Sharepoint - definition

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Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) is the full version of a portal-based platform for collaboratively creating, managing and sharing documents and Web services. MOSS enables users to create "Sharepoint Portals" that include shared workspaces, applications, blogs, wikis and other documents accessible through a Web browser. The free version, Windows SharePoint Server (WSS), usually referred to as simply "Sharepoint," is available as a free download included with every Windows Server license.

MOSS is used by many enterprises as a content management system (CMS). Partially as a result of the tight integration with Microsoft productivity applications included in Office, such as Word, many administrators have found MOSS useful in organizing and aggregating an enterprise's data into Web-based portal with defined taxonomies that structure the information. MOSS includes additional features as an inducement for system administrators to upgrade from WSS, including knowledge management, organization of business processes and enterprise search. Both versions include support for many Web 2.0 technologies and third-party Web browsers like Firefox.

Fundamentally, MOSS provides an integrated platform for building customized Web-based applications and portals in Windows Server environments. To address the needs of remote workers and telecommuters, as well as system administrator concerns for data security, MOSS can be configured to return separate content depending on whether access is gained from intranet, extranet or Internet locations. Active Directory groups or HTML forms authentication can also be added to MOSS, granting multiple permissions to multiple parties or through alternate providers.

Users log on to Web portals to edit and create shared documents. These "SharePoint portals" are ASP.NET applications that are hosted on a server and use a SQL Server database. MOSS provides Web browser-based management and administration tools that allow users to create and edit a document or document library independently. Collaborative editing of this kind is aided by integrated access and revision controls, allowing administrators to freeze certain documents or restrict user privileges where required. MOSS also uses embeddable widgets in shared Web pages to add additional functionality. Widgets include:

• shared workspaces and personal dashboards
• navigation tools
• lists
• automatic alerts, including email and integrated RSS
• shared calendar and contacts
• discussion boards

Users build SharePoint pages is by combining selected widgets into a Web page. Any Web editor that supports ASP.NET can be used for this purpose, though Microsoft has released a WYSIWYG HTML editor, Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer (MOSD), that was specifically designed for this purpose.

Critics of SharePoint point out that certain features of MOSS 2007 only work with the newest version of Microsoft Office, thereby forcing IT managers to upgrade their software. SharePoint's lack of support for non-Microsoft formats, like files saved using quark or Adobe Acrobat (.PDF), is also a cause of concern for some administrators evaluating the suite as a potential enterprise-wide CMS.

The previous versions of SharePoint are SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and SharePoint Portal Server 2001.

Getting started with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS)

To explore how the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) is used in the enterprise, here are some additional resources:

SharePoint 2007 Learning Guide: You'll find tons of helpful links in this guide.

Using SharePoint, Office to develop portals and mashups: Learn how to create customer-facing applications and business mashups on top of SharePoint Server and Office Live services.

Fast Guide: SharePoint blogs: Check out this quick reference to the Web's SharePoint blogs.