Firms criticise SharePoint's usability

One in two users complain that the collaboration suite requires too much customisation

Half of businesses using Microsoft's SharePoint collaboration tool are frustrated with the solution, according to research carried out by Vanson Bourne.

The research shows that 87 per cent of businesses overall, and 92 per cent of enterprises with 3,000 or more employees, have deployed Microsoft's SharePoint solution.

However, 22 per cent of respondents are frustrated with the solution's poor user interface, while 51 per cent overall, and 64 per cent in the financial sector, complain that the software requires a high level of customisation.

"The bottom line is that collaboration technologies are being deployed to give users productivity gains," said John Safa, vice president of engineering at document collaboration software provider and Microsoft partner Workshare, which commissioned the research.

"So, if they aren't easy to use and users aren't adopting the systems, that investment is wasted. These solutions are meant to help employees get their jobs done more quickly."

The research surveyed 100 UK CIOs, IT directors and senior IT professionals at enterprises with more than 1,000 employees.