Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
Microsoft · Public domain · source
Name	Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
Developer	Microsoft
Released	2007
Latest release	2007 Service Pack 2
Operating system	Windows Server
Platform	x86, x64
Genre	Collaboration software, portal

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is a collaboration and portal platform developed by Microsoft for enterprise content management, document management, and intranet portals. It served as a central platform linking authorship, search, workflow, and publishing for organizations using Windows Server and Windows SharePoint Services, and it interacted with products from Redmond and partners such as Intel and Dell. The product influenced subsequent releases and enterprise deployments across industries that used technologies originating from Microsoft and standards bodies.

Overview

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 was launched amid enterprise adoption of platforms like Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Office 2007, SQL Server 2005, and competing suites such as IBM Lotus Domino and Oracle portal offerings. The server targeted scenarios familiar to customers of Accenture, Deloitte, Capgemini, and other systems integrators, aiming to consolidate intranet, extranet, and collaboration workloads alongside document repositories used by organizations including NASA, BMW, and Procter & Gamble. The release coincided with industry events such as TechEd, Microsoft Build, and shifts in governance debated at European Commission forums on interoperability.

Features and Components

SharePoint 2007 introduced features that intersected with products and standards like Office SharePoint Designer, Microsoft Office Excel, Microsoft Office Word, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft Project Server. Core components included document libraries, lists, web parts, and search capabilities that leveraged indexing similar to engines from FAST Search & Transfer and APIs compatible with Windows Communication Foundation and Active Directory. Collaboration features were promoted for large enterprises such as General Electric and Siemens, while workflow integration referenced patterns from Windows Workflow Foundation and practices discussed in publications by Forrester Research and Gartner.

Architecture and Deployment

The platform's architecture relied on tiers familiar to administrators of IIS, Windows Server 2008, and SQL Server 2008, using service applications and application pools modeled after Microsoft server families. Farms and front-end/back-end topologies resembled deployments used by corporations like Microsoft and HP, with guidance influenced by standards bodies including Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development discussions on data portability. Deployment tools and guidance referenced industry events like Microsoft TechEd and advisory from professional services firms including PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Administration and Security

Administration integrated with authentication and directory services such as Active Directory, certificate services similar to Verisign models, and audit practices informed by regulators like Sarbanes–Oxley Act compliance teams. Security features and patching cycles were discussed at conferences including Black Hat and cited by vendors such as Symantec and McAfee for endpoint integration. High-availability patterns drew from clustering approaches used by EMC Corporation and storage arrays from NetApp.

Integration and Extensibility

Extensibility was delivered through APIs and XML-based configuration compatible with tools like Visual Studio, and integration scenarios referenced connectors for SAP, Salesforce, and identity federation standards discussed at OASIS meetings. Third-party ecosystems included vendors such as AvePoint, Metalogix, and consultancies like Accenture and KPMG that provided migration, backup, and customization services used by enterprises in sectors represented by World Health Organization and United Nations agencies.

Editions and Licensing

Microsoft positioned the product within its enterprise portfolio alongside Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft Office SKUs, offering edition choices and licensing models informed by enterprise agreements used by institutions including Harvard University, University of Cambridge, and municipal deployments such as the City of New York. Pricing and Volume Licensing practices aligned with programs overseen by bodies like Business Software Alliance and procurement norms in organizations such as NATO.

Reception and Legacy

Reception among analysts at Gartner and Forrester Research highlighted strengths in integration with Microsoft Office and weaknesses in customization complexity compared with alternatives from IBM and Oracle. The platform's legacy influenced later products such as successors in the SharePoint family and cloud offerings from Microsoft that competed with services from Amazon Web Services, Google, and Salesforce. Case studies from companies like Toyota and Vodafone documented migrations and long-term effects on enterprise collaboration strategies, with academic treatments appearing in conferences including ACM and IEEE proceedings.

Category:Microsoft software