This week I am going to be speaking at the MOSS 2007 upgrade TechEd Pre-conference seminar with the man the myth the legen Shane Young.  Word on the street is that he has his own fan club these days...  Todd Klint will also be there presenting and man I can only speak for myself when I say I feel like a little peasant because I don't have fan club of my own!  On a serious note it's an honor to be helping out these guys on the big stage and my hope is that I can contribute and add my two cents.  I have now done over 12+ upgrades some ferociously brutal and along the way have gathered some great experience to hopefully make the next upgrade/migration easier.  So if you are going to be at the seminar tomorrow then I will see you there!

Also this week I am going to be hosting a BOF session specifically geared towards upgrades/migration questions and concerns.

BOF954 Upgrades and Migrations to Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: The Real Truth

  Wednesday, June 11 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM, N210 D 

Below is my abstract that I submitted which will show the direction of the conversation at the session:

We all know that upgrades/migrations are never easy. The best way to learn and understand more about how to go about approaching your organization's migration/upgrade to V3 is by learning what others are currently finding success with. This BOF session focuses on real-life upgrade/migration scenarios and how best to approach them. This includes what kind of prep work should be done, use of third-party tools (which ones work and which ones don't work so well) for migration/upgrade assistance, and best practices around re-architecting your new environment according to the new MOSS 2007 site structure. The main goal of this session is to really find out what works best in specific scenarios and what things should be avoided.

The goal of this BOF session is to discuss what may or may not work so well in certain upgrade/migration scenarios.  I would also like to pass on my experiences and knowledge which may help
the professionals who are currently dealing with the same situations that I have dealt with in the past.

For any of you that is interested or planning on upgrading your SharePoint environments to Windows Server 2008 my friend and colleague Chris Regan will be holding a BOF that talks about the benefits of moving to Windows Server 2008 and why you should do so sooner than later!  Chris has recently finished a major project with a public facing that was migrated and built entirely on the SharePoint platform.  The entire environment was built on Windows server 2008 and wow does it fly!   Check out this abstract from his blog:

My BOAF session - ‘Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows Server 2008: What a Match' is on Thursday, June 12 at 10:30AM.  Some more information on this session:  "With the launch of Windows Server 2008, there have been many discussions in the SharePoint community around whether or not SharePoint farms should be upgraded to the latest and greatest server operating system, or if administrators should take the "wait and see" approach. Based on experience so far, the answer is pretty clear-by upgrading, your life as an administrator is going to be made easier, and you will see performance gains with SharePoint. This Birds-of-a-Feather session focuses on both the technical and business drivers for upgrading sooner instead of later, and how you can go back to your manager and make a convincing argument... one that will not only save you time, but will end up helping your organization as well."  I hope to see you there!

Finally I will be presenting with Shane on SharePoint governance, information architecture.  This session will really drive home how critical and important it is to wrap governance around existing and future SharePoint implementations.  Whether you are using SharePoint for an internet, extranet and especially an intranet without governance policies in place the chances of a successful implementation in the long run is slim to none  with current and future SharePoint projects.  So come check out Shane and I talk about this buzz topic and what you need to be prepared.  Below is all the information you will need to come learn about how to make your next SharePoint project a successful one!

OFC354 Creating Portals That Last: Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies, Governance and Information Architecture

  Thursday, June 12 8:30 AM - 9:45 AM, S230 E  

Cheers!