Niche Info Online Business

Company intranet portals were a great idea on paper. The prospect of having Web pages containing dynamic company information is attractive to small businesses that need to manage teams and share information between individuals and departments. In the early days, they were the privilege of the few firms that could afford them.

Then, along came products such as Microsoft's Share-Point, which lowered the bar for companies building intranet applications.

SharePoint was designed to run on an internal company computer, meaning an organization would have to buy and run its own server to take advantage of it (although there are some hosted versions available).

Now, a new generation of online portal services has emerged that enable companies to build their community Web sites and host them online for free.

The most recent to launch is Google Sites. The product, which comes with the Google Apps suite, offers users a set of point-and-click tools to build Web sites without knowing how to program.

Both products let employees work collaboratively on documents, share schedules and to-do lists, and engage in online discussions. The interesting thing about them is how they each draw on other tools in the company portfolio.

For example, SharePoint Office Server 2007 has an enterprise search tool, built on Microsoft's technology, enabling users to electronically sort through structured and unstructured data. It also allows server-based sharing of Excel spreadsheets, and has business intelligence functions drawing on both Excel and the company's SQL Server database.

Company staff can share task lists, calendars, and even instant messaging using Microsoft Office Live Communications Server connected to SharePoint.

Google has also been busy developing its products. Google Sites integrates with Google Calendar, Google Talk, and its set of online office tools -- Google Docs and Spreadsheets. Google Sites arguably compares with Microsoft's Office Live service. The latter is a hosted service that offers a one-stop shop for businesses wanting to get online. However, it focuses heavily on public-facing Web sites for marketing, and offers internal Web sites for sharing documents as an added feature.

SharePoint is the most relevant competitor to Google Sites in Microsoft's stable. And its functionality surpasses that of Google.

For example, Google's product doesn't offer much in the way of workflow management, whereas SharePoint draws on Microsoft's InfoPath product (designed to collect information via Web forms) and Workflow Foundation (software to help route information between the right people).

Google's option could be a useful tool for companies with relatively simple information-sharing needs. It's other big advantage: The service is entirely free, whereas SharePoint requires an initial outlay on the software, or a hosting fee if you're taking that route.