SharePoint Foundation 2010 Learning Resources

A few people have asked me via email about where they should go to learn about SharePoint Foundation 2010 (SharePoint Foundation was formerly Windows SharePoint Services aka WSS). All of the links that are out there directly focus on the full SharePoint 2010 suite and rarely have I seen any SharePoint Foundation 2010 only resources. SharePoint Foundation 2010 as it’s name obviously suggests is the core technology for all of the SharePoint stack. Sure it may not have all the whizzy bang that comes with the ueber versions but implemented well it can be equally useful for your organisation.

If you are on a tight budget this is your best option to try out if this kind of technology can be implemented in your organisation. Remember you still need to plan accordingly based on your scenarios you want to use the technology for your business. SharePoint Foundation 2010 (SPF2010) offers so much above its previous version WSS.

One of the “cool” new features for enterprises is that SPF2010 comes with Business Connectivity Services enabled. What the heck does that mean?

Basically it enables you to connect to external data and expose that data through a declarative model – Databases, WCF and Web Service .Net framework assemblies and a pluggable connectors when you want to connect to custom data sources.

External Data Columns – is a New name in SPF2010. What this means to you is that you bring data from a Line of Business system (Contact/Customer Name from a Contacts/CRM database) into an existing SharePoint List

External Lists – The data is available as an External List though which users can Read / Edit / Delete without realizing the fact that they are manipulating data that’s residing from a external system

Read about SharePoint Foundation 2010 Business Connectivity Services here from MSDN.

Remember though that this is limited (yet powerful enough) and you should always look at your specific scenarios before going for a full fledged BCS implementation.

Depending on your focus and role there are a number of resources available.

IT Professionals and Systems Administrators - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ee263910.aspx#tab=1 – Contains detailed information starting from planning to deployment and post deployment guidance. For roadmap of new content bookmark : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff627857.aspx

Developers SDK > http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee539826.aspx (Contains what’s new type of material)

End User Productivity – Learn about the new interface changes and new features in SharePoint Foundation 2010 here - http://office2010.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-foundation-help/sharepoint-foundation-help-and-how-to-FX101834461.aspx

SharePoint Foundation 2010 Learning Videos - http://office2010.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-foundation-help/redir/CL100315292.aspx

Upgrading from WSS to SPF2010 - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ee517215.aspx

Remember that you can easily upgrade to SharePoint Server 2010 from SPF2010.

Microsoft has put out this great guide for comparison of editions of the SharePoint 2010 products here. Pretty handy as it shows the differences of “Foundation” > “Standard” and “Enterprise”

http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/Pages/Editions-Comparison.aspx

For Features comparison and quick overview > http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/product/Pages/Features.aspx

And most importantly here is where you can Download SharePoint Foundation 2010 > http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=188952