It appears the timeframe for the release of the beta of the next version of SharePoint has been pushed back from a summertime delivery until the fall. I say it “appears” this way because Microsoft does not discuss product release dates, and this information has been pulled from the rumor mill. But, as multiple people have told me the same thing, I feel confident passing this along as solid information. I’m told Microsoft intends to have something in people’s hands by the time of the company’s SharePoint conference in November. Speculation is that as Microsoft tried to align its SharePoint and Windows 8 releases, something unexpected arose, pushing things back.
Success with SharePoint requires organizational backing. Individual teams, even pilot projects, can be successful, of course. But for a wide rollout, organizations need executive buy-in and drivers to create the governance policies required to prevent SharePoint from becoming just another piece of shelfware.
Robert Bogue, The SharePoint Shepherd, has done a lot of research into the topic of user acceptance and buy-in, and will present his findings at SPTechCon—The SharePoint Technology Conference, in Boston on July 22-25. Robert will deliver the opening keynote address, which will look at SharePoint implementations and projects, and why some are hugely successful and why others are not. Robert has made his work available on his website, and if you haven’t heard him speak, you’re missing out on one of the leading voices of clarity and reason when it comes to SharePoint. You can register for SPTechCon now, and if you sign up before May 11 (next week), you can save US$450 off the full cost. I look forward to seeing you there!
—David
