What Does SharePoint Server 2007 Add?

Since SharePoint Server 2007 is built on WSS 3.0, it inherits all WSS 3.0 services, site templates, Web Parts, and tools. In addition, SharePoint Server 2007 layers a more advanced set of services, tools, and applications on top of those provided by WSS, including the following:

Portal site templates. SharePoint Server 2007 includes a template called the Collaboration Portal, which provides the structure for an organization's top-level portal site and the new Publishing Portal site template for building Internet-facing corporate portals.

Content management applications. SharePoint Server 2007 contains several applications and prebuilt site templates for managing corporate content. A site template called the Document Center supports general document management processes, while the Records Center is geared to helping companies automate records-management file plans. In addition, SharePoint Server 2007 subsumes the Web content management features of Content Management Server (CMS) 2002, a product designed to help organizations manage content publication and maintenance of large, complex Web sites.

Business intelligence (BI) applications. A new SharePoint Server 2007 site template called the Report Center houses the product's new BI features. It includes the tools and libraries for building, storing, and managing key performance indicators (KPIs), reports, and dashboards.

Forms management. Available as a stand-alone product or as a feature of SharePoint Server 2007, Forms Services supports server-side processing of forms designed with InfoPath 2007. Forms Services enables data from completed forms to be synchronized with enterprise resource planning and other back-end systems that expose Web services.

Shared services. SharePoint Server 2007 includes a set of midtier services (called shared services) that provide a variety of common functions that can be shared by multiple SharePoint sites. Among SharePoint Server's shared services are its search engine, the Excel Services server-based spreadsheet calculation and rendering engine (an important component of SharePoint Server's BI capabilities), and the Business Data Catalog, which allows SharePoint sites and applications to access data stored in line-of-business applications, such as SAP.

Single sign-on (SSO). A separate SSO service can map the identity of a SharePoint user to their corresponding security credentials in another application, such as a customer relationship management application, allowing the user (and applications running under the user's account) to access the other application without having to explicitly log on and supply credentials. (Microsoft's BizTalk Server and Host Integration Server also provide SSO capabilities.)

Advanced Web Parts. SharePoint Server 2007 includes about 50 prebuilt Web Parts in addition to the dozen or so Web Parts that are included with WSS 3.0. Many of these Web Parts support SharePoint Server 2007's advanced features—for example, one Web Part works with Excel Services to allow users to view and interact with spreadsheets in a browser; another shows the details of KPIs.

Advanced management utilities. SharePoint Server 2007 supplies a broader set of management utilities for controlling large site infrastructures and the additional features and services provided by the product.