By Oliver N.

As we approach the new major release of Microsoft SharePoint 2010 it is important to review the newset of features and how your organization can benefit from them:

• First, SharePoint is more than just another application, it is a Software Platform, and it is platform in the sense where not only developers can build with the Rapid Application Development Tools, but also end users through Composites and Mashup Tools, enabling them to really customize and adapt the product to their needs.
• SharePoint provides a unified technology infrastructure and costs for your organization. No more separate purchases for a Collaboration System, another for a Business Intelligence System and another one for a Document Management System, with SharePoint not only you get those systems but also a Social Networking System, a Workflow Management System, a Portal  and Search System, isn’t that nice?.
• Ubiquitous SharePoint. Now with SharePoint 2010 you are able to chooseSharePoint on Premise, if you want to control the whole SharePoint Infrastructure or SharePoint in the Cloud, if you want to leverage Microsoft Expertise to manage your SharePoint Infrastructure with the same security, reliability and availability as SharePoint on Premise. So now SharePoint will not only live in your Corporate Intranet, but also facing the Internet or in the Cloud.
• Another exciting announcement is SharePoint for Internet Facing Sites. In the last couple of years we have seen several companies, such as Ferrari, Volvo and Kraft successfully make use of SharePoint for their Internet Facing Sites, which it was not intended as a SharePoint primary use, but in the next release Microsoft will provide us with a new set of tools targeted specifically for building this kind of sites. This has a lot of benefits for your IT department, because the people from other departments, like Marketing or Sales, will no longer need to publish new content on the facing site and the IT guys can rest assure that the content will be published with the quality and standardsrequired by setting up templates and reusable web parts.
• Some key facts about successful implementations of SharePoint as Internet Facing Site:

o   The SharePoint Kraft site:

§  Consolidates more than 200 Web Sites.

§  Manages more than a hundred million page views per month.

§  Super Critical Marketing Tool.

o   The SharePoint Volvo site:

§  Embraces over 36 languages in 70 countries.

§  Works as a global repository to keep brand consistency across the world.

SharePoint is unique. There is currently no other product in the market that in a holistic and comprehensive fashion do what SharePoint does.