Misinformation is often times worse than no information.
I wanted to post some thoughts about a recent
article
describing the "major" ills of SharePoint. After quickly reading the
article, my first impression was "oh boy, this is an article that is going to
fuel a lot of conversations... but I'm not really sure where the basis exists."
Here's a few points to consider...
- "SharePoint" is a complex product; there is no doubt in anyone's mind
about this point. It does incorporate a wide variety of technologies,
but doesn't any other extendable application/platform require the same?
Without a doubt, this point becomes even more evident when dealing with web
applications.
- The server teams, WSS and SPS, are hard at work building, testing, and
documenting the v3. No one is waiting for Longhorn. You want
evidence? Check out the sneak peak presented at Tech-Ed. On top
of that, Mike's already announced that the PDC is the place to be later this
year for "juicy" details.
- In fact the server teams are not only working on v3, but are continually
working to improve the existing product. Evidence? Check out the
upcoming release of RC2/SP2. A large number of common customer
concerns regarding performance, configuration and scalability are being
addressed.
- WSS is not a subset of SPS. WSS is the platform on which SPS is
built. Interestingly enough, WSS is also an application by itself.
Microsoft has excellent documentation that describes the difference between
the two products and why you would use one over the other or in conjunction
with each other.
- Support is an interesting beast. In many ways, no one will ever be
happy with support. Why? I honestly believe it's just in our
human nature to find fault when something does not go right. Good
documentation goes a long way to help stem support woes. I'll be the
first person to tell you that our documentation was inadequate when the
product shipped. In the year and half since RTM, the documentation
teams have done an incredible job of getting information documented, updated
and presented. Is there still room for improvement? Oh yeah.
I almost feel sorry for the documentation team. They've got a huge
backlog of articles to mill through.
- What about v3's documentation? From day the current product
shipped, the documentation teams have made it goal to ensure that v3 ships
with best documentation possible rather trying to play catch up.
Evidence? The server teams have already hosted several conferences in
where select members of the development and MVP community are asked to come
to Redmond to review various portions of v3. These conferences are
designed to be two-way avenues of communication. The product teams
have a chance to hear from the "front lines" on what does and does not work
with the current product and how planned changes will address, or otherwise
affect, how developers, administrators and users interact with the product.
These events are the first insights into the types of support issues the
teams might expect to encounter. The last session was as recent as two weeks
ago. Several of team members, myself included, had a chance to talk
with various MVPs and authors about operational changes and additions and
how they see themselves utilizing them. On top of that, several folks
were asked to start writing whitepapers. I've been impressed with the
amount of interaction we've had with the community throughout the entire
product cycle.
- Support also comes in a variety of other flavors. The blogging
community has exploded - there's folks talking about every aspect of
SharePoint. Some folks like the more traditional message forums.
Some of them are very successful because they're backed by people who know
and care about the product. It's really a matter of choosing what
works for you. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely.
- What about direction and roadmap? It's coming... for the most
part, it has already been coming out in bits and pieces via announcements by
other partner teams across Office and Microsoft. The key takeaway is
that WSS' role as a platform is solidifies in v3 - not just the WSS and SPS
worlds, but across a variety of client apps as well.
Overall, if someone has a problem, talk about it but come to the table having
done your homework. I'm all for good conversations and critiques; it's the
only way we can grow as community as well as ensure the product evolves into
something that can be used for tomorrow's needs.
I'm sure you'll hear more from Mike,
Daniel and others in the
coming days. The server teams are listening... and, no, we're not
taking naps waiting around for Longhorn to ship. If we were, I'm sure
several folks would rather be lounging at a nice little beach resort somewhere
in the Caribbean rather than staying here in sunny Seattle. :)