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HomeHomeOur CommunityOur CommunityGeneral Discuss...General Discuss...Anybody using DNN as an alternative to Sharepoint ??Anybody using DNN as an alternative to Sharepoint ??
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10/3/2008 8:45 AM
 

Thanks, I will have a look.

Sam

 
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10/3/2008 7:54 PM
 

Sam, I have worked with both SharePoint and DNN and can tell you that it really depends on what you are looking for.  We recently reviewed both products for an upcoming project and decided on SharePoint Moss becuase it fit our customers needs the best (even though I personally prefer DNN).

My main break down of the products would go something like this:

  • SP has a great document repository and search mechanism.
  • SharePoint lists are very easy to work with.
  • SharePoint is a lousy development platform. It is very flexable but the tools are very primative.  MS really nee
  • Large SharePoint sites have potential performance issues.  If you ever look into the DB Schema you will see why.  The platform that SP rests on is very scary and It amazes me that MS has re-written it yet.
  • There is a lack of documentation for SP.  There are a lot of great bolgs, but
  • Skinning sites in SP is not easy.  We were so frustrated with how skinning worked that we created a feature that helped us maintain the look and feel of our sites.
  • SharePoint Modules are extremely expensive (A very basic WebPart will go for $200+).
  • Share Point has some very advanced things like the Business Data Catalog (kin of a merging of multiple datasources), excel services, and importing lists into and out of access databases.
  • DotNet Nuke is a very good (if not the best that I have seen) development platform.
  • Skinning in DNN is awesome.
  • This current version of DNN does not include workflows but I hear that the next major release will (am I correct on that??).  It will be interesting to see how the workflows are used in DNN.
  • DNN has its own version of lists... This is not a feature that I have played with too much so I can't compare it to SP lists.
  • DNN modules are relatively inexpensive and there are some developers doing some awesome work with there modules.

I have thought a couple of times about putting in some time to see what it would take to port some of the SP functionality to DNN but havent gotten to far into that yet.

Cheers,

Dave

 
New Post
10/6/2008 6:27 AM
 

Dave,

This is a brilliant reply so thank you. I concur with your SP points although I was not aware of the development and performance issues with SP. Having said that I do find that SP requires a very sizeable infrastructure to run ie a fully fledged server farm with Search Services and form servers etc. I am just getting into it, but am finding the server admin stuff quite involved.

DNN always struck me as leaner and meaner !! However it does lack some of the more corporate aspects such as workflow and tight integration with office that SP has. I do however realise that DMX has some great WebDav functionality. Also David Washington seems to be doing some great work with WWF over web services with DNN.

Your comment about SP being a poor development environment did surpise me, but I am a novice with SP. I was of the impression that much of the extension work was about webpart development using ASCXs etc which effectively plugged in, perhaps I am in for a nasty shock.

In this tight economic climate I believe that companies are looking to tighten their processes hence the need for this type of system, but Business process automation requires good workflow. Also linked to this is the need for businesses to be compliant to whatever regulations are applicable to them and again this means "Auditable" workflow and an opportunity. It would be great to be able to offer a DNN based solution.

Lastly, and probably most importantly. I still believe that companies will plumb for SP because it is MS and they feel comfortable with it. Although far more expensive they feel it offers a better corporate fit. Therefore for folks like me it would be stupid to avoid SP since to me there seems be many companies who have bought their SP licences and want to find as many ways of extracting value from them.

Finally, Finally I believe that v5 DNN will be a really interesting release with its improved performance and XHTML compliance etc... So cannot wait.

Thanks,

Sam

P.s Module cost really interesting compared to SP, and an important point especially for solutions providers like myself.

 

 
New Post
10/7/2008 1:45 PM
 

WSS will handle many facets of Sharepoint just fine, especially where you might be considering DNN.  If you are invested in Microsoft Office documents and functions, go for Sharepoint, especially in a collaborative intranet.  DNN is better for external use, any social networking and anything you need to develop custom modules to.

Jeff

 
New Post
10/7/2008 5:25 PM
 

 The large amount of code for DNN that exists "out there" to be reworked to deliver solutions is very important.

So far you have been able to bid a job where you wrote a large amount of the code yourself even if you were using DNN or SP. Trust me that will change (it is already changing). Campanies cannot pay you $15k to deliver a simple portal to exchange documents while they are laying off 40% of their workforce.

Many programmers do not remember 12 percent unemployment rates. When they return you will see those big fat corporate contracts dissapering. Meaning you wont have to argure with the "Architect Guy" because his job wont exist.

This is a huge reason to use DNN.



Michael Washington
http://ADefWebserver.com
www.ADefHelpDesk.com
A Free Open Source DotNetNuke Help Desk Module
 
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HomeHomeOur CommunityOur CommunityGeneral Discuss...General Discuss...Anybody using DNN as an alternative to Sharepoint ??Anybody using DNN as an alternative to Sharepoint ??


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