Chapter 2 -- Introducing SharePoint Technologies

Chapter 2

No matter the size of their organizations, customers are looking for better, more efficient ways to share information within their organizations and with outside key suppliers, partners, and clients. Microsoft® SharePoint^™ is a set of two new technologies from Microsoft, SharePoint Portal Server 2001, and SharePoint Team Services, that facilitate information sharing both within organizations and over the Internet. The SharePoint technologies are a direct result of customer feedback and research on information sharing practices within organizations. These technologies address the information sharing needs of entire organizations.

Small or improvised workgroups need informal means to work together on group deliverables, share documents, and communicate status with one another. These groups need to share information effortlessly. Web sites created by using SharePoint Team Services allow them to do that.

Large workgroups with structured processes need greater management over their information. They require features such as formal publishing processes and the ability to search for and aggregate content from multiple data stores and file formats. SharePoint Portal Server 2001 provides this structure and formality.

When an organization offers SharePoint Team Services and SharePoint Portal Server 2001 in combination, they can address the information-sharing challenges for both the large and small groups within their enterprise. Together, the SharePoint Technologies give users the ability to organize information, readily access that information, manage documents, and enable efficient collaboration—all in a familiar, browser-based environment integrated with Microsoft Office.

Table 2.1   Comparing Sharepoint Team Services and Portal Server

Feature	Team Services	Portal Server
Web site	Team Web sites (5-75 users)	Portal Web sites (75+ users)
Search Capabilities	Documents within Web site and sub Webs created using SharePoint Team Services	Across multiple servers and data types
Discussion & Notifications	Discussions, Notifications, Surveys	Discussions, Notifications, Subscriptions
Customization	Browser-based, Microsoft FrontPage® 2002, and Software Development Kit (SDK)	Web Parts and SDK
Document Management	Publishing	Check-in and check-out, Versioning, Routing, Publishing
Client applications	Browser, Office XP, FrontPage 2002	Browser, Microsoft Windows® Explorer, Office 2000 or Office XP
Roles-based security	Customizable roles: Administrator, Advanced Author, Author, Contributor, and Browser Administrator, Coordinator, Author, and Reader
Storage	SQL Server™	Web Storage System
Licensing	Covered in base Windows Server licensing	Server license and client access licenses