Current versions of SharePoint are much maligned as full-scale document management systems. Designed primarily as a collaboration tool, SharePoint traditionally lacked the advanced records management and compliance features of competitive document management platforms. Microsoft intends to change this perception with the Q4 2007 release of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.

And the Answer Is: SharePoint

Many enterprises view content management as an expensive technology provided by large specialist vendors. The exponential growth of data combined with increased compliance scrutiny is forcing enterprises of all sizes to reconsider this view. Microsoft is capitalizing on the new content management opportunity by restructuring SharePoint. The most important new addition to SharePoint is records management functionality.

SharePoint was designed to support document creators. It enables users to store and collaborate on various types of documents. Earlier versions of SharePoint offered very poor support for the management of document...