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Gates Believes SharePoint Will Solve Information Problem

Bill Gates, Chairman of the software giant Microsoft, told executives that the vast amounts of information are the cause of their businesses downfalls, and that they must control the flow of information before its too late. Gates says that in order to resolve the problem they have improved search and increased collaboration, with Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 a keystone of that vision.

In a keynote address at the software giant`s 10th annual CEO Summit, Gates said that the value for companies is in finding ways to share information. However, he said business does not have the tools to manage the information overload. The mountains of data "are making it so people can`t act on it without being overwhelmed."

One feature of SharePoint Server is the searchable Knowledge Network, which builds profiles of employees and their areas of expertise. Microsoft also demonstrated SharePoint`s Business Data Catalog and its ability to search business applications from Siebel and SAP. Then there is Microsoft Office SharePoint Server for Search 2007, a subset of the SharePoint suite. Aimed at mid-market and departmental-level business users, SharePoint Server for Search can find data in file shares, Web sites, Lotus Notes and Exchange Server. Users can upgrade it to the full version or extend it with third-party add-ons.