What is SharePoint?

Microsoft SharePoint is an incredibly popular tool for corporate collaboration and documentation efforts. With each new iteration, Microsoft creates new updates for the platform from the previous versions. A CMSWire report by Barb Mosher Zinck explained the capabilities and differences between SharePoint 2010 and SharePoint 2007.

Zinck noted that the SharePoint name is a major clue regarding the platform, because it allows users to share information and collaborate using this data. In SharePoint 2007, Microsoft's six pillars included search, portal, content management, business forms, business intelligence and collaboration. SharePoint 2010 updated these pillars to sites, communities, content, search, insights and composites.

SharePoint 2010 is the development of Microsoft's plan to offer an enterprise solution that supports various information applications at once, Zinck explained. Compared to SharePoint 2007, 2010 provides firms greater document management, records keeping, business intelligence and user interface capabilities, among other advancements. SharePoint 2010 is an all-in-one option to help organizations take advantage of all these functions.

Majority of businesses rely on SharePoint 2010
A survey conducted by Metalogix found that firms' SharePoint content is growing at a rapid rate. Overall, half of respondents have more than a terabyte of data in their SharePoint deployments, while 15 percent have had more than 10 terabytes.

Although more than 60 percent of participants plan to upgrade to SharePoint 13 within the next year, 90 percent still operate SharePoint 2010, showing that its impact has not dissipated since its release. Nearly 40 percent reported they are still using SharePoint 2007 and SharePoint 2003.

Steven Murphy, CEO of Metalogix, said IT departments are facing many challenges associated with these growing content levels.

"From migrating and upgrading to the latest version of SharePoint to synchronizing content across multiple locations and evaluating opportunities within the cloud, organizations will continue to face challenges improving cost effective knowledge sharing and collaboration, unless they implement the processes and infrastructure necessary to proactively manage the growth of their content," Murphy said.

Whether a company is still relying on older versions of SharePoint or planning to upgrade to the latest iteration, it is clear that Microsoft's offerings will be critical for businesses that want to manage their content more effectively. Although SharePoint 2013 will include new advancements from other tools, SharePoint 2010 appears to still be a popular system for organizations moving forward.