service site creation and user management thus devolving responsibility for content and site management to individual departments.

As part of your web-presence it can provide internet, intranet and extranet capabilities all within the same portal.  

What can Computerworld offer you?

Courses

• SharePoint Seminars – short non-technical presentations to showcase the principal advantages of the technology to decision makers.
• SharePoint End User – 1-day introduction to working with libraries, lists and other typical Sharepoint features.
• SharePoint Showcase – 2-day introduction to working with lists, libraries wikis, blogs, office integration, business intelligence, site and user management.
• Tailored End User courses based on the above but covering a specific SharePoint environment.
• SharePoint Designer – 2-days covering: customising a site's branding, lists, libraries and views, building workflows and data connections.
• Using InfoPath – 2-day introduction to electronic form creation and management.
• Microsoft Technical Courses on installation, management and customisation of the SharePoint environment.
• Tailored Technical Courses.
• E-learning via Skillsoft and other partner portals on any of the above.

Consultancy

• Advice on site setup and SharePoint implementation.
• Guidance on site building and functionality.
• Customisation of look and feel.
• Customisation of site capabilities including workflows and forms.

Whatever your requirements contact us to find out how you can benefit from Computerworld and SharePoint technology.