Microsoft Office SharePoint Server

Introduction

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server also allows the administrator to set up web policies so that other people working on the project who contribute to the site will comply with the rules. Office SharePoint Server also gives the user the ability to create user communities -- useful because this is the way that many businesses and their customers communicate.

If the aforementioned features and functionality sound like what you're looking for, then you need to take a serious look at getting and using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. It offers robust functions, such as enterprise search and business processes. You can host and share information throughout your enterprise. MOSS is flexible in that it’s compatible with various applications, including intranet, web, and extranet. You can use this product’s combined platform to manage these applications, rather than delving into each one.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server comes with other powerful capabilities. If you are a developer or IT administrator, you can take advantage of its advanced abilities, including application extensibility, interoperability, and server administration.

You can take advantage of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server's out-of-the-box and electronic forms to cut down on time when it comes to business processes. Instead, your colleagues can use these tools to start to contribute, using traditional Microsoft applications, such as Word and Excel. If you don’t own Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, why not download an evaluation copy off of Microsoft’s website? Then if you want to purchase the product, you can buy it from Microsoft.

Microsoft Office SharePoint is a large product and it will take some time to learn. If you purchase or use a trial version, you want to be able to experience all of the features and capabilities that it offers. This is the only way you can learn. Read on to see how this product can help you with your business and build better relationships with your colleagues and business partners.

Features

One of the attractive features of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server is that it allows you to better manage yourcontent. You can take advantage of Web content management functions, including creating, approving, and publishing. Use the Master Pages and Page Layout features to create new Web pages, rather than having to create them from scratch. That way, you can be sure that your website will have a consistent look and feel. Using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server enables you to easily deploy your web projects.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server enables you to better manage your workflows, and get a better handle on reviewing documents. You can do tasks, such as tracking issues and collecting signatures. You can also incorporate this product into applications, such as Microsoft Office, email, and Web browsers. Depending on how creative you want to be, you can use tools like Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer or Microsoft Visual Studio development system to develop your own business processes. You can also take advantage of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server’s out-of-the-box processes and change them to your liking.

Another feature you will like about Microsoft Office SharePoint Server is that you can centrally save and manage all of your business documents. Use the tools to organize or categorize all of your business data. This will make it easy for your colleagues to search through and find the information they are looking for.

An important function you can do is set up document policies. You can do tasks, such as setting up expiration dates or identifying retention policies. Use Microsoft Office SharePoint Server’s default repository settings to add or modify information, including templates, content types, and workflow. You can also use the product's document-audit settings to monitor your content.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server enables you to distribute business processes throughout your company. Use the Forms feature to collect information from both internal and external sources. Then you can incorporate this information into line-of-business systems and save it in document libraries. You can use this information to automatically initiate workflow processes or send it to Web services. This saves you time in that you don’t have to perform any of these tasks manually. You also don’t have to worry about duplicating any work. Additionally, you can manage and deliver content in different languages on various Internet, intranet, and extranet websites.

Features Continued

Use Microsoft Office SharePoint Server to help your colleagues make better informed business decisions. You can develop live and interactive business intelligence portals based on information located in disparate systems. Information you can show includes Web parts, key performance indicators (KPIs), dashboards, and business data connectivity technologies. Your employees or partners can then use the Centralized Report Center feature to access key performance indicators and reports.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server has another feature known as the Search Center. The Search Center is a central location that your colleagues can use to access and interact with other people, processes, and business data that pertain to their specific requirements. Do you need access to real-time data or analytics? Take advantage of the Excel Services feature. Excel Services consists of interactive spreadsheets that come from a Web browser. Not only can you manage, but you can share this information with whomever you like.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server has a Business Data Catalog feature that enables you to integrate back-office applications into it. The product supports back-office applications, such as Siebel and SAP systems. The great thing about it is that you don’t have to write any code. The Business Data Catalog feature uses the Enterprise Search function, which you will read about later in this article, to incorporate back-office data into the search component. Once again, you don’t need to write iFilter, code or protocol handlers.

Office SharePoint Server works with many technologies. For example, it works with SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and XML (Extensible Markup Language). You can take advantage of other interfaces, such as APIs (application programming interfaces) and event handlers for lists and documents. If you use other existing systems, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server seamlessly integrates with them.

If you’re concerned about losing your data, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server has scheduled back-ups; it will even back up multi-site collections on a schedule. You can then restore each site individually. This product also provides monitoring tools so that you can hunt down and tackle problems.

Building Better Relationships and Social Communities

Are you looking for ways to improve your customer service or build better partner relationships? Microsoft Office SharePoint Server offers standards-based and electronic forms-driven solutions that enable you to gather business information. Your customers and partners fill out the information in the forms, and then, they submit them to you through the Web browser. 

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server uses LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol). LDAP authenticates your customers and partners’ login information, such as the user ID and password. Integrating LDAP will seamlessly work with other non-Active Directory service sources. As a result, this will make it easy to handle extranet setups. LDAP offers strong connectivity with your partners and customers.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server has an Enterprise Search feature that enables you to incorporate all of your information, such as business data, people, documents, and Web pages, to offer complete results. As a result, your colleagues, customers, and partners can search for information. They will be able to quickly retrieve that information. Users can use this function no matter where they are within the portal. You can also use the Enterprise Search feature to go through business data. The search results can be tailored to the user’s specifications.

You don’t have to worry about being online all of the time to work with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. Whether you’re on a train or a passenger in a car, you can use Microsoft Office's Outlook 2007 to access your document libraries or SharePoint lists. Microsoft Office SharePoint Server offers tight integration with Microsoft Groover, which improves your offline experience.

If you need to collaborate and share information, Office SharePoint Server provides new knowledge management tools where you can not only build, but use social communities that allow you to communicate with people from internal as well as external locations. As a result, you can communicate with people quickly and professionally.

Are you looking to get personal with your colleagues or customers? Take advantage of theMy Sitesfeature. You can save, manage, and show your content and application. You can also create other My Sites websites that are specifically tailored to that person, based on his or her skills and roles. If you’re worried about security, Office SharePoint Server offers strict security features. That way, you’ll always be in control as to not only how much information you want to show, but to whom you want to show it.

Training

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server offers very useful and comprehensivetraining. All you need to do is go to its website. For one, you can download training either to your desktop or SharePoint server. You can get the most current information on interactive tutorials. You can read the latest articles or watch the videos.

Microsoft offers two types of training―stand-alone or portal. Use the stand-alone version if you want to view it on your desktop. Use the portal version if you want others to view the training. You will need your IT department to install it, however. This is great if you’re expecting others to take the training. You can have your IT department keep track of who has gone through the training process.

Hopefully, this article will give you a better understanding of Microsoft SharePoint Server and its functions, features, and ways that it can help improve business.