In a modern day business environment, with a global workforce geared to respond to customer requirements at any time and in any location, one-to-one concepts are looking increasingly dated.  Microsoft Sharepoint products and technologies set out to address this problem – incorporating essential business collaboration and communication technologies into a single web-based environment that integrates easily with desktop applications, as Chris Ellis of Encode Software, a division of Escape Business Technologies explains. Put simply, Sharepoint is Microsoft’s version of a cutting edge intranet.  It’s an internet based collaboration, process management, search and document management platform.  Its main purpose is enabling an organisation’s information to be organised and stored in one central, web-based application.  It gives businesses a place to capture and share ideas, communicate globally and publish documents and information.  From photos from the Christmas party to year end sales figures to real time Key Performance Indicators, Sharepoint is a one stop shop for all business collaboration.

One business that has benefited from the Sharepoint concept is Adept Knowledge Management Ltd.  Ann Menzies-Angus, operations manager comments:  “As a project management consultancy and training organisation, it’s vital our consultants and facilitators have access to the most up to date and relevant content wherever they are in the world.  As our business expands, the diversity of solutions and material delivered makes effective document change management and resource scheduling an ongoing challenge. 

“We contacted Encode to discuss ways to improve our current file based systems, and Sharepoint was suggested as a scaleable and flexible platform for both our document management and scheduling needs.  The ability to provide a uniform consistent interface coupled with bespoke document workflows and versioning schema will add value to our current methods and reduce unnecessary duplication or uncontrolled content.  Similarly, integration with resource and solution scheduling will ensure all involved know the current status of scheduled events and what remains to be done by whom at any point in time.  This builds upon our ability to provide quality training solutions in a timely and efficient manner.  We also have the knowledge that we have the ongoing support and assistance required to give security of delivery and assistance in further expansion as we go forward.”

For most businesses, Microsoft Sharepoint benefits include flexibility, control and visibility of all business processes.  It gives business owners and other key personnel an instant ‘dash board’ of activity within the company.   You can see what products or time is being sold, how this impacts the bottom line, how much your key clients are spending and what invoices are outstanding. 

For all staff, the document collaboration feature allows for easy ‘checking in and out’ of documents, version control as well as document level security permissions – letting a company share as much or as little information as they choose.  Instead of saving files on a file system, they can be stored in Sharepoint sites – taking file storage to a new level – and making it easier for employees to work together on documents, tasks, contacts, events, calendars and other information.  For fast growth companies with a lot of information and storage, Sharepoint can save time and money in the long-term.

Sharepoint also has the ability to allow access externally – whether this be members of staff working from home or clients gaining access to shared documents – everything is web hosted, and can be accessed globally. 

Having a real-time portal to give you total visibility of your business is essential during times of financial control and growth periods.  For the more light-hearted benefit, it can be a great internal tool for sharing social news – just be careful of who can upload photographs from the staff nights out!