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In my attempt to compare the cost of Microsoft SharePoint with a SharePoint alternative, I looked around to see what information i could find on SharePoint's pricing. If anything, I discovered that SharePoint's pricing is not for the faint of heart. It involves a assortment of SharePoint licenses each offering different capabilities, which often have to be purchased together for comprehensive capabilities. In addition there are CALs (client access licenses) depending on the number of users. Then there are support servers which need to be purchased to have SharePoint up and running (Windows Server, SQL Server, Enterprise Search Server) and their CALs! ARGHHHHHH! It is terribly hard to come up with a cost estimate for SharePoint for a specific scenario (for example 1 year and 100 users) as it depends on what you already have, what capabilities you are looking for, what capabilities within those capabilities! But one thing is for sure - it costs helluva lot! Multiple searches across the net turned up cost analysis which were simplistic,dubious, and comprehensive. My personal favorite was an analysis by CMSWire, who seem as frustrated as I was with SharePoint's pricing. From a small to mid sized business perspective, why would I step into the labyrinth of SharePoint pricing, and the associated hassles,the hardware, the SharePoint developers, when I can get equivalent power - intranets and extranets, portal customization, document management, forums, calendars, task management and more - for a small monthly fee, in a ready to use online collaboration suite?
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