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Gathering MOSS? Revealing SharePoint Opportunities & Costs

Publication Date: August 2009
Services: Dynamic Content Software Strategies
Network Document Solutions

Introduction

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 has garnered substantial attention and adoption in recent months. Market data indicates that MOSS will reach over $1B in revenue and 110M licenses in 2008. Microsoft partners and developers are realizing large revenues around SharePoint add-ons, widgets, services, and solutions; and major OEMs and VARs are investigating potential partnerships around this platform. For software vendors, MOSS presents both an opportunity and a threat.

For many organizations, MOSS 2007 is part of a standard upgrade cycle. For others, the tight integration with Office 2007, Windows OS, and Windows Server components make MOSS 2007 highly relevant and adoptable for almost all businesses. MOSS could be a platform and repository option for document lifecycle requirements such capture, document management, records management and archiving, or workflow. Other MOSS use-cases include knowledge management and collaboration, social networking, project management, customer relationship management, web content management, and “Web 2.0” initiatives such as wikis and blogs.

With these opportunities come challenges, though. The MOSS landscape can be confusing for partners, developers, and users alike. MOSS licensing is complex and includes multiple server licenses, multiple Client Access Licenses (CALs) options, as well as required ‘add-ons’ for certain functionality. Additionally, Windows SharePoint Services v3.0 – included with Windows Server – provides services with many capabilities similar to MOSS 2007. For small and medium businesses, many may be able to get away with these services alone. That said, the total cost of ownership (TCO) of SharePoint requires additional investigation.

Today it is unclear how many CALs are being used, although estimates indicate only 10% of user licenses are active, and most activity points to MOSS as a “web-based network drive.” It is also unclear how IT budget holders perceive MOSS today and how they intend to use MOSS in the future, especially given recent economic pressures and forthcoming updates to SharePoint and the Office suite. Additional questions remain around requirements and deployment of MOSS 2007 – it is unclear where Microsoft partners, OEMs, VARs and software vendors can deliver the most added value without marginalizing their existing portfolios.

InfoTrends’ new multi-client study, “Gathering MOSS? (Revealing SharePoint Opportunities and Costs),” will take an in-depth look at the opportunities and challenges for MOSS 2007. The study will provide an understanding of customer behavior in relation to purchasing and engaging MOSS, what the market is currently offering, and improvements that could help maximize this emerging opportunity.

Project Objectives

• Quantify the penetration of MOSS 2007 on an “active user” basis
• Qualify the current and expected use of MOSS 2007 across small, medium, and large organizations as well as across vertical industries
• Understand perceptions, deployments, and challenges of MOSS 2007 for more robust solutions
• Examine the costs and requirements for deploying MOSS 2007 across a range of uses and scales
• Discover how customers engage with providers of MOSS-related services and solutions
• Evaluate the value of these engagements for various use-cases
• Enumerate the most highly demanded services, solutions, and hardware integrations around the MOSS platform
  today and in 2 years time

Analysis & Project Deliverables

We will conduct extensive analysis of desk research, personal interviews, and surveys to develop a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities and costs presented by Microsoft SharePoint. Clients will receive a combination of reports, presentation materials, and data for senior management, product managers and planners, and sales and marketing executives. These materials will include:

• Executive Summary with Key Findings
• PowerPoint Style Document with Bullets
• PowerPoint Presentation with Charts
• Data Tabulations

Getting Started

For more information or to sign up as a participant, contact Alison Hipp at ext. 126 or via e-mail at . Early subscriber discounts are available until February 13, 2009.