SharePoint

=SharePoint Online = toc

What is it?
SharePoint Online is Microsoft’s online collaboration software which allows multiple users to share and co-create documents. These documents are then available through the cloud. SharePoint integrates Microsoft 365, the combination of all of Microsoft’s cloud computing options, and Microsoft Office. Customer can choose which features to include and are charged accordingly. SharePoint online is targeted to businesses of all size, especially small businesses. Many of Sharepoint’s features are designed to replace on social media sites which are freely available. For example, Google Groups, Google Docs and Google Calendars can be replaced by Discussion Board, Documents for Review, and Calendar. Delicious, the popular online bookmarking service, can be replaced by Links. media type="youtube" key="AOQo_b22Zlw" height="315" width="560"

SharePoint History
The original version of SharePoint was released in 2001 by software giant, Microsoft. Microsoft, best known for the Windows OS and Microsoft Office suite, was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen OS. Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Office Business Platform Jeff Teper, spearheaded the SharePoint project. On Dec. 2, 2008 Sharepoint Online and Exchange Online were out of beta and eventually the 4th version of SharePoint, SharePoint 2010, was released with online capabilities. The product was launched by Stephen Elop, president of the Microsoft Business Division, and was intended to replace SharePoint server technology from previous editions. Overtime SharePoint has evolved from a tool to share and create documents to a way to comprehensive content management and collaboration. By 2011, Microsoft has sold 125 million licenses sold and added 93,000 partners.

SharePoint Online provides sites to:
From http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/gg144571
 * Manage and share important documents. (My Sites)
 * Keep teams in sync and manage important projects. (Team Sites)
 * Stay up-to-date with company information and news. (Intranet Sites)
 * Share documents securely with partners and customers. (Extranet Sites)
 * Market your business using a simple public-facing website.

Features
From http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/sharepoint-online.aspx#fbid=DI2CAN_13kQ
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Manage and share important documents with colleagues
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Share personal insights and status updates with colleagues
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Keep teams in sync and manage important projects
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Find important documents and people easily
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Stay up to date with company information and news
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Create Microsoft Office documents and save them directly to SharePoint Online.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Protect sensitive content with document-level permissions.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Access important documents offline by using SharePoint Workspace.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Enable real-time communication with colleagues from within SharePoint Online.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Control service provisioning, monitoring, and reporting to simplify management through a single console.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Project Professional 2010 synchronizes task status with SharePoint 2010 to enable effective project collaboration with teams.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">SharePoint Users
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Pitney Bowes Inc. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">CG Healthcare Solutions LLC, an affiliate of Cowan, Gunteski & Co. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Clean Power Research LLC <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Corefino Inc. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Fair Isaac Corp

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<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Library Science Connection
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Library and Information Science professionals, like any business, can use SharePoint to collaborate and manage organizational knowledge. The internal blogs, alerts, and RSS feeds can keep librarians and information professionals up to date and allow them to share new discoveries and solutions.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**References**
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Cromity, J. (2011). Fostering Internal Communication. //Online//, (35)4, 34-7.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">(2008, December 2). Exchange Online and SharePoint Online out of beta and ready for purchase. //Science Letter//, 3549. Retrieved from Academic OneFile.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Foley, M. J. (2011, March 24). Microsoft: We're adding 20,000 new SharePoint users a day. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-were-adding-20000-new-sharepoint-users-a-day/9011

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Foley, M. J. (2009, October 20). Meet the father of Microsoft SharePoint: Jeff Teper. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/meet-the-father-of-microsoft-sharepoint-jeff-teper/4299?tag=content;siu-container

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Levie, A. (2011, October 30). Competing against the big guys. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/30/competing-against-the-big-guys/

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Microsoft. ( 2011, June 28.) Microsoft SharePoint Online for enterprises. Retrieved from http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=13602

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Mullan, J. (2011, March 30). SharePoint training not required. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.therunninglibrarian.co.uk/2011/03/sharepoint-training-not-required.html