4 SharePoint Trends

In June, I got to pick the brains of Joel Oleson and Curtis Kelly about trends they were seeing in SharePoint. Here’s their summertime view of what’s going on in the SharePoint universe:

1. Strong interest in SharePoint 2010: Although the majority of the free world hasn’t yet migrated to SharePoint 2010, a lot of people are using beta versions of SharePoint 2010 to get a chance to kick the tires.

Kelly: “There’s a lot of uncertainty as to how to do things and what will happen when you turn a feature on. It almost takes practical experience on a daily basis.”

2. Remote Blob Storage (RBS ) for SharePoint:  Remote blob storage—when to use it? RBS helps you take advantage of cheaper storage and improves performance. But be careful, the guys say. The debate is not whether to use it in large environments but whether to use it in medium-sized environments.

Oleson: “Some say it’s faster, others say it’s not easier to manage, you’re managing in two places.”

3. Leaving Lotus Notes for SharePoint: The number of people leaving Notes for SharePoint is not documented, as far as I know, but when your CIO is saying ‘we’re moving to SharePoint,’ there’s not much you can do. (Full disclosure: I was a Lotus Notes user and am happy to no longer be.)

Oleson: “SharePoint has had a huge impact on the [Lotus Notes] world. Lotus Notes bloggers are saying ‘I’ve held on long enough and I have to move.’ It’s a weird convergence.”

4. BPOS and Hosted SharePoint: People are talking about it, asking what it means for IT, trying to decide whether to go with on-premises or all-hosted or create a hybrid approach.

Oleson: “Having IT take on a different role is a scary thing. In the SharePoint world, it doesn’t mean you outsource the team. A layer is outsourced but IT might become more like analysts. Microsoft is saying you’re not going to throw up all your SharePoint online—some app dev or other apps will still be on-premises.”