Essential SharePoint

Chapter 1. Why Use SharePoint?

SharePoint is a component of Windows 2003 that lets you share Microsoft Office documents with others through web pages. Unlike most web sites, SharePoint sites are designed to be highly dynamic. Team members can easily upload documents, add public announcements, send alerts, track work items, and call meetings right from within Office products.

Solving Problems

SharePoint solves four problems:

• It's difficult to keep track of all the documents in even a small office.

• Email isn't a great way to share files.

• We work all over the place.

• It's hard to create and maintain web sites on your own.

Most offices have addressed these problems using a combination of tools or work procedures. For instance, the boss says, "Route your proposal to me, Ed, and Jane for approval," and you email the file to each of them, asking for comments with change-tracking enabled. You set a deadline, keep copies of each reviewer's response, and reconcile conflicting comments.

That approach works because your boss, Ed, and Jane are great coworkers, check their email often, and communicate well with each other, and because the proposal is well-suited for this approach. It's pretty easy to throw a wrench into that machine, however. Say, for instance, your proposal isn't a Word document, but rather a set of drawings, a spreadsheet of test results, and a list of links to related products. How do you route that? How do you collect comments?

Or say your project has multiple authors and multiple ...