Wonder What's Coming in Next Version of SharePoint?

Thought so. Unfortunately we don't have the answers — at least not any you probably haven't heard already. But there are others who are starting to offer up what they believe SharePoint "14" will and won't have. We thought it interesting enough to pass along.

Can't We Name This Baby?

To be honest, probably the most annoying thing about not knowing what's coming with the next version of SharePoint is what Microsoft is going to call it. Some refer to it as SharePoint "14", others SharePoint "next". It would be nice if Microsoft would just bite the bullet and share that little piece of information — a real name — so we can refer to it intelligently.

Until then, we choose to call it SharePoint 14. And here's what we have heard is certain about the next version:

• It will be 64-bit only, so started developing your apps as 64-bit now
• Visual Studio 2010 will provide enhanced development support for it out of the box
• FAST for SharePoint will include both an internal and external solution

Okay, so that's not much. Perhaps what is more interesting is what others think SharePoint 14 will and won't have.

What SharePoint 14 Won't Have - Maybe

Kathleen Reidy is a Senior Analyst for the 451 Group. She covers the SharePoint beat extensively and has some thoughts on what won't be in the next version of SharePoint.

Social Software

Reidy thinks that because Lawrence Liu, former Microsoft's social computing evangelist, is now working at Telligent, that Telligent's Community Server roadmap is a good indication of what SharePoint won't have. This is because Community Server has a tight relationship with SharePoint and offers a number of integration points.

Reidy thinks that because Community Server is strong in areas such as community analytics, bridging internal and external communities and feed aggregation, that you won't see these features in SharePoint 14.

Of course Liu comments on Reidy's blog that she shouldn't speculate on SharePoint 14's features based on Telligent's roadmap. And Liu is a Microsoft MVP — keepers of SharePoint 14 secrets — so we might want to listen to him.

Web Content Management

Don't expect to see much improvement in Web Content Management. It hasn't exactly been one of the big selling points for SharePoint — at least not by Microsoft. Reidy believes Microsoft is much more interested in content-based collaboration, which is more inline with social software than web content management.

Records Management

Look for other vendors to offer integrated solutions for records management instead of Microsoft building it in. Solutions from enterprise content management vendors like Open Text are more likely to be used.

What SharePoint 14 Will Have - Maybe

Guy Creese has some thoughts on what SharePoint 14 will have. He gets asked this all the time by his clients. His response, "Here's an educated guess at what I think will be in the next version. This takes into account how Microsoft thinks about the world, current product holes that need to be fixed, and weaving together disconnected comments made by Microsoft."

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Tags: enterprise cms, moss, sharepoint, sharepoint 14, social computing, web cms

Thought so. Unfortunately we don't have the answers -- at least not any you probably haven't heard already. But there are others who are starting to offer up what they believe SharePoint "14" will and won't have. We thought it interesting enough to pass along.