Introduction

Overview

When I first started planning for this book, I took some time to think about the challenges that face a beginning SharePoint 2007 administrator. The many SharePoint courses I have conducted as a SharePoint trainer have given me a good understanding of these challenges. All my SharePoint consulting has also been very helpful, because theory is one thing, but real-world experience is another. I also remember my own frustration and the numerous questions I had when I was trying to learn what SharePoint 2007 was all about. I have written the book that I wished I had when I started to work with SharePoint. My hope is that you will find it full of practical and easy-to-follow instructions that will help you get your SharePoint environment up and running in no time.

The goal of this book is to be your practical guide when building your SharePoint 2007 environment. I have tried to be very clear and focus on the steps that you must understand to build a production environment. Because SharePoint is a very broad subject with lots of details, I had to make sure that the book contains information that you most likely will need to know, such as how to install SharePoint, how to administrate it, how to customize it, and how to perform backup and restore procedures.

But administration is not the only important aspect of SharePoint. I know that most beginning SharePoint administrators also want to know what SharePoint is and what it can be used for. As the administrator, you will most likely be consulted by your users when they want to know how to get the most out of SharePoint 2007. That is why the book also contains several chapters on how to use the features of SharePoint.

Finally, the book has several references and tips for smart add-ons and utilities that will enhance the functionality of SharePoint, such as better navigation, integration with other systems, and workflow solutions. The book describes many free utilities and commercial third-party products. It also shows you where to find new utilities, because there is almost no other Microsoft product that has as many related new products and utilities constantly showing up.