SharePoint 2010 was finally launched by Microsoft a couple of days ago, after having been in beta for over 5 months. There was much debate around the software, even before it was launched. It is seen as a major improvement over its predecessor, SharePoint 2007, with much stronger social features (social networking, tagging) in tune with the changing paradigm of business software.

Some have even gone so far as to call it "FaceBook for grownups", or "business alternative to FaceBook". I am in personal disagreement with this statement, since part of the reason FaceBook  has become so massively popular is that any user can perform any function. In other words its compelling design and simplicity of use. I do not see SharePoint 2010 relicating the same simplicity.

On the other end, Forrester came out with the conclusion that "SharePoint 2010" may be overkill for companies which need basic features, namely small enterprises. These companies are better served by alternatives to SharePoint 2010, which bring robust functionality, which can easily be accessed by users in a "point and click" design. 

With the announcement of Microsoft's latest editions of its enterprise software just around the corner, the tech media is abuzz with Google Apps vs. Microsoft debates. And it is not only now, the media has been obsessed with Google vs. Microsoft for a few years now.

With Google's web based productivity approach has certainly made a dent in the Microsoft dominated enterprise productivity market, psychological if not actual (Google's actual paid enterprise customers are not that large in number). It is primarily for that reason that Microsoft, and the other leader in the enterprise productivity market - IBM, have been scampering to web enable their traditional on premise products. Resulting in Microsoft BPOS, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, Office Web Apps, IBM LotusLive and many other products. 

In the meantime, Google in equal measure has been upgrading Google Apps constantly. All this has fueled perpetual debates of MS vs. Google that would leave your ears ringing with MS vs. Google even when you're asleep. 

All this talk creates a myopic view of an either or market, where customers have just two choices - Microsoft or Google. A tech oligopoly. But it couldn't be farther from the truth. There are dozens of segments in the market which are not served best by either Google or Microsoft products. It forgets about the solutions which are better than both Google and Microsoft's products in many areas. 

It fails to acknowledge solutions like Zoho, HyperOffice and many others which identified the potential of software as a service for the business market much before either Google or Microsoft. 

With the launch of SharePoint 2010 just around the corner, speculations are rife about how it will impact organizations. I came across a good blog entry on what SharePoint 2010 could mean for growing businesses.

The entry talks about a recent Forrester report which concludes "Sharepoint 2010 may be overkill for some".  Although SharePoint 2010 has bolstered its application development capabilities, web compatibility and social media features, it is still not suitable for companies which are looking for basic out of the box functionality.

Moreover, no matter what the changes in the 2010 version of SharePoint, it remains a server based solution, designed for IT handlers, with the needs of enterprises in mind. It remains to be seen how SharePoint evolves its online version to suit the needs of SMBs. For now "SharePoint alternatives" seem like the best option for growing organizations.   

In simple words, a collaboration tool is anything that helps people work together. There are a myriad of applications in the market, some cutting edge, which are marketed under the head "collaboration tools". I will list out some software tools, which I feel are essential tools to help people work together in an organization, especially a growing one:-

Email. This is simply the most popular mode people use to send each other messages, have discussions, share files, assign tasks, coordinate and a myriad of other business activities. Although misused, and leading to efficiency losses in terms of "email overload", any list of collaboration tools without this one would be incomplete. Though it makes sense to shift to other tools, people simply aren't going to stop using this one. 

Document Collaboration. Documents are the heart of any business organization.  A big part of information work is comprised of creating documents - strategy documents, specifications, proposals, studies, operational documents, records, orders and countless others. In this age of distributed work, document collaboration systems allow remote teams to work together on documents using their internet connection. Features like versioning, notifications, locking etc helps keep track of changes.

Task Management. A big part of working together in teams is the ability to coordinate activities of each team member so that it is directed towards team goals, and each member makes contributions according to their ability and expertise. Task management tools are a great way to coordinate activities of team members, set responsibilities, order activities, update progress and keep track of the overall project. 

Online Meetings.  No matter how much importance text based collaboration gains, there never can be a substitute for spoken communication in a system of humans. This is needed to brainstorm issues, discuss matters for quick resolution, or simply motivate each other and foster team spirit.

Intranet/Group Workspaces. Although information sharing is important in teams, it is also important to provide context around this information. Intranet workspaces are a centralized location where teams can access team information (documents, tasks, calendars) and intranet pages which provide context around this information.

Barb Mosher, one of the foremost experts on SharePoint and SharePoint alternatives, recently published an article about SharePoint alternatives. As it seems, more and more companies, especially small ones, are looking for easy to use web based alternatives to SharePoint, which offer the same functionality. Her list is as follows:-

HyperOffice

Box.net

GlassCubes

Xythos

SharePoint Online

Alfresco Share

Lotus Quickr

EMC Centerstage

Zoho Office

Google Sites

Do check them out.