Beginning SharePoint® 2007: Building Team Solutions with MOSS 2007

1.1. Introducing Portal Technologies and SharePoint

Before getting started on the technical tasks associated with managing and working with SharePoint content, it is important to understand the purpose and common usage scenarios for the technology.

Organizational stakeholders often suffer from what's been termed information overload. Because computers play such an integral part in any business, not surprisingly, more and more of the information that is created, consumed, and shared in an organization is digital. The more business that you have and the more successful your business, the more information you have to manage. Usually, you have some form of document for just about every process and transaction that plays out during the day-to-day operation in your company. From proposals to legal documents, from sales receipts to human resource policy documentation, the amount of information required to function is staggering.

To manage your information overload, SharePoint offers tools with which you can build business applications to better store, share, and manage digital information. With it, you can create lists, libraries, and websites for your various company teams to help run your business processes more efficiently.

1.1.1. What is Portal Technology?

A corporate portal is a gateway through which members can access business information and, if set up properly, should be the first place an employee goes to access anything of importance. Portals differ from regular websites in ...