Beginning today, customers of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 with a qualified Volume Licensing Software Assurance enrollment can benefit from SharePoint Deployment Planning Services (SDPS), a new, partner-delivered offering designed to help customers successfully plan their deployment of SharePoint. Microsoft Corp., which is now concluding a pilot of SDPS, developed the offering in response to the remarkable reception and growth of SharePoint, the robust, multifaceted productivity platform.

SDPS introduces a host of new knowledge offerings to the SharePoint partner community for customers� benefit. These tools include SharePoint Deployment Plan Templates, Architecture Design Guidance Documents, and SharePoint server farm deployment guidance.

Microsoft partners that currently have Microsoft Competencies in Information Worker Portals and Collaboration, Enterprise Content Management, or Search specializations can now advance their skills and become certified to participate in the SDPS offering. In return, these partners will be reimbursed by Microsoft to deliver SharePoint deployment planning consultation to customers. In addition, SDPS-certified partners will be able to participate in a new online community that Microsoft has established to enable collaboration and information sharing among partners on SharePoint deployment best practices. Partners can get more details and register to be an SDPS provider at http://www.microsoftsdps.com.