Most organizations, when they initially start looking at SharePoint, are confused about what SharePoint is. They struggle to understand the features and what they need to solve their business problems. It doesn't take long for the conversation to turn to a discussion of whether the organization needs to take on the additional cost of Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server (SPS), or whether the Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) already bundled with their operating system licenses is be sufficient. The answer sometimes comes easily, because the organization needs a feature only SPS offers, or the organization simply doesn't have funds to purchase SPS. However, more often, the decision isn't so black and white.

There are three factors that determine whether you need SPS or not. I've already touched on the first two. First, is there a necessary feature SPS offers that WSS doesn't? Second, what kind of budget are you dealing with? Finally, how much time do you have? Many times, there are less expensive alternatives to SPS features. But, most of these alternatives don't fit as well, and therefore carry the hidden cost of your time.

Each of these factors plays a role in the decision of whether or not you buy and deploy SPS or whether you simply deploy WSS.

SPS-exclusive features

There is an array of SPS specific features that either enhance WSS features, or are completely new offerings. While not exhaustive, the list below highlights some of the major features many organizations highly value in SPS:

Search -- Although WSS has a search functionality when used with Microsoft SQL Server (and not MSDE), its search features are severely limited. SPS allows searches that span sites, and even reach into other parts of the organization; for example, file shares, Web sites, and Exchange public folders. SPS also lets you search based on document metadata and create keywords and best bets to control what search results display when a user searches for a specific term. For most organizations, search is the most compelling reason to make the leap to SPS.

Alerts -- Just as WSS has a search capability, so too does it have alert capability. However, the capability is limited to providing alerts on a list-by-list basis. SPS lets you collapse multiple subscriptions into a single result set. This dramatically reduces the number of e-mails a user receives if they select to be notified once each day on several lists in various areas. SPS also allows alerts that show up as entries on on the user's schedule. This can further cut down on e-mail clutter, assuming the user is willing to check in with SPS on a periodic basis.

Targeting -- Built into SPS is the ability to target information to users by displaying or hiding Web Parts based on groups (called audiences), or displaying or hiding individual content based on the user's membership in a group. The ability to target information can be useful when you're trying to get everyone the right information and minimize information overload.

Flexibility -- SPS can change along with the organization. If the CEO creates a new operations department that encompasses HR and IT departments, you can simply and easily add the operations department to the hierarchy. This is as simple as drag and drop. This is not a luxury that WSS provides.

Single-sign-on -- If you're in an organization with a wildly heterogeneous environment, logging into system after system can be a problem. SPS provides facilities for managing a repository of information for single-sign-on.

Once you have a grasp of the SPS specific features, you can not only identify areas where those features might be useful in your organization, but also assign some value to those features. The monetization of these features is important because SPS isn't free in any organization. There always needs to be some justification for why you need it, even if it's small.