Microsoft Launches 'Spark' Connector

The connector, formally known as Microsoft Content Management Server (CMS) 2002 Connector for SharePoint Technologies, is a free download for solution providers that want to bridge the gap between content created in SharePoint portals and the content management system. For example, it will enable document library content from Windows SharePoint Services to be published on sites created with CMS. That content also will be searchable via SharePoint Portal Server Search. (See story for more coverage of this integration software.)

Microsoft had offered a connector for earlier CMS and SharePoint Portal Server releases, but the latest edition adds linkages to the basic SharePoint technologies now embedded in Windows Server 2003, Microsoft said.

Solution provider partners said the connector is likely the first of several steps to tie Content Management Server more tightly to the portal server. Last fall, CRN reported that CMS management had moved from Microsoft's server group to the SharePoint Portal Server team, which falls under the purview of the Business Productivity Group, where Microsoft Office and other mostly client-side applications reside.

The beta of the connector made its debut last fall (see story). The software, which had been expected to ship by late 2003, is now available at no charge. For those awaiting other key Microsoft releases, sources said BizTalk Server 2004, also due out late last year, is set to ship.