Microsoft today released a set of videos on Channel 9that showcase the new features of SharePoint 2010 from a developer perspective.  Here are some of the topics that caught my eye:

• SharePoint 2010 Developer Roadmap
• Visual Studio 2010 Tools for SharePoint 2010
• Services Architecture
• Enterprise Content Management
• Accessing External Data
• SharePoint 2010 Security

There are 15 units so far.  Each one consists of a series of videos, so there’s a lot of material already available for viewing.  I expect there will be much more coming in the weeks and months ahead.  Microsoft appears to be determined to avoid the problem we experienced with SharePoint 2007 where there was so much technology, but too little documentation for developers.

Now to find the time to go through them all.

Exciting times, eh?

SharePoint training provider Combined Knowledge will host the first European SharePoint Best Practices conference in London April 6-8, 2009.  Microsoft veteran Joel Oleson will deliver the keynote and the speakers list reads like a "who's who" of the top SharePoint experts, MVPs and Microsoft product team members. 

I'll be presenting a session on designing and building records repositories using the powerful records management features provided by Office SharePoint Server.  I'm pretty excited about it, since this will be my first trip to London.  The conference will be held at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, which is right in the middle of all the London sights, so I'll be sure to stay busy before and after my talk! :)

Hope to see you there.

Let's face it, SharePoint is a huge development platform no matter what angle you approach it from.   As most of you know, I've spent the past year or so traveling and teaching SharePoint developer courses for the Ted Pattison Group, and my focus has been pretty broad, covering topics ranging from features to content types to workflow and everything in between. 

Now, as the platform continues to mature and as developers become more and more familiar with the basics of SharePoint development, it is increasingly evident that more specialized training is needed, particularly in the area of Enterprise Content Management (ECM).  To that end, I'm pleased to announce the immediate availability of two new courses I've developed that are being offered through the Ted Pattison Group:

• ECM401 - Enterprise Content Management with SharePoint Server 2007 (hands-on)
• WC-ECM401 - Enterprise Content Management with SharePoint Server 2007 (online)

Both versions of the course are available for immediate registration.  The online version is a great option for those unable to attend the hands-on course.

• The hands-on version includes 12 modules instead of 10 with a deeper treatment of content modeling and using workflow to drive ECM solutions.
• The hands-on course is 4 full days with lectures, demos and labs.  The online version is 5 days with about 3 hours of lectures and demos each day plus labs assigned as homework.
• The online version is conducted via Live Meeting and students may submit questions during the lecture which are answered at the end of each session.  Questions may also be submitted directly to the instructor via email or live chat.
• Students attending the hands-on course receive a student workbook with slides and labs.  Online students receive the workbook in electronic format.

Feel free to contact me directly with any questions you may have about either version of the course.  For additional details and to review the course outline, please visit the Ted Pattison Group website using the following links.

Here is the upcoming course schedule, with links to the registration form.