Driving Through Flyover Country

2008 should theoretically have been a boring year for SharePoint. The current version (WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007) was released in 2006. The next version wouldn’t be out until 2009, if not later. The software equivalent of flyover country.

Yet, if you (like me) have actually driven through this so-called flyover country, you will know that there is a lot going on in that vast middle ground:

You have “tourist traps” like Wall Drug, and the Corn Palace.

You’ll find Natural wonders like Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, and of course Yellowstone. Legends like Deadwood, South Dakota – just a stone’s throw from that ultimate in stone carving – Mount Rushmore.

Not to mention the over-all beauty of this great land.

The same is true with SharePoint in 2008. In what could have been a year of coasting, those following The SharePoint Road found plenty to be excited about.

Among the sights:

• We welcomed a pair of new members to the family – Search Server, and the free Search Server Express
• Infrastructure Updates brought Search Server’s enhancements to MOSS, along with some much needed improvements to Content Management
• Not to mention, Service Packs and the other “normal” updates that occur.

But even more impressive than the evolution of the product itself has been the reaction of the community:

• SharePoint became a Billion Dollar Product.
• A huge ecosystem has grown up around SharePoint.
• Books, Add-ins, training, documentation, and other support material has proliferated

In fact, opportunities to get “up-close and personal” with key players in the SharePoint world have been many:

• The Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2008 was a sell-out, and had the greatest attendance of any SharePoint-only event to date.
• Beyond Microsoft, SharePoint Connections, and the SharePoint Best Practices conference were also huge hits.
• Users Groups and user-inspired events have sprung up everywhere, and are growing fast.

A taste of “14”. Some tidbits about the next version have come out recently:

• “Microsoft SharePoint Services” for the Cloud, shown as part of Windows Azure
• Fully interactive, web-based versions of Office applications. Will these be part of the SharePoint Family?

Looking Forward

So, you see, 2008 has been anything but boring in the SharePoint space. But what about next year? What does 2009 hold?

Predicting the future is never an exact science, but I think, even with the down economy, we can be certain that there will still be more excitement in the SharePoint world:

• More Conferences and Events:
  • Connections is a occurrence.
  • Of course, SharePoint will always be well-represented at Microsoft’s TechEd and the Professional Developers Conference (PDC).
  • The next Best Practices conference is the first week of February – Don’t Miss This one! (And I’m not just saying that because I’m going to present…)
• More Updates:
  • Service Pack 2 should be out early next year.
  • Constant growth in the number of add-ins available, both in the marketplace, and on CodePlex
• Betas? Customer Previews? The Real Deal? Well, I wouldn’t hold my breath on getting final code next year, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see something come out that we can play with.

There you have it. My version of a retrospective on 2008, and a look towards 2009. I hope you have enjoyed travelling the SharePoint road with me this year, and I hope to have you along for the ride next year!