Microsoft has released the next group of Templates for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. The latest group are different from those released at the end of last month. The new templates offer additional functionality and can still be used to create a sub site. For more background on what templates are you can read my earlier post.

What makes this update more important is that we have added the option to select the template solution that is applied to the main site. Because the template needs to be applied as part of site creation it cannot be changed later. I think this will make our On Demand Business Solutions a more useful application for our customers. For example you can now create a site like blog.mydomain.com and choose the blog template for the main site. Or you can signup for a Project Tracking Workspace and with Outlook 2007 you can access the Calendar, Tasks and Documents offline. 

Here are the new templates that are now available for site creation:

Absence Request and Vacation Schedule Management
Budgeting and Tracking Multiple Projects
Bug Database
Call Center
Change Request Management
Compliance Process Support Site
Contacts Management
Document Library and Review
Event Planning
Expense Reimbursement and Approval
Help Desk
IT Team Workspace
Job Requisition and Interview Management
Knowledge Base
Physical Asset Tracking and Management
Project Tracking Workspace

The following built in templates are also available for site creation:

Team Work Site
Blank Site
Document Workspace Site
Wiki Site
Blog Site
Basic Meeting
Blank Meeting
Decision Meeting
Social Meeting
Multipage Meeting

Microsoft has said that they may introduce additional templates in the future. There is also some plans to offer mail2web.com custom templates.

MIPS Technologies Inc. president and CEO John Bourgoin summed it up perfectly: It’s not about the next killer app, he said, it’s about the next “killer experience.”

People want a killer experience on demand, any time, any place. That is what we aim to offer with our On Demand Business Solutions. Built on the latest Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services platform to provide a secure, integrated solution that can be deployed, managed and accessed directly and quickly. We add the service to the software with on demand account creation and 24/7 support.

But like I said last time, don’t take my word for it check it out for yourself. Signup for a free 30 day trial account and find out what the buzz is about.

Thanks,

Stephen Nichols
Marketing Manager
SoftCom Technology Consulting Inc.