Microsoft is moving towards a matured product with the deployment of the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007. For a quick introduction on MOSS 2007 visit MOSS 2007 Review - Six Pillars of MOSS.

However, Microsoft took significant time (starting SPS 2001 to now MOSS 2007) to get SPS as Content Management System and to provide a collaborative platform. Still it is not a true content management system facilitating true content/document/record/email management.

At present MOSS has been placed at the right place on the Microsoft product roadmap. The MOSS 2007 seamless integration capabilities with other Microsoft products and services - Office 2007, Forms Server, Business Data Catalog (BDC), Workflow Engine, SQL Server - makes it more promising from IT implementation strategies point of view.

The good thing about trusting SPS is that it is surely going to get better in short term (along with Office 14) and as well in the long term (with Microsoft acquiring FAST Search in January 2008 and possible future acquisitions).

So shall IT put all eggs in Microsoft SharePoint basket? The answer is, it would be a good idea to wait for some more time but at the same time do not be too late on implementing MOSS based solution where it is a best fit in your organization.

Ashish Ghoda
http://www.technologyopinion.com

Regarding the following:

From an IT perspective, buying into the "SharePoint for everything" vision seems reasonable on the surface, but I wonder how end-users will feel about such a strategy.

That kind of lock-in has the potential to backfire for enterprises, because one vendor and one product can’t keep up with all the innovations in the consumer space. When that gap becomes wide, end-users rebel and grab what they need from the Web.

I have been around all three versions of SharePoint over the years, and except for open source purists, I have yet to see typical end-users shun SharePoint. As a matter of fact, the grassroots nature at which it is apopted within organizaitons can be alarming to IT Managers. Without proper planning of an enterprise class SharePoint environment IT departments are typically woefully underprepared for the demands that users place on the SharePoint environment itself as well as all the underlying subsystems (e.g. network, storage, etc.).

SharePoint is a part of the Microsoft Office System, and therefore, you can count on quite a few out-of-the-box integrations with common desktop applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. Those integrations only enhance the adoption rate of SharePoint in most organizations.

My advice is simple, worry less about adoption rates and revolts and more about proper planning prior to rolling it out. Start with a well thought out governance plan (MS has a SharePoint Governance Template that you can download to get you started). This will help ensure your organization is well prepared to support an enterprise class SharePoint environment. There are quite a few planning guides and templates to assist with the proper planning of the environment as well.

Good luck to you!

Regards,

ba