Like a lot of other folks, I have taken a look at how to use SharePoint in my environment. I have been working with the 2007 version and have not migrated yet to 2010.
I find SharePoint to be an excellent and easy to use tool. Its out-of-the-box functionality provides a repository, a collaboration facility, and a portal, as well as a development environment for more complex applications. The user interface for configuring pages and web parts is "clunky" but functional.
Here's how I use it. I set up a Records Officer User Group section for collaboration among the records officers from each agency. I have posted links to resources, online courses, other State archive sites, and various associations such as AIIM, ARMA, SAA, CoSA, NAGARA and local chapters. The site has a repository for retention schedules and for records that have been digitized. It also has a view for the general public that has a history of our facility, general information about how to use our services, and so on. Each view is set up with security so that each user group is segregated, and web parts can be reused in multiple views.
Future plans include linking the site to our FileNet repository using a connector. This function is primarily for archiving digitized documents such as birth, death, marriage, wills, etc. Also, I plan to enhance the search capability for more directed and granular searches for specific document types. These plans call for a migration to MOSS 2010, moving all or a portion of the site outside the firewall, and better directory services to make it easier to add users outside of our primary domain. I also plan to set up some simple workflows and eforms so that users can request and receive services online.
I have used SP for years for project management and am advocating its use here for that purpose. All project documents can be shared by all project participants, and documents that are in process such as the RFP, contract, change orders, design deliverables, project plans, documentation, training materials, etc. can be managed much better using SharePoint's document management features such as check out/check in and versioning. Final versions can be swept into the ECM repository, and it is all much better than collaboration via email. SP can be integrated with Outlook and MS Project for very seamless project management.
I am promoting SharePoint as a viable interim step for basic ECM services, if the agency cannot afford a major project or cannot wait for their FileNet implementation. This approach provides a digital repository for scanned documents and electronic files that can be integrated with FileNet at a later date.
The good news is that my site was absolutely free! We already owned licenses through our enterprise MS scheme. I set up the entire site myself, with only some rudimentary help from our admin staff. There is no custom programming involved, although when I enhance the search screens, add eforms and workflow some will be required.
Based on my past experiences, I recommend that users do NOT build custom applications using SharePoint. I know this will be controversial, especially to those of you who make your living building custom applications. My rationale is that this tool evolves fairly quickly. I know folks who spent lots of $$ building custom applications on the first SP version, adding custom components such as records management and such, only to find that none of it would migrate to the new version when it came out. Therefore my policy is to limit customization if possible, use the configurable features and you can't go wrong.
All ECM vendors now have a connector to SharePoint, and there are third party tools for scanning, image viewing and GUI based workflow. This makes SP a viable platform in an organization, even if there is an enterprise repository built on another ECM platform. Watch out for volume limitations, however - the 2007 version has a performance limit of 10 million objects in its repository and a 2GB limit on file size, so it is not a good platform for very high volume applications.
In summary, my experience has been very good - it is a great inexpensive tool for collaboration, project management, "basic content services," document management, and as a portal, and it will connect to your enterprise ECM. As long as you do not customize too much, and therefore limit your migration path, go for it!
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