“Communication” and “Synergy” are two words that get thrown into discussions around building successful teams; but what about in technology. In building technology platforms we refer to “integration”, but to ensure success in building a successful platform we need to start with focusing on the same keywords. In the same way we want people to clearly communicate to each other and work in harmony, we want to avoid (at all costs) our systems feeding each other the wrong data and needing constant interjection to keep them working together. Unfortunately “bolted” together systems are commonplace, and most organizations can pinpoint multiple places where systems don’t communicate (either at all or badly) or require manual intervention to have them work together (through manual intervention or otherwise) to create synergy.
Microsoft SharePoint provides not just a great set of features, but it also provides a framework on which the Microsoft applications and platforms are able to easily integrate with. Microsoft SharePoint integration is of course often “out of the box”, but as an added benefit, integration can easily be extended by way of the Microsoft .NET framework. In the past integration work required learning the communication “language” of the source and destination systems however by way of .Net framework and XML systems integration is by a common language and the task is more about how successfully the integration is implemented as opposed to whether it can be done. Microsoft .Net qualified staff are increasingly readily available and can be handpicked for their skills in understanding the business problem.
In considering your next major piece of software, consider not just what it does in isolation, but also what it could be when talking to other systems. SharePoint offers the perfect platform from which you can start to build your systems to work the way your business works (not the other way round). SharePoint builds confidence that future integration decisions are less around “Is it possible ?” to being more around time, budget and the validity of the idea.
Artis provides a SharePoint consulting service based around the recommended Microsoft SharePoint planning process. The SharePoint consulting service focuses on (with your team directly) mapping out an effective plan for beginning your SharePoint journey and advice on specific module and solutions that will work best for your business. This service has been engaged by some of Artis’ largest clients to ensure that they are in a position to fully assess, plan and sell to management the value of SharePoint as an enabler to the business. If you’ve already started your SharePoint journey, Artis in co-operation with their technology partners can help in integration of solutions such a Intelledox for Document Generation, or perhaps just review your SharePoint deployment and provide advice on how to work towards SharePoint shining.
NB: This is a repost of my original posting on the Artis News Feed @ http://www.artisgroup.com.au/menu/news/items/2011-july/microsoft-sharepoint;-the-enabler-of-integration
Matthew Verity 