Who am I and why am I here?

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Who Am I?

My name is Steve Sheppard. I have been in the networking/development/support business for 19 years this year. I have spent the majority of that time supporting Microsoft products, starting with 3Com 3+Share. I am currently working as an Escalation Engineer for Microsoft on WSS and SharePoint along with a few other related products. I have worked for Microsoft for the last several years in a variety of roles but this is by far my favorite job of all time.

Why am I Here?

I created this blog because from time to time I run across things that should be made available to our customers but that don't really fit the typical Microsoft support content delivery vehicle of KB articles. The first time this happened to me was after I had done a lot of research and troubleshooting on the Explorer View feature of WSSv2/SharePoint 2003. From that work I was able to build up a specific set of resources and troubleshooting help that would greatly benefit customers who were struggling with that feature.

I decided to deliver that content via a white paper, Understanding and Troubleshooting the SharePoint Explorer View. While the white paper format allowed me to deliver very rich content and present it as an "official" set of resources, the turnaround time on a white paper is substantial and can greatly delay the dissemination of critical information.

I believe that this blog will allow me to get valuable information that doesn't really work in a KB article format out to customers in a timely manner. The main tradeoff in this case with a blog vs. a KB or white paper is that whatever I put in this blog you will simply have to take at face value. There will not necessarily be anyone reviewing this material before it is published. The upside is you will get it a lot quicker than if I went the white paper route.

It probably goes without saying but... The opinions expressed here are my own and do NOT represent those of Microsoft Corporation. The writings found here do not constitute official Microsoft documentation. The information presented in this blog is for entertainment puposes only. Should you choose to use any of the information found here, it is incumbent upon you to validate and test it prior to use.

Having said all that, I hope to be able to contribute something of value to Microsoft customers in general and SharePoint users in particular through this blog...feel free to let me know throught he comments if I'm doing that.