Office 2007 represents a substantial change in direction for Microsoft. Contrary to previous releases, the server side products are pivotal to the new Office Suite. The clients, despite their high profile improvements to the interface (esp. the new ribbon bar - which really is as effective as MS claim - we've been using it internally for a number of months now) and now 'merely' the client interface to the back office capability the server products provide.

Central to this is MOSS2007 (Microsoft Office SharePoint Server). MOSS is not just a renaming of SharePoint Portal Server; it represents a fundamental shift of the SharePoint technology down to the infrastructure layer so that it provides the underlying information management technology, doing for unstructured data what SQL does for structured data. On top of MOSS sit a number of business need focused applications, as shown in the diagram above.

The Portal Features of MOSS include familiar SPS (SharePoint Portal Server) features such as user profiles, audience targeting, personal sites (aka MySites), enterprise-level search and the single sign-on service (SSO) as well as the new Business Data Catalog (BDC). The Web Content Management (WCM) features include Web publishing functionality. The business intelligence features include Excel Services and Report Center. Another valuable aspect of MOSS is its introduction of Records Management support to assist organisations who have strict policies with respect to security and privacy and who need to meet compliance levels required by government regulations.

We have taken this general attitude throughout the lifetime of SPS 2003, helping clients focus on the application rather than the technology. However the range of applications and capabilities of these is broader and deeper, more integrated, with better interfaces; meaning you can solve bigger, more complex business problems more effectively and at less total cost.

See the Microsoft video 

See the Microsoft SharePoint FAQ