Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001

SharePoint Portal Server is the complete portal solution for content aggregation and document management. SharePoint Portal Server creates a portal Web site, called a dashboard site, which allows users to share documents and search for information across the organization and enterprise, including Web sites based in SharePoint Team Services—all within one extensible portal interface. SharePoint Portal Server includes robust document management features that allow companies to incorporate business processes into their portal solution.

Small workgroups often use a combination of e-mail, file servers, and hard disks to store and share information. This type of information sharing has become the status quo for team information sharing because all members can participate easily and equally, but it does not create an organized record of a team's efforts. Using a Web site based on SharePoint Team Services gives teams an easy and informal way to centralize and share project and team information with team members and other interested parties within the organization.

At an organization or business division level, however, information-sharing requirements become more sophisticated. By using SharePoint Portal Server 2001, organizations can aggregate content from across the organization into a corporate portal so that their users can find the information they need to make better business decisions, regardless of where the data resides. This requires comprehensive search capabilities and the ability to manage large volumes of information across a great number of data stores. Business units also need advanced document management, including structured publishing processes to ensure the information they are sharing is complete and up to date.

Together SharePoint Team Services and SharePoint Portal Server 2001 can provide an end-to-end solution that addresses the information sharing needs for organizations of all sizes. SharePoint Team Services provides a solution for workgroup information sharing that requires little in the way of information technology (IT) support. SharePoint Portal Server effectively aggregates corporate knowledge across file servers, databases, public folders, and Internet sites in addition to Web sites created by using SharePoint Team Services.