Microsoft Sharepoint Configuration and Expected Costs Business users and IT have given huge attention to Microsoft SharePoint. However, the growing number of searches for this useful platform indicate two aspects – firstly high user interest and secondly slight confusion about its value. According to experts, SharePoint is being envisioned as a million dollar baby in enterprise content management by Microsoft. Yet, it becomes a bit tedious to get the estimate about potential ROI of SharePoint for enterprise buyers. SharePoint accounts as a prominent enterprise information platform and so it must receive the same treatment. There has been a “SharePoint sprawl” in the recent time as several sites based on this platform have emerged over different enterprises; hassle-free creation & management of Sharepoint sites being a major reason behind this upsurge. See following graph supporting this fact.
However, there are few confusions existing in regard to Sharepoint development cost; as moreover, the actual costs of Sharepoint deployment & support are not understood by most businesses. Its owing to these misconceptions that companies are not willing to deploy this Microsoft platform effectively; & that also impacts its popularity curve. However, Microsoft Sharepoint configuration may not be that easier as it look likes. Configuration typically involves configuring following in SharePoint -
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Authentication infrastructure Availability and recovery solutions email integration Licensing Mobile accounts Request Manager Services and service applications Business Connectivity Services solutions eDiscovery Exchange task synchronization Site mailboxes Social computing features Web content management solutions Workflow
Expected Costs Related to SharePoint Deployment In order to deploy the actual cost of SharePoint deployment, you need to consider the multiple expenses related with a new software product roll-out. Expenses normally include cost of licenses, virus protection, server software, hardware & infrastructure and IT team. Detailed breakdown is given below: SharePoint Product Licenses: Different licensing options are offered by Microsoft. Based on the licensing agreement, pricing of these options varies considerably. It makes it crucial for IT leaders to determine in advance whether to employ SharePoint free version or the MOSS (Microsoft Office SharePoint Server) Standard, Enterprise option. Microsoft SQL Server Licenses: Microsoft SQL Server actually stores the Sharepoint content and other relevant data and so its price needs to be separately accounted for. Windows Server Software: All Sharepoint servers are run on Windows Server 2003 or 2008. Pricing for windows server will vary depending on license agreement and configuration type. Virus Protection & Backup: Price for the virus protection & backup products that keep SharePoint secure is also included. Such products are supplied by Microsoft as well as third party suppliers.
Hardware & Infrastructure: Different hardware required for running Sharepoint include actual computers, and networking hardware & workstations. Price of softwarebased appliances may start from $5,000 while hardware-based appliances may start at $18,000. Other Costs: Besides these, there are costs related to IT staff, third-party products, configuration management, consulting that must also be accounted for.