Executive Summary

Contributing analysts: Paul DeGroot, Rob Horwitz, Don Retallack, Matt Rosoff, Rob Sanfilippo

SharePoint 2010 is integrated with new versions of key Microsoft enterprise products, including Office and SQL Server. As a result, SharePoint 2010 will be an important factor for IT planning for the foreseeable future. SharePoint is Microsoft’s Web application platform and suite of components for Web-based document sharing, team collaboration, corporate portal hosting, enterprise search, content management, business intelligence, and other functions. SharePoint 2010, the latest version, improves all of these areas, with especially notable improvements for sharing Office documents. Compared to earlier versions, SharePoint 2010 simplifies administration of large-scale installations and eases customization by developers. However, it also requires new infrastructure and updated skills for users, IT personnel, and developers. It also has many gaps that Microsoft partners will continue to fill. Despite the gaps, organizations need to understand SharePoint 2010 in order to accurately evaluate new versions of Office, SQL Server, and other products that integrate with it.