Debbie Ireland, Conference Convenor, believes “One of the significant benefits in the conference format we have structured is the opportunity to network with peers, learning from each other just how to spread the power and deliverables of SharePoint across disparate company departments and structures,”

While it is estimated that SharePoint is Microsoft’s fast growing product, the likely reality is that in many instances the product is not being fully utilised. According to Debbie Ireland, Conference Convenor, while thousands of Australian businesses, government departments and local offices of global organisations have implemented SharePoint, they are probably only utilising around twenty to thirty percent of its potential.

Said Ms Ireland, “To take your implementation beyond that of a common ‘point solution’ to one of an integrated platform that readily supports multiple applications or business-specific functions, often requires looking at how other successful organisations, regardless of size, have achieved far-reaching benefit from their SharePoint implementations. That is just one of the many reasons for holding this year’s Australia SharePoint Conference.

“Australia hasn’t seen a SharePoint conference of this magnitude since back in 2007, where the focus was on the then newly introduced SharePoint 2007 platform.

“Now, several years later, we’ve not only seen a huge adoption of the product, nationally, but we’re also about to embark on the next version of the product, namely SharePoint 2010, due for public release on 13th May 2010 AEST. So, the conference is perfect for those wanting to understand more about SharePoint 2007 and also learn about the new SharePoint 2010 release.”

The conference will be co-attended by local and international SharePoint community members, including Microsoft SharePoint Most Valued Professionals (MVPs) and SharePoint user group leaders. The conference boasts an impressive array of speakers, including well known international SharePoint speakers, like SharePoint MVP’s Todd Bleeker, Randy Williams and Tobias Zimmergren.

Included in the Keynote delivery is Arpan Shah, Director at Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, WA) who owns Technical Product Management for SharePoint Products and Technologies.

With over 40 sessions to choose from, the conference is structured in three major streams; Business, Technical, and Voice of the Customer. Voice of the Customer is a very popular track where companies share case studies of their experiences, successes, and challenges implementing SharePoint within their organisation.

There are also additional “Get to the Point” Training Workshops before and after the event. Running over two days, the conference is expected to attract around 800 delegates who will be able to visit exhibition and information booths, attend workshops, learn from motivational customer case studies and partake in educational seminars. The conference’s Platinum Sponsor, Microsoft Australia, acknowledges the importance of community-led conferences such as Australia SharePoint Conference as complementary extensions of Microsoft’s existing SharePoint resources and events.

“We are delighted to support Australian SharePoint Conference and the community members who are making it happen. The event looks set to support and empower the SharePoint community by bringing together customers, partners, professionals, and enthusiasts to share their experiences and expertise. We are also impressed with the quality of speakers who will help deliver value to participants whether they are technologists or from the business,” said Sophie Corker, SharePoint Marketing Manager at Microsoft Australia.

www.sharepointconference.com.au