Intranet Tools: Microsoft

Intranet software comprises a wide range of offerings, as evidenced by the lineup in the 2004 CRN Channel Champions intranet tools category.

The options offered in this category run the gamut from Microsoft FrontPage, a relatively simple-to-use tool for creating and maintaining Web pages, to Oracle Collaboration Suite, which bundles together a wide range of capabilities from e-mail to whiteboarding and Web conferencing, to IBM’s Lotus Workplace, which is actually a product family that, depending on which components are purchased, also offers e-mail services, instant messaging and Web conferencing.

In this broad category, the simplest option won out. Among the respondents surveyed, Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., carried the day with a 71.5 overall satisfaction rating, while Oracle, Redwood Shores, Calif., came in second at 70.2, and IBM Lotus, Cambridge, Mass., third at 69.6.

The results perhaps reflect that if solution providers recommend FrontPage, they are generally working with the larger Microsoft stack as well.

Jason Reckers, COO of Vivid Office, Davis, Calif., said he loves FrontPage for creating Web site templates because of its tight linkages with Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server. While many people once used FrontPage alone to build pages and collaborative applications, the advent of the new SharePoint Portal Server and SharePoint services in Windows 2003 has provided more tools, he said.

Interestingly, Microsoft handily won the technical rating despite falling 4.7 points behind Oracle on the important criteria of product quality. Microsoft overcame that deficit with a 4.3-point advantage over IBM Lotus on the criteria of price/performance and a 4-point lead over Oracle in ease of integration.

FrontPage has its own mini-database, which is fine for less-complex sites, said Joe Zanchi, president of EDT Hosting, a hosting service provider in Louisville, Ky. He said he recommends FrontPage for clients without a lot of development experience.

On channel-program criteria, Microsoft edged out Oracle by earning high marks in the areas of return on investment for customers, technical education, upselling opportunities and keeping solution providers informed of changes. Its weakest showing was in sales margins, vendor support over the life of project and responsiveness to solution provider feedback—the vendor came in third on those three criteria.

 Published for the Week Of April 26, 2004