Managing Web Content with Microsoft SharePoint:

Possibilities and Parameters

Examining the Challenges of Applying Enterprise Technology
to Dynamic Web Environments

Subtitle

A Whitepaper by Sitecore
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 Sitecore. All Rights Reserved.

Restricted Rights Legend

This document may not, in whole or in part, be photocopied, reproduced, translated, or
reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form without prior consent, in
writing, from Sitecore. Information in this document is subject to change without notice
and does not represent a commitment on the part of Sitecore.

Trademarks
Sitecore is a registered trademark of Sitecore. All other company and product names are
trademarks of their respective owners.

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Table of Contents
Strategizing for Growth: Web Choices and Their Impact 4
SharePoint and Sitecore: Compare and Contrast 5
Factoring in future needs 5
Sitecore: Optimized for web marketing – and change 6

Key Differentiators: A Technical Comparison 8

Search engine optimization (SEO) 9
Internationalization 10
Multiple device support 11
Multiple websites 12
Information architecture 12
Page architecture 12
Development capabilities 13

Assessing the Impact on Innovation: Cost, Time and Complexity 13

Summary 15
About Sitecore 16

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Strategizing for Growth: Web Choices and Their Impact
Websites, like companies, are constantly evolving. As companies evolve their
websites beyond basic “brochureware,” relying on them to attract and retain new
customers, the application used to manage a website’s content is a critical
determinant in any success. Because a web content management (WCM) system is
so fundamental to a site’s functionality, it’s essential for any company, in any
industry, to choose a solution that meets immediate requirements and supports
longer-term, strategic business needs for change and growth.

Some organizations instinctively opt to use Microsoft® SharePoint®, a family of

software products for collaboration, file sharing and web publishing, to manage
their web content. SharePoint is widely installed, as many enterprises routinely
acquire it as part of their standard Microsoft software infrastructure. But while
SharePoint is well suited for document-oriented enterprise content management
(ECM), can it grow to deliver the advanced digital marketing capabilities that are
needed, if not now, in the near future? Increasingly, companies are looking to their
websites to be a destination where customers can engage, 24/7.

This whitepaper takes a look at the strategic impact of Applications like

choosing a full-fledged, “future-proof” WCM solution
such as Sitecore, in comparison to pressing an ECM Sitecore are elevating
application, such as SharePoint, into duty for web the status of the
content management. It presents a feature-by-feature modern web content
comparison, and examines the downstream impact of management system
this choice on the IT organization, in the context of two
critical business issues:
from “utilitarian” to
“business application.”
 What is the true total cost of ownership (TCO) of
using SharePoint, compared to Sitecore, to manage web content?

 What is the opportunity cost of choosing SharePoint over a marketing-

oriented WCM solution such as Sitecore, which is designed to grow with
future needs?

This paper also discusses optimal scenarios for SharePoint, and how Sitecore and
SharePoint can co-exist, helping companies to extract maximum value from their
investments in both providers’ solutions.

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SharePoint and Sitecore: Compare and Contrast
Microsoft SharePoint takes a suite approach to Enterprise Content Management,
allowing users to “set up websites to share information with others, manage
documents from start to finish, and publish reports to help everyone make better
decisions.”1 In addition to offering strong integration with Microsoft Office
applications, SharePoint’s product highlights include:

 Core web content management capabilities

 Document Management with Records Management

 Data integration

 Integrated search

 Built in security.

These capabilities, as delivered through the SharePoint portal, make for an

outstanding ad-hoc collaboration environment, with strong data integration and
reporting tools. For many companies, SharePoint provides sufficient ECM
capabilities, largely based on its Document Management and Records Management
functionality. And because SharePoint is readily available in most companies, and is
easy to get started with, many organizations default to it for not just ECM, but for
web content management, as well.

Factoring in future needs

While SharePoint addresses many immediate needs, companies that choose it may
not be viewing their WCM requirements in the context of using their website as a
customer engagement platform. There are many WCM choices in the marketplace,
each offering some type of specialization to address specific scenarios. Before
choosing any WCM foundation, it’s important to map application requirements to
the business needs and issues that must be addressed.

Increasingly, companies are looking for their websites to do more than provide
basic information. The analyst firm Gartner reports, “In more than 80% of the
inquiries that Gartner has received about WCM since 2H09, clients sought higher
business value from their online presence, be it Internet, extranet or intranet. As a
result, many enterprises replace their existing technology, in some cases, to
interoperate with other components of their Web environment, such as Web
analytics, an e-commerce engine or in-house business applications. In fact, we urge
those [enterprises] with WCM technology that is more than four years old to re-
evaluate their online strategies because the technology has changed so much
recently.”2

1
Source: Microsoft
2
“Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management,” Gartner G00201300 by Mick MacComascaigh, et. al.,
August 19, 2010.

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The most typical translation of “higher business value” means that companies want
to leverage their websites to move beyond a basic online presence and prospecting
to, ultimately, fostering intimate customer relationships. To accomplish this
ambitious goal, they require their WCM to drive transformative online experiences
that fully engage customers with their brand and communities of like-minded
customers, to bring everyone back for more.

Figure 1: As companies invest more in their web presence to drive customer intimacy,
they can expect to receive substantially greater business value.

As companies strive to reach the fourth phase of this model, “Customer

Engagement,” they are looking to use their websites as critical business assets. To
accomplish this ambitious goal, Marketing organizations require their WCM to
deliver integrated capabilities such as advanced anonymous user profiling and
content targeting, and a suite of web marketing functions including website metrics,
search engine optimization (SEO) tools, multi-channel campaign management,
integrated analytics and multivariate testing.

Sitecore: Optimized for web marketing – and change

Sitecore is a web content management system that is purpose-built to deliver high-
impact web experiences – a product charter that aligns exceptionally well with web
marketing scenarios, and positions the WCM as a central business application.

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Web marketing sites are significantly different than static brochureware sites,
requiring additional capabilities beyond traditional publishing. Specifically,
successful web marketing demands a high degree of brand control and adaptation,
which is enabled by strong modularity of content and functionality. Change is
constant. Marketers and other business units, not the IT group, must be able to fully
control the site with diverse publishing tools and asset management support.

Change occurs in marketing websites in multiple ways. In addition to content and

functionality changes, the site must be continuously optimized for search (SEO), and
adapted to address market changes and the intelligence gathered from the site.
Likewise, the WCM solution must deliver strong campaign support and analytics –
feedback is gathered by integrated capabilities such as A/B and multivariate testing,
while analytics interpret results and present actionable insight. Finally, over time, as
marketing-driven companies expand their presence to new devices and in new
geographies, multi-device and multi-language support becomes of paramount
importance.

Beyond the core WCM features that both SharePoint and Sitecore offer, the Sitecore
solution exceeds SharePoint’s traditional, document-based publishing orientation in
numerous ways. Specifically, SharePoint does not offer:

 SEO tools that are inline

 Campaign tools that allow companies to get to know their prospects, provide
them with personalized content and ultimately convert them

 Website optimization through easily accessed metrics; built-in multivariate

testing tools; and fast, easy content changes by direct marketers, brand
managers and content editors

 Integrated web analytics that allow marketers that constantly aggregate

performance statistics and help business users to quickly make decisions to
improve the visitor experience

 Lead scoring, anonymous profiling and content targeting that provide an

unprecedented ability to track campaigns and deliver an optimal,
individualized user experience.

Figure 2 provides a succinct visual comparison of SharePoint’s rudimentary WCM

capabilities with Sitecore – Sitecore delivers WCM and far more, by managing the
content of all the online channels that intersect with the website.

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Figure 2: Beyond SharePoint’s basic document and content management (DCM),
traditional publishing-oriented WCM technology has evolved into a more flexible and
accessible solution. Today, Sitecore tightly integrates the website with a wider online
marketing landscape, delivering vanguard WCM functionality for marketing-oriented,
change-driven websites.

Key Differentiators: A Technical Comparison

SharePoint’s focus on conventional publishing translates into several key technical
shortcomings. Pages and sites are oriented toward the document model, while
branding controls, the editing environment, content re-use, and multi-device and
multi-language support are all limited. The table below summarizes key differences
between SharePoint and Sitecore in these and other critical areas; in-depth analysis
of these points follows.

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Search engine optimization (SEO)
Effective SEO requires clean, concise URLs that are search word-friendly. As content
is added to Sitecore, natural words and keywords can be used to name the sections
and items within the site, so that page titles and URLs reflect the best keywords for
SEO.

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For example, as a steel fabrication company adds content to its web site, Sitecore
automatically generates appropriate keywords in the URLs. New content about
high-strength components would generate the URL www.yourfactory.com/steel-
products/high-strength, which contains popular descriptive terms that will index
well with the search engines.

However, without customizing SharePoint, all URLs contain the string /pages, which
is not meaningful to search engines. This string often causes the home page to
redirect to a URL such as /pages/index.aspx. Within SharePoint, all pages for a single
website must reside directly under /pages, with no additional levels to indicate
information architecture. Each additional level in the URL, such as /news (which
must be /news/pages), does not correspond to a level in the information
architecture within a single website. Instead, it corresponds to an additional
website, requiring extra development and administration.

Internationalization
As companies expand their presence to new countries, providing local-language
content becomes a critical part of doing business. Sitecore enables translation of
content into multiple languages simultaneously, from the same website. This
provides for better search engine results, greater flexibility, and consistency of
content. Sitecore also supports translating only certain relevant parts of the site, or
creating micro-sites for certain countries.

In comparison, SharePoint uses variants to implement multiple languages and

alternative layouts, such as those required by mobile devices. (See section below.)
SharePoint developers must create a new variant for each and every language and
presentation combination. Variants complicate the information architecture by
requiring multiple levels, and the use of multiple web applications.

Figure 3: Using SharePoint for internationalization requires a separate variant of the

data structure for each language.

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Multiple device support
Websites are increasingly being updated by RSS feeds, viewed through a range of
browser types, and accessed via smart mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPad,
Android, Blackberry and other handhelds. For the same architectural reasons
described earlier, it is cumbersome to support multiple devices in SharePoint. Due
to both screen size limitations and lack of support for certain capabilities, such as
Flash images in handheld devices, SharePoint requires an entirely different page
presentation for each supported device. This means the entire site must be re-
rendered to present properly.

Figure 4 shows the multiple variants of the data structure required to support
multiple devices in SharePoint. When multiple languages on multiple devices need
to be supported, the number of separate data structures grows large and unwieldy.

Figure 4: Using SharePoint to support multiple devices requires a separate variant for
each device.
Using SharePoint to
Taking this analysis on step further, the interplay of
support a website that is
SharePoint’s separate-variant requirement across
multiple languages and multiple devices drives a 12 languages
geometric increase in the number of websites that x
must be supported; an IT organization responsible for 5 display devices
a robust multi-language, multi-device web presence = managing 60 variants of
could easily find itself managing 60, 70 or even more the site
variants.

In contrast, a dynamic WCM like Sitecore separates content from presentation,

allowing the same site to easily be optimized for multiple devices. With Sitecore, a
single structure can support multiple languages and devices.

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Multiple websites
Within a given organization, different countries or different divisions often request
their own sub-domain. For example, the United Kingdom office of the steel company
may want to use UK.yourfactory.com as its sub-domain, or perhaps a product
division needs to use hotrolled.yourfactory.com for a particular product offering.

With SharePoint, each sub-domain involves a new web application, which requires
configuration, hardware resources and ongoing management. This approach further
complicates content sharing. When creating links between sites, SharePoint WCM
users must enter the exact URL of the other website, instead of simply selecting a
content item on the multi-site website. This is one of many complications that can
arise from having to organize and update multiple web applications under
SharePoint.

In comparison, Sitecore easily accommodates sub-domains, plus the sharing of

content and code between them.

Information architecture
As websites grow more complex, so do their structures, which need more granular
ways to store and represent data. Concurrently, as complexity rises, the ability to
reuse content on the website becomes critical. Efficiency dictates that content be re-
used across sites and devices, as well as personalization to allow certain levels of
detail to be exposed only when appropriate. SharePoint’s information architecture
does not allow organizations to easily reuse data types and fragments of data types.
This shortcoming can result in inconsistencies and longer development times.

Sitecore information architecture provides broad support for data types, thereby
ensuring consistency, saving time and providing future flexibility. For instance, to
make changes or updates throughout the website content, such as applying new
metadata fields, one simply creates a separate metadata template and establishes an
inheritance relationship between the desired data template and the metadata
template. The change is applied across the website, without needing to return to
every data template on the site to add or modify this new field. SharePoint does not
offer this level of flexibility, resulting in considerable additional work.

Page architecture
Sitecore website pages are dynamically created at a granular level by assembling
each piece of “data” (content) for that page. Like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, the
content presented on one page can easily be reused and redisplayed on dozens of
other pages, and in different ways or combinations, as appropriate. Content can
comprise text, images, video, tables or other content format. In this way, the content
is separated from the presentation, for ultimate flexibility and scalability.

SharePoint uses a page-based approach to bind content to its presentation. This is a

static assembly approach, though components within the page can be dynamic. The

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SharePoint architecture directly produces development challenges, which include
requirements to:

 Implement multiple websites

 Support multiple output devices

 Update the look-and-feel of the website

 Reuse content and presentation components for multiple pages or multiple

output devices

 Translate websites into multiple languages.

Sitecore has a large number of tools, controls and capabilities needed to speed
development and improve developer productivity. For example, the Sitecore
Template Builder provides a simple, browser-based user interface to define and
maintain data structures. The Sitecore Developer Center provides a browser-based
tool to develop and maintain presentation components. Many developers prefer to
use Visual Studio .NET, with which Sitecore integrates seamlessly.

Development capabilities
The Sitecore architecture allows developers to focus on components of the
published website instead of customizing the content management system. As such,
Sitecore leverages developers’ existing ASP.NET and, optionally, XSL skills.

With SharePoint, developers must perform some tasks in Visual Studio and other
tasks in SharePoint Designer. When creating a new page, it is often not clear which
tools the developer should use. SharePoint developers must also spend a great deal
of time maintaining XML configuration files, and must learn to use web parts instead
of standard ASP.NET controls. Additionally, SharePoint developers are limited to
master pages, which are less flexible than Sitecore’s declarative, component-
oriented layout settings.

Assessing the Impact on Innovation: Cost, Time and Complexity

The technical discussion above underscores the notion that agile, adaptable
websites – which reflect their companies’ intrinsic innovation and nimbleness –
require a web content management system that is similarly innovative and nimble.
Sitecore provides the proper foundation for today’s dynamic, marketing-oriented
websites, delivering the growth, flexibility and scalability that innovative companies
require. As a result, applications like Sitecore are elevating the status of the modern
web content management system from “utilitarian” to “business application.”

SharePoint can seem like a natural choice for WCM, because it is readily available
and part of many enterprises’ existing Microsoft environments. But as the detailed
technical comparison shows, it is best suited for static, brochureware websites and

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conventional publishing needs within a corporate environment. SharePoint’s
document-oriented architecture adequately supports intranets and extranets, and
its page-based approach works well when page structures have limited complexity.

However, companies that try to use SharePoint to build global, marketing-driven

websites will quickly run into two issues:

 Hidden total cost of ownership (TCO): Although SharePoint may initially be

low-cost or even free, it quickly becomes very expensive in terms of real
costs, time and resources. Expanding SharePoint-based websites beyond a
single enterprise instance will incur additional license fees, and ongoing
administrative burden in their management.

In terms of time, SharePoint’s architectural and design inflexibility requires

constant reworking of layouts and content, even for simple site updates.
Finally, the programming skills required to make routine changes in
SharePoint translate into a heavy IT burden, since business users typically do
not have these skills.

Figure 5 conceptually illustrates the complexity that develops when using

SharePoint as a WCM for anything more than simple, internally focused
websites.

Figure 5: With SharePoint, website development and management overhead quickly

escalates when multiple languages, devices and sites must be accommodated.

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 In terms of real development dollars, using SharePoint for enterprise-class
website needs drives a geometric increase in complexity because each language
variant and each device variant must exist as an independent site. So, using
SharePoint as a WCM to support a corporate website that is available in 12
languages, and can be displayed across five devices, entails managing 60 variants
of the site. By comparison, the same capabilities, as enabled by Sitecore, can be
delivered with one variant of the site.

 High opportunity cost: SharePoint carries a high opportunity cost because it

effectively eliminates companies’ ability to leverage their website as a marketing
platform. SharePoint does not support search engine optimization, nor can it
provide customer intelligence or analytics, integration with email and other
marketing tools, or personalization. In addition, it has no multi-channel, multi-
device or multi-language capabilities; these, and social media and mobile
functions, must be built in-house, or cobbled together using third party solutions
– all of which carry license costs and management overhead.

However, SharePoint and Sitecore can

easily co-exist within the same
organization and, in fact, do so at many
companies. SharePoint is a platform
that was designed to work with best of
breed technologies, including Sitecore.
Solutions like Sitecore extend
SharePoint investments by seamlessly
integrating with SharePoint to
repurpose any content to the web.
Content is transparently available
within Sitecore, and can be deployed
“just in time” or staged locally in
Sitecore. Through Sitecore, SharePoint
content and documents also can be
deployed to any website. By leveraging
Sitecore’s capabilities to their fullest,
companies can receive the full value of
their investments in both SharePoint
and Sitecore.
SharePoint 2010: Facts and Implications
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 is a 64-bit
only product, requiring 64-bit Windows
Server 2008 or 64-bit Windows Server 2008
R2. It also requires 64-bit SQL Server 2008 or
64-bit SQL Server 2005. Companies consider-
ing using SharePoint 2010 as a WCM should:
 Understand the investment they may
have to make in order to use SharePoint
2010.
 Do compatibility testing on third-party
applications and web components that
may need to be integrated.
Consider SharePoint 2007 if budgets are
limited, keeping in mind that the site must
be kept relatively static; otherwise,
significant IT resources will be required to
make ongoing changes.

Summary
SharePoint is a rich and powerful platform, particularly for internal collaboration
and document management – but its utility for websites has limitations. When used
as a WCM, SharePoint is optimized for sites that can be supported by conventional

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publishing approaches, such as intranets, extranets and brochureware sites of
low/moderate visual complexity, with infrequent updates.

But as companies increasingly rely on their websites as critical vehicles to attract

and retain customers, generate revenues and drive strategic business growth, new
WCM solutions are required. Today’s marketing-oriented sites require far more
than a generalized content management system – they need a WCM system that is
fully optimized for online marketing. Sitecore delivers the fundamental architecture
and enterprise-class capabilities needed to achieve content- and experience-rich,
marketing-driven websites.

From an architecture perspective, Sitecore offers essential functionality including:

 Many-to-any language change support, with integrated translation management

system control

 The ability to maintain devices (alternative layouts) and languages

independently, automatically sensing and delivering the right presentation for a
given device

 The ability to manage and use site content features and layout, quickly and
easily, across many sites.

Sitecore also delivers necessary tools for marketing, customer retention and overall
business growth, including:

 SEO optimization

 Campaign tools

 Website optimization

 Integrated marketing analytics

 Lead scoring and integration with customer relationship management (CRM)

systems

 Cross-channel content targeting

 Integrated email marketing

 Integrated e-commerce

 Integrated marketing automation.

For more information about Sitecore, please visit www.sitecore.net.

About Sitecore
Sitecore redefines how organizations engage with their customers online, powering
experiences that can sense and adapt to a customer’s needs to increase revenue and

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customer lifetime value and satisfaction. Sitecore was the first Web Content
Management system (WCM) to incorporate marketing automation, intranet portal,
e-commerce, web optimization, social media and campaign management
technologies into a cohesive, integrated open platform. Sitecore’s software makes it
easy for businesses to identify, serve, engage and convert new customers online.

Sitecore’s broad choice of capabilities enable marketing professionals, business

stakeholders and information technology teams to rapidly implement, measure and
manage a successful website and online business strategy. Its powerful
development platform, integrated marketing automation tools and intuitive editing
workspace enables successful websites of all types.

Thousands of public and private organizations have created and now manage more
than 24,000 dynamic websites with Sitecore including ATP World Tour, Computer
Associates, ISS, Lloyd’s of London, Microsoft, Omni Hotels, Siemens, Thomas Cook
and The Knot.

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