While I believe SharePoint 2007 makes a pretty effective collaboration tool for most organizations right out of the box, it does require some customization to mesh with the unique environment of specific organizations.  There is a common misconception that such customization requires additional coding, which many organizations are loathe to do.

However, thanks to the JavaScript Object Model provided with SharePoint 2010 there are many rich collaboration features we can add without a inputting a single line of server-side code.  These features allow organizations to target SharePoint to their users on Internet-facing websites and obtain more value from their SharePoint solution.

Here are some of the features that can be enabled with the JavaScript Object Model provided with SharePoint 2010:

Web Parts – Using the XLST web part, users can search and view data just by configuring the required parameters.

Workflows  - Visio content can be imported into SharePoint as workflows that manage the sequence of connected steps to complete tasks to ensure projects are going smoothly.

InfoPath Form – This nifty feature enables Drag & Drop controls and Design Form so you can manage your SharePoint content much more easily.

Reports – View and manage reports to keep track of across-the-organization information from a centralized location.

BI & Dashboard Capabilities – Allows users to monitor business metrics, analyze the causes of issues, and enhance business intelligence to improve decision-making.

CMS – Content can easily be added, edited, and searched.  Users receive alerts when documents are changed and thousands of sites can be scaled at once.

Theme & Branding – Increase your online presence by adding your power point theme to your website through SharePoint.

User Management – Control which members can access and change what content through an easily configurable user management panel.

These zero code solutions are excellent for SMBs because they do not require the skill of a developer to implement.  Any layman can add and configure these features through SharePoint's simple interface and deployment is easy.  The best part is that the foundation server is free and the resource costs are very low, so SharePoint customization is cost effective. 

One of the distinguishing characteristics of a successful organization is their ability to collaborate effectively. Some problems are too complex for an individual to handle alone but collaboration pools the skills, knowledge, and information of a group of people to make better decisions or produce better results. The right technology can be applied as a collaboration tool to enhance sharing, discovery, and collaboration within a business or organization. An effective collaboration tool can gather the best knowledge, skills, and talent from an organization together to reach a goal that would be unattainable if these abilities were used independently.

As one of the most well-known technology collaboration solutions, much has been said about Microsoft SharePoint. SharePoint comes recommended as one of the best collaboration tools available as it allows for collaboration in these seven different ways:

• Access & Share Data Any Time-Anywhere – SharePoint can be accessed through a browser, Microsoft Outlook, Grove 2007, and even with a Windows Phone.No need of independent xls sheets& just add or edit data in common list.
• Plan Important Dates and Reminders – Important meetings and events can be added to a calendar and viewed by team members, keeping them apprised of upcoming events, meetings, deadlines, and milestones.
• Manage Your Team’s Tasks – Tasks can be assigned& track to individual members or to teams
• Discuss and Discover – With boards and discussion forums, team members can share ideas in an online social environment to improve team cohesion and make communication more fluid.
• Report enterprise history & Trend data – Use simple query or advanced operators to easily search for files and monitor trends across your organization.
• Joint data editing & viewing capabilities– Users can be view& edit documents synchronously in real-time together.
• Collaboration auto discovers – Data Integration by using BCS with database or with other systems.

SharePoint is preferable to other collaboration tools available because it can be set up to meet the unique needs of an organization without any coding. Customization can be achieved through configuration while other collaboration tools often require the user to write additional code to achieve the same ends.

There are many other collaboration-rich features that can be enabled with SharePoint, many of them available with the free Microsoft SharePoint Server and Microsoft SharePoint Foundation add-on. Not all of these features are necessary for every organization, however, and I am a firm believer that unnecessary complexity leads to inefficiency. SharePoint requires some organization-specific customization to better realize its full potential as a collaboration suite.This is why AllianceTek assesses each organization independently before developing a customized SharePoint solution that best integrates with the organization’s unique needs and methodologies.