BECAUSE YOU ARE READING THIS, I assume that you share my interest for Microsoft SharePoint. In my case it is more than an interest, it is a passion! For more than 30 years, I have been working with computers, from assembler programming to complex software solutions. For more than 10 years my whole world was e - mail (my personal car plate is “ SMTP ” still today), but in 2001 I stumbled on a product that was called SharePoint Portal Server. I was amazed! Its objective was to help end users be more productive by making it easy to share and fi nd information, typically Offi ce documents.

When SharePoint 2003 was released, I decided to focus on SharePoint 100 percent (or 150 percent, as my wife likes to put it) and no one at my consulting company objected (after all, I am their boss). Today I can admit that SharePoint 2003 was a bit of a disappointment, since it lacked a number of features that were in SharePoint 2001, so I really looked forward to the next release. Then, in 2007 MS Offi ce SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS) was released; it was a lot better, really a good collaboration platform with fantastic integration features and excellent performance. However, after implementing a large number of MOSS installations at all kinds of organizations, it was clear that there were also some weak areas in this fi ne product, especially web content management features and search functionality.

The moment of truth is here: SharePoint 2010 is now released. Does it fi x the weaknesses of MOSS 2007? Yes! Does it offer a world - class solution for both public facing Internet portals as well as any kind of intranet? Absolutely! Does it come with other new or enhanced features compared to SharePoint 2007? You bet! I know it may sound as if I am paid by Microsoft to say this, but I am not: SharePoint is the most incredible piece of software I have seen for sharing, searching, collaborating, and enhancing the typical end users everyday life. I know that the SharePoint team at Microsoft is already on its way to design and build the next version of SharePoint. It must be very hard for them to come up with new and even more enhanced features for that release, but I know I will be here waiting for it!

Will your professional life be better if you implement SharePoint in your organization? Yes, if you do it right and avoid the pitfalls on the way. This book is written to give you the knowledge and background to help you do it right. SharePoint 2010 is a really large product, especially SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise edition. There is no universal solution that I can give you. Your implementation all depends on the needs and requirements of your organization, and all organizations have their special objectives.