Microsoft SharePoint 2007 Technologies

xvii

Pr eface

When we approached Rob Lefferts to write the foreword for our third book

about SharePoint Technologies, we reflected on how long we had known

each other. Rob first met us during our preparation for Compaq’s SharePoint

Portal Server 2001 Academy, and he delivered the keynote for our first event

in early 2001. So we’ve known each other for nigh on seven years now.

More than seven years ago, Microsoft had some very grand plans for a

product that was code-named Ta h o e . According to the marketing hype sur-

rounding what became SharePoint Portal Server 2001, it was to be all things

to all people. But it wasn’t. And there were some very good reasons for that,

because, just like a good scotch, it takes time to mature. Maturity comes

from the experience of learning and doing over time, and SharePoint is no

different in this regard. The experiences of the 2001 and 2003 releases of the

technology have helped shape the 2007 release. And it is a release that, from

a pure feature point of view, is much closer to the original goals of Tahoe.

The third generation of SharePoint Technologies targets six major solu-

tion areas and leverages core infrastructure features delivered in the Windows

Server 2003 operating system. In addition to the significant enhancement of

collaboration, portal, and search, we see a focus on business intelligence,

business process, and enterprise content management. All of these solution

areas integrate exceptionally well with each other and with the core platform

services provided by Windows SharePoint Services V3.0.

All of us work in HP Services and are involved with SharePoint in many

different ways—from consulting with our customers to presenting at indus-

try conferences to working on our own internal knowledge systems, which

heavily leverage SharePoint Technologies. Our experiences working with

SharePoint and its complementary products have helped us assimilate its

value and shape the content for this book, and we certainly hope that our

experiences go a long way toward jump-starting yours.

So what does the book contain? Well, certainly not everything, and we

apologize if the area that you are most interested in is not covered. What we

xviii Preface

have tried to do is to first articulate what the major features are; how they

help integrate people, processes, and information; and the subsequent value

they can bring to your organization. We tend to view the functionality from

a position of its practicality in large enterprises, and many of our opinions

reflect that bias. We believe we give an honest view of both the good things

and the things that just might need a little more maturing before they can

live happily in this space. We then explain the important considerations for

when you plan your deployment and, subsequently, how you can build upon

the base features to customize and extend the platform for your specific busi-

ness needs.

SharePoint has come a long way in the last seven years, and Microsoft

has done a great job of listening to and acting upon the experiences of their

customers and partners. So for those of you who currently use SharePoint,

there should be no danger of you having a seven-year itch—and for those of

you that have not yet ventured into this technolog, you can rest assured that

a mature platform awaits you should you wish to hop on board.

Kevin, Emer, and Veli

Acknowledgements

A feeling of community is essential for people’s experiences to be leveraged to

the fullest. Only when you feel a true part of a community do you contribute

to as well as consume the community experience. In HP, we are fortunate to

have such a community, and we’d therefore like to thank everyone who is a

part of it.

Our community extends outside of HP to our customers and partners

and obviously in the SharePoint space to Microsoft. We have many great

friends at Microsoft, and we call them friends due to the strength of the

working relationships we have with them and the fun we have together on

the occasions we get to meet up in person. Thanks to Rob Lefferts for writing

the foreword and to everyone else we know in the SharePoint and Exchange

space—you know who you are!

There is a major community in the industry who should not go unmen-

tioned. In this day and age of information ubiquity, all of you who take the

time to share your experiences via blogs, wikis, and so forth have contributed

to our knowledge, and for that, we thank you.

Finally, we would like to acknowledge the plethora of people who have

shown us much patience during the creation of this book; it was greatly

appreciated. We hope the end result is worth any frustration that we caused!