SharePoint handcuffs?
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I've just spotted an article by Matt Asay that CNET published a few days ago. It highlights that SharePoint is as much a strategy for dominating the market as it is a technology.
Steve Ballmer calls it the next big "operating system" from Microsoft. It is designed to bind enterprise customers to Microsoft's processes, just as Microsoft is starting to lose its grasp on file format lock-in. Microsoft could give away its file format lock-in if it can just get content into its proprietary repository (i.e., SharePoint). At that point, it won't matter whether the files are JPEG, Open Document Format or PDF--Microsoft will own that content and, hence, the customer's future.
SharePoint is the future of lock-in, and Microsoft is doing everything it can to enable its partners to bind companies with it.
We've nothing against somebody investing in SharePoint - it's a great product on its own terms - just as long as you know what you're getting yourself into...
