Reading this topic about the most over hyped technologies I noticed that SharePoint is almost universally reviled.

My experience with SharePoint (especially the most recent versions) is that it accomplishes it's core competencies smartly. Namely:


Centralized document repository - get all those office documents out of email (with versioning)
User-editible content creation for internal information disemination - look, an HR site with current phone numbers and the vacation policy
Project collaboration - a couple clicks creates a site with a project's documents, task list, simple schedule, threaded discussion, and possibly a list of all project related emails.
Very basic business automation - when you fill out the vacation form, an email is sent to HR.


My experience is that SharePoint only gets really ugly when an organization tries to push it in a direction it isn't designed for. SharePoint is not a CRM, ERP, bug database or external website. SharePoint is flexible enough to serve in a pinch, but it is no replacement for a dedicated tool. (Microsoft is just as guilty of pushing SharePoint into domains it doesn't belong.)

If you use SharePoint for what it's designed for, it really does work.

Thoughts?

I think it can be summed up in a comment I once heard about VB. "It makes the simple things very simple, and the hard things impossible.".