Reviewed by Victoria Thulman, content project manager, Microsoft Press

It is one thing to know your stuff, but it's quite another altogether to constantly use what you know and refine what you do with real clients who represent some of the largest organizations in the United States. That’s the unique consultant’s perspective that SharePoint pro Errin O’Connor shares with readers in his book, Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Inside Out. Errin addresses the kinds of issues that will come up in your own work because they come up in his, every single day. As someone who has completed more than 60 highly successful individual SharePoint implementations, Errin has filled the roles of SharePoint architect, SharePoint developer, SharePoint business analyst, and SharePoint trainer, and could certainly add the title of SharePoint expert to this list. Fortunately for you, he is sharing his secrets.

Because of his wealth of experience, Errin writes about the scenarios you will face at a granular level unmatched by other authors addressing this topic. Woven throughout the chapters are the best practices Errin has developed by working through challenges in myriad settings, and one chapter is devoted specifically to this topic.

The book covers the whole life cycle of a successful SharePoint implementation, starting with the in-depth requirements-gathering that enables you to properly prepare for a new SharePoint implementation. Proper planning and setup are critical to anticipating and staying on top of SharePoint usage and growth in an organization. After introducing you to the product, the first two parts of the book focus on these essential first steps in the process, describing what end users will experience and the built-in features they can use.

From there Errin moves on in Parts 3 and 4 to design issues and site creation, with chapters devoted to using SharePoint Designer 2007 to work with such items as templates and Web Parts, and a chapter devoted to managing site content so that your site stays relevant and current for users.

Part 5 talks about installation, backup, restoration, and the migration of sites. Next in the SharePoint life cycle is administering SharePoint services, which is the focus of Part 6. Here Errin goes into detail about SharePoint server administration; SharePoint central administration, including security and reporting; and site settings management. Finally, in Part 7, the book offers information about developing Web Parts, following best practices, and creating training materials to get SharePoint off to a terrific start in your organization.

Windows SharePoint Services is a very flexible and powerful tool that is easy to use. In this book, you learn governance strategies to ensure that you manage your site with confidence, and you get valuable advice for developing a training approach and related documentation that will help you successfully launch your Windows SharePoint Services environment. This book explains how to fully take advantage of SharePoint and your role in ensuring its success in your own organization.