Background

Microsoft's SharePoint is a suite of software products that Microsoft started to introduce in 2001. In 2003, a stripped down version was offered, for free, as part of Windows Server 2003. This approach made it easy for companies to test drive this new software.  The initial versions were slowly accepted by the market because they were time-consuming to implement, they required the use of significant technical expertise, and they were not well-integrated with other Microsoft products.   

In 2007, Microsoft introduced a major release of the product called Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS 2007) and made it part of the Microsoft Office product family.  This version simplified and streamlined the key advantages of the product, and included full integration capabilities with the rest of the Microsoft's Office Suite.   This release has been extremely well received by the market. Unlike many of the software products that have been developed by Microsoft, SharePoint is viewed as being an innovative, exciting new product that can be used by any size of company. Since the 2007 release, SharePoint, has quickly become Microsoft's fastest growing server based software product.

To date Microsoft has sold over $1B of SharePoint products and over 100 million licenses. One of the reasons that it is being so well accepted in the market is that Microsoft has broadened this offering to include several new major categories of additional functionality. The wide breadth of software functionality that it now offers, in addition to its extensive integration capability with the Microsoft Office suite, now provides Microsoft with some significant competitive advantages in the market place.

K&A believes that most companies have a real need for three categories of major business software applications: 1) enterprise management software (ERP) for supporting the company's back office functions, 2) customer relationship management software (CRM) for supporting its front office functions (sales and marketing), and 3) SharePoint for maximizing its collaboration and communication with its customers, vendors, and business partners.