The pre-requisite for using the indexing connector (according to the download page for the backend components)  is that you must be running FAST for SharePoint 2010.

If you are only planning on using SharePoint 2010, i.e. its built-in indexing and search capabilities, you can still index and search for Excel-based reports. You could also create a dedicated tab for them in the Search Center, but would require a manual process to tag reports in order to make them discoverable as a separate scope of results versus embedded along with all other documents that match a given search query. You won’t get the thumbnails or built-in preview, but for Excel you can still ‘view in browser’ thanks to Office Web Applications. The feature you cannot create outside of FAST are the custom refiners. FAST also does some more advanced funky indexing stuff around querying the data sources within the reports.

If you want to give the BI connector a go and are running FAST with SharePoint 2010, here’s the links to download:

• Microsoft BI Indexing Connector for FAST – Backend components
• Microsoft BI Indexing Connector for FAST – Frontend components

Session: What’s new in SharePoint 2010 for Information Workers

Abstract: We will take a look at the new features in SharePoint Server 2010 from the end-user’s perspective. Starting with a tour of the new user interface we will explore the new search results, social networking features and new ways to organise and classify content within sites. We’ll finish with a peak behind the scenes at the new administration settings and tips to consider when planning to deploy SharePoint Server 2010.

The session will be all demos and should help set the scene for some of the deeper dive sessions later in the day and throughout the conference.

Looking forward to meeting everyone who makes it to London and commiserations to those unable to attend due to the travel chaos across Europe.

Microsoft has recently published a TechNet article containing an Overview for SharePoint Workspace 2010. SharePoint Workspace is the new name for Groove, which provides offline collaborative functionality for SharePoint with better synchronisation than is available within Outlook 2010.

Personally, I have been reluctant to encourage the use of Groove/Workspace within organisations unless they have very specific needs. It adds another layer of complexity to managing a SharePoint deployment and is another user interface for people to learn. A classic target scenario for using Groove is one where organisations need to co-create and collaborate on documents with a distributed workforce who aren’t always well-connected to the Internet (people can author offline and Groove synchronises with SharePoint in the background). Or for working beyond an organisation’s boundaries – Groove crosses firewalls better than SharePoint if you don’t have an extranet, although there are less complicated alternatives…

Whilst talking about new names, Windows SharePoint Services is also being rebranded SharePoint Foundation Service. So to give a summary of what goes with what SharePoint name:

I’ve had one client come away from a Microsoft event confused by hearing about over 8 different versions of SharePoint. Microsoft’s acquisition of FAST for more advanced enterprise search capabilities is being listed as part of the SharePoint range. And then there are products such as SharePoint Designer. Further adding to the confusion, there are two different types of licence available for each edition of SharePoint Server.

To keep it simple, think of SharePoint as serving three core scenarios:

1. Storing content and basic collaborative work: Use SharePoint Foundation Services
2. Finding and managing unstructured information (documents and web content), building social networks (personalisation and knowledge sharing): Use SharePoint Server Standard Edition
3. Integrating structured information (applications, data analysis, identity management/single sign-on): Use SharePoint Server Enterprise Edition

If you want advanced search capabilities, add FAST to any one of those three scenarios. If you want offline collaborative working, add SharePoint Workspace or Outlook (2007/2010). If you want to customise how SharePoint works, you’ll be using SharePoint Designer.

From a licensing perspective, SharePoint Foundation Service is included with Windows Server 2008. For SharePoint Server, both Standard and Enterprise, there is a choice between Intranet licensing (for internal use only) and Internet/Extranet licensing (for external use/public web sites). All the extras (FAST, Office etc.) have their own separate licenses.

Here’s a rough matrix to help get a feel for what you get with each SharePoint product:

Click on image to view larger version

Hope that helps a little. Think it’s time to update the old SharePoint History timeline…