Re: Anyone use Sharepoint Portal?

At 01:50 AM 17/05/2005, Austin, Darrel wrote:

>Just got back from a 3-day training session on using MS Sharepoint Portal.
>
>It looks like a nice product. We are going to overhaul our intranet soon and
>this is one of the contenders for a framework. The bulk of our intranet is
>office documents, with some custom content here and there.
>
>Had anyone uses Sharepoint Portal as an intranet toolset? If so, thoughts?
>Pros? Cons?
>
> >From the short course we took, I came away with this:
>
>Pros:
>  - good user/group/permissions management
>  - fairly decent document uploading, etc.
>  - good content 'pushing' abilities (the ability to notify
>    various groups about updated content)
>
>Cons:
>  - like a lot of CMS products we've looked at, it seems to
>    do several things 'OK' but nothing 'great'.
>  - lacks a lot of customization (all Table based output,
>    limited navigation control, limited functionality
>    with the built in 'web parts')
>  - Like a lot of CMS products, this seemed like it was designed
>    for one specific task/group scenario and then 'marketed' as
>    a broader product than it actually is.

Hi Darrel,

I haven't had a chance to play directly with SharePoint, but I
keep in close contact with my clients who have. Their experiences
generally mirror your initial list of pro's and con's.

Overall, I would rate this as a document management system (DMS)
with extras, rather than necessarily a CMS. If you are looking for
a "conventional" intranet design, then the experience seems to be
that a fair amount of customisation is required.

A broader issue relates to the collaboration tools. From all accounts,
these are very strong. Beware though: team-based collaboration tools
(from any vendor) can end up being "anti knowledge sharing", with key
information locked up in lots of little "boxes". So it's important
to setup appropriate policies and processes to ensure that information
is appropriately delivered to the required audiences...

Cheers,
James

-------------------------
James Robertson
Step Two Designs Pty Ltd
Knowledge Management / Content Management / Intranets

http://www.steptwo.com.au/
[email protected]