Enterprise search took a big leap forward today with Microsoft's announcement about FAST Search for SharePoint, a technology that will provide companies with high-end search capabilities and enhance efficiency and productivity. The announcement was made today at the FASTforward’09 conference in Las Vegas. The search solution was a collaborative effort between the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) team and developers from FAST Search and Transfer, an enterprise search company that Microsoft acquired last April. FAST Search for SharePoint combines FAST's high-end search functionality with SharePoint's collaboration, content management, and Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities. The technology will ship with the release of the next version of Microsoft Office.
However, for customers who don't want to wait for the next version of Office to get their hands on the functionality of the new search technology, Microsoft also has announced ESP for SharePoint, a special offering that allows SharePoint Enterprise Client Access License customers to purchase high-end search capabilities today, with a defined licensing path to FAST Search for SharePoint when it becomes available. You can find out more about these products in "Microsoft Unveils New Enterprise Search Road Map".