Does Google Wave have SharePoint Envy?

The web is abuzz. Although this is supposed to be the normal mode of web activity, what we are seeing right now is not just plain buzz, but something that on closer inspection reveals a pattern – one that is potentially doing to convert the web as we know it into something that we will have to get used to, one consisting in a challenge retour between the big G (for Google) and the big M (for Microsoft). The latest event falling into the pattern referred to is a developer preview of Google Wave at the Google I/O conference.
The app, which wraps e-mail, instant messaging, blogs’n’wikis, document sharing, and more neatly together, is to be released to the public later this year. Google Wave’s being defined as “a new tool for communication and collaboration on the web” has spurred a tide (connotation not intended) of SharePoint parallels, especially with the app being open-source and thus extendable. As seen by some, Wave poses an immediate threat to SharePoint the collaboration platform. This assumption stumbles upon at least two counterarguments: first, Wave is primarily web-, not enterprise-oriented; second, in enterprise environments, Office is not in the least likely to be phased out anytime soon, although Google apps are developing in their due course with a share of smaller businesses try to optimize their work by moving it to the cloud. Other important concerns include security and regulation. Therefore I find it safe to believe for now that speculations on SharePoint being withered by the new Google thing are somewhat premature.
Nevertheless, it is obvious that the innovation retour is going to escalate as time passes and solutions get tested out, with rivals enhancing and complementing each other’s achievements.

SharePoint Team Launches New Site… In SharePoint

SharePoint has proudly announced the launch of a new site http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/Pages/Default.aspx) built (or rather re-built) in collaboration with Advaiya, Inc. on the SharePoint platform. The primary goal in creating the new look’n’feel of the website is naturally showcasing SharePoint as an independent Internet-based entity. The major foci of the now completed project are easy to follow. First of all, the primary aim of the site is to illustrate creating a team site within tight temporal and budgetary frameworks (that is mainly relying on out-of-the-box SharePoint components to cover all the necessary functionality features); moreover, distinctly traceable is Microsoft’s effort in forwarding Silverlight with a special emphasis on productively fusing it with SharePoint (the samples on the site include the hero bar and the main menu navigation control). Another clear message delivered in the announcement reads as follows: with a SharePoint site, content is easy to manage and no coding expertise is required (that includes such aspects as the content appearing on the hero bar, as well as SEO issues).
At the moment, the site can be accessed anonymously, with Passport/LiveID integration yet to follow. Detailed description, as usual, is to be found at the SharePoint Team’s official blog.

SharePoint Conference 2009

On October 19-22, Las Vegas will host this year’s SharePoint Conference. The highlight of the conference is naturally going to be the new wave of SharePoint products – SharePoint 2010. Since we are simultaneously expecting the brand new Office, there’s no way the Conference could bypass this issue as well. However, it’s not purely about the future, so the agenda also includes getting the most of SharePoint 2007. As usual, the conference is oriented at both businesses and IT professionals. A sizeable number of companies will get an opportunity to showcase their work.
The cost of a conference pass is $ 1,199, but there is also an option for those who are “feeling lucky”. Nintex, a SharePoint innovation company, and two SharePoint education companies, Mindsharp and Combined Knowledge, are sponsoring a Global SharePoint Survey (www.sharepointsurvey.com) designed to get an insight into what SharePoint users have to say (open till July 17, 2009). Those submitting questionnaires are offered the additional stimulus of potentially winning a free general conference pass. The winner will be chosen randomly, so feel free to speak your mind .