This topic was recently discussed on the UK records management list.
See one of the more thorough responses below (posted with permission).

Ginny Jones
(Virginia A. Jones, CRM, FAI)
Records Manager
Information Technology Division
Newport News Dept. of Public Utilities
Newport News, VA
[log in to unmask]

-----Original Message-----
From: The UK Records Management mailing list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Richard
Jeffrey-Cook
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 6:28 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

This is a recent piece I wrote about Sharepoint.  I hope it is useful to
list members.  You are welcome to reproduce it as long as you
acknowledge
the source.

SharePoint Server 2007

Even before its release, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS)
has
been having a major impact on the Enterprise Content, Document and
Records
Management software marketplace.  The recent consolidation of the
marketplace with the acquisition of FileNet by IBM and of Hummingbird by
Open Text is, at least in part, due to the arrival of MOSS.
Microsoft has added an enormous amount of new functionality to the
existing
SharePoint product.  SharePoint Server 2003 can be described as a
collaboration and site provisioning platform.  It allowed groups of
users to
share and publish information through a portal.  MOSS incorporates:
. Workflow, taken from the Windows Workflow Foundation (WF);
. Content Management, by absorbing Content Management Server 2002;
. Business Intelligence features, by combining with Excel Services;
. Internet Forms, by allowing users to run InfoPath forms without
InfoPath;
. A Business Data Catalogue, to support integration with applications
and
allow the presentation of structure data;
. Document and Records Management features including version control,
significantly improved access control features, search facilities and
retention and disposal functionality.
These features, which would previously have required expensive software
applications typically costing hundreds of thousands of pounds, are now
available at a very low entry price of a few thousand pounds.
New document management features in MOSS include:
. Check-in and check-out of documents.  This can now be enforced.
. Minor versioning.  SharePoint Server only supported major version
numbers.
MOSS can support both major and minor version numbers.
. Live copies.  This notifies a user if a copy of a document they hold
has
been updated, allowing them to update their copy if required.
. Rendition support.  A document may be held in different file formats
and
recognised as the same item.
. Draft item security.  A document is not made visible until it has been
authorised.
. Support for Microsoft Office rights-managed file formats.  Rights
management allows the author to specify how a file may be shared and
viewed.
. Records management features including the ability to apply an
"Information
Management Policy" to specify a retention and disposal schedule and an
audit
trail, a "Content Type" to specify metadata items, document templates
and
workflows and a "Records Repository" to store the documents. 
Microsoft has included a software development kit (SDK) and is actively
promoting the extensibility of the software to its partners.  MOSS is
based
upon ASP.NET 2.0 and a large number of bespoke applications will be
developed and be available as add-ons to the MOSS product.  A likely
consequence is that existing commercial departmental or personal
document
management systems will either upgrade to this technical platform or
will
disappear.
It is too early to be sure what the impact will be on the Enterprise
Content
Management (ECM) and Electronic Document and Records Management System
(EDRMS) marketplace.  The enormous publicity surrounding SharePoint
Server
2007 will introduce ECM and EDRMS features and issues such as compliance
to
a far wider audience.  The tools within MOSS itself however will not
support
document and records management on a corporate scale without extensive
application development. It may be argued that Microsoft has given users
enough rope to hang themselves.  ECM and EDRMS suppliers will need to
focus
on the features of their applications that support corporate content,
document and records management.  Most of these applications already
support
integration with SharePoint.

In-Form Consult is working with a number of major corporate clients who
are
using or evaluating Sharepoint.

Richard Jeffrey-Cook
In-Form Consult Ltd
West Clayton, Berry Lane
CHORLEYWOOD, WD3 5EX.
Tel: +44 (0)7810 422879 
Off: +44 (0)1923 283694
www.inform-consult.com
In-Form Consult Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales with
company number 3141347.
Company registered address: Weathervane, Old Shire Lane, CHORLEYWOOD,
WD3
5PW.
VAT No:  GB 722 700175  

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