|
I recently came across an article on cmswatch about Google and SharePoint being an apples and oranges comparisin. According to the author, most of the solutions like Google Apps and HyperOffice which claim to be "SharePoint killers" dont deserve the tag, because they dont have most of the functionalities that SharePoint do. He has even listed out specifically the features that most of these "SharePoint killers" don't have:- 1) Personal spaces for workers 2) Business Social Networking 3) Enterprise Search 4) Application development The author is right to an extent, since it is true that most of the web based "sharepoint killers" do not have these capabilities. But a fact remains, most companies, especially smaller ones, have no need for all these capabilities. They use SharePoint mostly for document management and remote collaboration. So most of these functions are wasted on smaller companies. Moreover, SharePoint as a solution is complex and expensive, especially since it needs the setup of dedicated servers, and needs IT experts to run and maintain it. Web based solutions on the other hand, are light weight, and have been developed around small business needs (document management, shared workspaces, group calendars, forums, wikis etc). The emphasis is on having a set of tools that small users can use right away with minimal or no training, with a certain degree of customizability. Moreover the cost is broken down in reasonable monthly instalments, and there is no need to set up dedicated servers and hire IT experts. I know HyperOffice collaboration software well, and they have long positioned themselves as a "sharepoint alternative" (as opposed to a "SharePoint killer"). Apart from having the functions I mentioned above, they also have some of the capabilities that the cmswire author said diffrentiate SharePoint and its web based alternatives. HyperOffice has personal workspaces for each user, in addition to group workspaces. It may not be an application development platform, but its HyperBase database tool allows non experts to set up automated workflows for simple business tasks like lead tracking and customer orders. In conclusion, I agree web based collaboration suites are not "SharePoint killers", but theyre definitely more suitable for the small business market.
|
