Kenneth C. Laudon,Jane P. Laudon Management Information System 12th Edition pdf

Microsoft SharePoint

Microsoft SharePoint is the most widely adopted col-

laboration system for small and medium-sized firms that use Microsoft server

and networking products. Some larger firms have adopted it as well. SharePoint

is a browser-based collaboration and document management platform, com-

bined with a powerful search engine that is installed on corporate servers. 

SharePoint has a Web-based interface and close integration with everyday

tools such as Microsoft Office desktop software products. Microsoft’s strategy is

to take advantage of its “ownership” of the desktop through its Microsoft Office

and Windows products. For Microsoft, the path towards enterprise-wide collab-

oration starts with the Office desktop and Microsoft network servers.

SharePoint software makes it possible for employees to share their Office docu-

ments and collaborate on projects using Office documents as the foundation.

SharePoint products and technologies provide a platform for Web-based

collaboration at the enterprise level. SharePoint can be used to host Web sites

that organize and store information in one central location to enable teams to

coordinate work activities, collaborate on and publish documents, maintain

task lists, implement workflows, and share information via wikis, blogs, and

Twitter-style status updates. Because SharePoint stores and organizes informa-

tion in one place, users can find relevant information quickly and efficiently

while working together closely on tasks, projects, and documents.

Here is a list of SharePoint’s major capabilities:

• Provides a single workspace for teams to coordinate schedules, organize

documents, and participate in discussions, within the organization or over an

extranet.

• Facilitates creation and management of documents with the ability to control

versions, view past revisions, enforce document-specific security, and main-

tain document libraries.

• Provides announcements, alerts, and discussion boards to inform users when

actions are required or changes are made to existing documentation or

information.

• Supports personalized content and both personal and public views of

documents and applications.

• Provides templates for blogs and wikis to help teams share information and

brainstorm.

• Provides tools to manage document libraries, lists, calendars, tasks, and

discussion boards offline, and to synchronize changes when reconnected to

the network.

• Provides enterprise search tools for locating people, expertise, and content.

Sony Electronics, a leading provider of consumer and professional electron-

ics products with more 170,000 employees around the world, uses Microsoft

Office SharePoint Server 2010 to improve information access, enhance collabo-

ration, and make better use of experts inside the company. Sony uses

SharePoint’s wiki tools to capture and organize employees’ insights and com-

ments into a company-wide body of knowledge, and its people search feature to

identify employees with expertise about specific projects and research areas.

The company also used SharePoint to create a central file-sharing repository.

This helps employees collaboratively write, edit, and exchange documents and

eliminates the need to e-mail documents back and forth. All of these improve-

ments have cut development time on key projects from three to six months to

three to six weeks. (Microsoft, 2010).

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Chapter 2

Global E-business and Collaboration

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