I Want to Make TMD...except for my job...Help With Creating Forums

[Grand Inquisitor]

We all greatly appreciate the communication capabilities of sites like TMD and others.  I'm trying to bring this to my current job (working for a municipality) in order to improve information flow, project management, etc.

I'm looking for a platform that offers:

-free (especially to start, if it shows value we may upgrade to fancier digs down the line)
-no programming expertise required
-good admin capabilities
-good content management (especially being able to upload stuff from microsoft office)
-sustainable (e.g. is it better to sign up with someone like googlegroups to ensure that content doesn't get lost when a supplier tanks)

I'm also looking for general advise people have on administrative tactics.

Thanks.

Stephen

[Zherbus]

GI, go with Sharepoint if you can, but it ain't free.

It allows complete discussion, notices, as well file/documentation storage, versioning, checkout/checkin, and approval. It also integrates with MSN, Office, Outlook, etc.

Otherwise, I would probably just use Simple Machines (like TMD, MagicEternal) and do some minor editing and storage limit alterations to allow the attachments of any file extension you need. The database schema (which it auto-creates and manages) is such that the functionality is low overhead. Do database dumps every so often, and you will have something pretty robust in the long run. It's tit to set up too.