AIIM SharePoint 2010 Report

SharePoint has become one of Microsoft’s fastest selling products of all time. Initially promoted in its 2003 release, the 2007 update has propelled SharePoint into nearly two thirds of the AIIM community, and the 2010 release looks likely to add further momentum. SharePoint has created a new collaboration paradigm, encouraging many new users, and fuelling innovative add-on applications.

However, the rapid adoption rate for SharePoint has created confusion in many organizations as regards their future strategy for information management, particularly those with existing and established ECM (Enterprise Content Management), RM (Records Management) and BPM (Business Process Management) systems. Many new users consider SharePoint to be an IT infrastructure project and have little experience of document and information management. Even for experienced users and consultants, the openness and breadth of the product raise a number of critical governance issues. Meanwhile, vendors across the ECM spectrum have rushed to integrate their products with SharePoint in order to add value or plug potential functionality gaps.

This AIIM report looks more closely at the impact SharePoint is having, both for existing ECM-suite users and for those choosing SharePoint to be their first ECM system. Features and functions are changing fast, so planning and policy setting are vital. In this report, we measure the experiences of users so far, and highlight their options for the future.