Atlassian, Microsoft Make Web 2.0 Connection

Microsoft is integrating its Office SharePoint Server 2007 with Atlassian Systems Confluence, the companys popular enterprise wiki.

Users of SharePoint and Confluence will be able to access and share content across these two popular technologies, Jeffrey Walker, president of Atlassian, said while announcing the move Oct. 17 at the OReilly Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

Walker said Atlassian, of Sydney, Australia, has heard from dozens of Confluence customers who already are using both solutions and want to know how they can get them to work in tandem.

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"Every time we meet with a large customer, the topic of this integration comes up," he said. "This tells us there are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of companies of all sizes and in all industries looking for answers."

Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore is a case in point.

"Both Confluence and SharePoint are popular with our users. Currently the data is separate and people can only collaborate in one or the other," Geoffrey Corb, IT Director at Johns Hopkins University, said in a statement. "Bridging these can only help the Microsoft users and the committed Confluence users."

The SharePoint Connector for Confluence is available now at Atlassians Web site.

Click here to read more about SharePoint as an enterprise search app.

The connector will feature search, where users can search SharePoint and Confluence content together from a single place. The connector will also facilitate content sharing, where SharePoint users can, from within SharePoint, embed Confluence page contents and blend content. The connector also has a linking feature that enables Confluence users to access SharePoint document facilities and edit Microsoft Office documents. It also provides single sign-on and security, the company said.

"Microsoft announcing a partnership with a Java product, Confluence, and only announcing two strategic partnerships at the worlds largest Web 2.0 conference should not go unnoticed," Walker told eWEEK. "Its a testament to the connectivity of .Net and Java platforms."

SharePoint has 80 million users, and Atlassian Confluence has 4,000 customers and is the most widely used enterprise wiki, Walker said.

Meanwhile, at the conference, Microsoft also announced a partnership with Denver-based NewsGator Technologies. NewsGator, an RSS company that helps individuals and businesses improve the way they access information and communicate, announced Oct. 17 the general availability of NewsGator Social Sites.

NewsGator Social Sites is a collection of site templates, profiles, Web parts and middleware that will enhance the social computing capabilities of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, the company said.

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