Windows SharePoint Services provide a secure, scalable, enterprise-level portal environment for team collaboration. Because SharePoint aggregates and organizes information in one place, users can find relevant information quickly and efficiently.

What is a SharePoint Services site?

With a Windows SharePoint Services site, you get a secured intranet like website accessible only to your organization or team. SharePoint allows you to share documents and photos as well as post announcements, tasks events and even conduct surveys with your team or organization. SharePoint is fully integrated with Microsoft Office 2003® so you can open documents directly into Microsoft Word® or Excel® and "save" changes directly back to your SharePoint site with just one click.

SharePoint Team Community

SharePoint 2003 sites provide places to capture and share ideas, information, communication, and documents. The sites facilitate team participation in discussions, shared document collaboration, and surveys. Site content is accessible from both a Web browser and through clients that support Web Services. The document collaboration features allow for easy check in, check out, and document version control..

SharePoint Individual Empowerment

SharePoint 2003 site members can find and communicate with key contacts and experts, both by e-mail and with instant messaging. Site content can be easily searched, and users can also receive alerts to tell them when existing documents and information has been changed, or when new information or documents have been added. Site content and layout can be personalized on a per-user basis, and Web Parts can be used to present targeted information to specific users on precise topics.

Microsoft Office System programs use SharePoint site content. All of a site's collaborative content—for example, documents, lists, events, task assignments, and membership rosters—can be read and edited within Microsoft Office Word 2003, Microsoft Office Excel 2003, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint® 2003. Picture editing of Web-based photo libraries is also possible. Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003 allows SharePoint site event calendars to be viewed side-by-side with personal calendars, and it also creates meeting-specific workspaces to augment group appointments.


Integrated with Windows ASP.NET

In addition to the Web Part infrastructure, Windows SharePoint Services 2003 servers, sites, and site contents are exposed by a comprehensive Windows .NET–based object model and industry-standard Web services. Site customization and enhance data-driven site content is possible, even to non-programmers, by using Microsoft Office FrontPage® 2003.