Tony Byrne, CMS Watch:

• SharePoint is part product, part platform, part ecosystem – a collection of technologies that have varying degrees of finish

• Under-reported and under-appreciated dimension of SharePoint: built solidly on (almost) latest .NET platform

• Be cautious of developer/integrator enthusiasm

• Keep Implementation of SharePoint Simple (KISS)

• Embrace configuration, some customization and integration, avoid extension (e.g. building custom applications, etc.)

• The latest marketing from Microsoft is “to really finish or complete MOSS you should look to external partners.”

• Oxcite, 3^rd party open source blog tool for .NET (not SharePoint)

• Just because a firm is a Microsoft partner, doesn't mean they have SharePoint expertise

Cautions:

• Some MS partners / vendors are in over their heads

• Not all are experts in all SP services

• Temptation to over-engineer

• Experienced integrators are in high-demand

Caveats:

• Test performance, reliability, and security features carefully

• Contrast software with "consulting-ware" (developed once for a client and re-sold)

• Remember: its not just another module, but another vendor

• Many partners fervently hope that MS will buy them, but Redmond typically recreates rather than acquires

• This can be very inconvenient for you down the road with MS upgrades SharePoint

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