Microsoft's SharePoint Shines but Needs Better Support, Info-Tech Research Group Study Reveals
January 17 2008 - 8:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
LONDON, ON, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- While Microsoft's collaboration
software tool SharePoint is exceeding customer expectations,
customer support is falling short, a new study from Info-Tech
Research Group reveals. SharePoint garnered high praise from
enterprise end users consulted because it delivers major business
value with low total cost of ownership, but close to one-quarter of
customers said they were disappointed in Microsoft's support. "I
don't think they (Microsoft) knew what to expect, and they were the
first ones to admit it because they didn't expect that SharePoint
was going to reach this kind of demand. They are just overwhelmed
with calls," stated one survey respondent. Microsoft's ongoing
support for SharePoint customers is the lowest-ranked aspect of
product deployment, the Info-Tech study found, with 23 per cent
stating they are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with SharePoint
support. Top-ranked categories with up to 92 per cent satisfaction
ratings included functionality, end user experience, total cost of
ownership, and end user acceptance. SharePoint's main selling
features include collaboration, portal, enterprise search, content
management, business forms and business intelligence. Info-Tech's
study delved into SharePoint implementations of 258 organizations
primarily in the U.S. and Canada across varying industries and
sizes of business. "SharePoint is more than just a software
product, because it clearly transforms the way IT departments and
end users conduct their daily work by enabling more efficient
communication and collaboration," said Fen Yik, research analyst
with Info-Tech Research Group. "Adoption has been swift across
companies of all sizes and industries but not all are happy with
the level of support from Microsoft." Yik said Microsoft's tools
and training are not at issue; rather the complaints reported
related to ongoing operational support once the solution was
deployed. Meanwhile, implementation rates for collaboration
software have been high, with adoption statistics indicating that
34 per cent of companies in North America would deploy SharePoint
or an equivalent tool by the end of 2007, another 25 per cent plan
to do so by end of this year, and a further 19 per cent between
2009 and 2011. "Clearly this is a winning product for Microsoft
and, with such a high percentage of companies saying they are going
to implement this type of solution over the next three years, it
would be wise for Microsoft to shore up their service," Yik
concluded. About Info-Tech Research Group With a paid membership of
over 21,000 worldwide, Info-Tech Research Group
(http://www.infotech.com/) is the global leader in providing
tactical, practical Information Technology research and analysis.
Info-Tech has a ten-year history of delivering quality research and
is one of North America's fastest growing full-service IT analyst
firms. For interviews with Info-Tech Research Group, contact
Info-Tech's PR team: Shelley Grandy at 905-866-2656 or Mandy
Merryweather at 1-888-670-8889 Ext. 2936. DATASOURCE: Info-Tech
Research Group CONTACT: For interviews with Info-Tech Research
Group, contact Info-Tech's PR team: Shelley Grandy at (905)
866-2656 or Mandy Merryweather at 1-888-670-8889 Ext. 2936
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