Microsoft Talks Up SharePoint For Search

More tidbits out of Microsoft's Convergence EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) show this week.

First, slated for some stage time in Munich will be Office SharePoint for Search. The intranet search software was discussed at the Worldwide Partner Conference last summer, but there hasn't been much detail disclosed around it, says Davide Vigano, worldwide market lead for Microsoft Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partner group (SMS&P)

Well, here are a few factoids: The software will index up to 1.5 million documents for $7,000 with no client access licenses (CALs) required. Microsoft's goal is to unify desktop and intranet and Internet search where Microsoft lags far behind leader Google. For customers wanting to go beyond the 1.5 million document limit or to search line-of-business applications, will need to go to full-fledged SharePoint Server he said.

This is a volley aimed at Google's nascent intranet search business. Google sells appliances into companies for internal search purposes. Google's Mini appliance searches up to 100,000 documents for just under $3,000. Google Enterprise appliances range from $30,000 to $600,000.

Microsoft's new entry can run on a customer's existing server, Vigano said. "We are a more modular environment with upgradeability vs. just another box," he noted.

Another headliner at the conference will be beta two of System Center Essentials, a melding of Microsoft's SMS and MOM for mid-sized businesses, Vigano said. This branch office solution bundles Windows Server 2003, Windows Storage Server 2003 R2, ISA 2006, Virtual Server 2005, and System Center.

Vigano characterized "Essentials" as the mid-market infrastructure product to come before the Longhorn-based Centro bundle. .

The company will also unveil a version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM tweaked to take advantage of the thankfully-soon-to-ship Office 2007 and Vista. Dynamics V3.C will ship sometime after the new Office and Vista releases.

Also on the docket for the show, which features a Bill Gates keynote, will be talk about integration between Dynamics Live CRM and Microsoft's own AdCenter online ad service, said Satya Nadella, corporate vice president of Microsoft Business Solutions or MBS..

The target audience will be "marketers wanting to buy key words using intelligence based on data in their CRM campaigns" he noted.

The company will show how its "Live" hosted services can interoperate with its on-premise offerings. "If you're doing a marketing campaign you can add transactional stuff in your [on-premise] CRM but also collaborate with an outside agency doing creative using the SharePoint services in Office Live," Nadella said.