Small and medium businesses are forging ahead with SharePoint deployments. The Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) found that more than two out of every corporations are now using the product, however, most have done so without crafting a formal business plan or going through a rigorous cost justification process.AIIM found that only 12% of the 600 respondents to the group's survey have no plans to implement Sharepoint. In face, seventy two percent of firms have already rolled out the software and another six percent plan to make that move in the next 12-18 months. In some cases, the deployments have become quite widespread: in 22% of the companies, literally every employee uses the Microsoft collaboration tool.

What is a bit surprising is that close to half (42%) of the corporations went ahead with their deployments without determining how the product would be used. One reason may be that companies do not have a lot of experience in using information management systems. In fact, Sharepoint represents the first information management tool for about half of the respondents.

Consequently, the product is supporting a variety of applications from enterprise search to case management. In addition, the Microsoft product is being used to enhance use of other applications, such as Business Process Management, security, records management, Enterprise 2.0 and archiving.

Sharepoint's flexibility has been a key attribute, however, it seems like the product's nebulous characteristics have also meant that its use had not unfolded like typical IT products. Firms first decide to purchase the software and later figure out how it would best function in their organizations. There is a danger to such an approach, namely that no clear benefits will emerge. To date, this possibility has seemed remote, so many SMBs have given a "thumbs up" to their Sharepoint purchases.