Majority of Microsoft SharePoint users 'disillusioned' with its services, claims report

SharePoint users aren't seeing the return on investment they want from Microsoft's collaboration tool - report

Almost two-thirds of Microsoft SharePoint enterprise users are "disillusioned" with the services provided by the collaboration tool, believing it to offer an "unsatisfactory" performance when it comes to meeting the original brief of what SharePoint was deployed for.

That's according to ‘Collaborative Credentials,' a new report by online application developer Mando Group. It was based upon a study among 300 senior IT professionals into whether collaborative SharePoint-based intranets are meeting user needs for information access, sharing and retrieval.

The results don't make positive reading for Microsoft, despite the company having sold SharePoint into more than two-thirds of major enterprises.

"A significant proportion of SharePoint implementations appear to be falling short of management, project management and user expectations, particularly in the fundamental area of information and content access, sharing and retrieval," reads the report, which suggests that 62 per cent of users are disappointed with their return on investment from Microsoft SharePoint.

The report also suggests that users believe that only 71 per cent of the information they want to access through SharePoint is actually findable, while 32 per cent believe the tool doesn't meet the original system brief.

Ian Finch, managing director of Mando Group, was keen to state that the report isn't a criticism of Microsoft or of SharePoint, but the way in which the software has been deployed and used.

"These findings need to be taken in the context of SharePoint's market share, which is impressive. Indeed, they are not a criticism of the product but the method with which it is implemented," he said.

"Delivering a highly functional intranet is a mixture of great design, technical excellence and outstanding people-engagement. The 'human infrastructure' needed to optimise an intranet is where organisations often fall down," Finch continued, arguing that a "helicopter-view of the intranet" is needed for effective delivery.

"With inefficient intranets costing UK businesses £2.7bn annually in wasted staff time, it is essential that organisations improve user experience analysis, and involve key stakeholders to driver intranet development," he added.

Computing contacted Microsoft for comment, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.