BOSTON, MA, USA -- Enterprises who have deployed SharePoint 2007 should focus on optimizing their existing implementations in lieu of investing energy in SharePoint 2010, according to independent research and evaluation firm, CMS Watch.

These findings come from the latest update to CMS Watch's SharePoint Report 2009, a 275-page evaluation of SharePoint from an enterprise perspective. The research assesses SharePoint's suitability for nine different business scenarios and evaluates twenty-four software partner offerings across eight categories.

"It's easy to get swept up in the excitement with SharePoint 2010," notes CMS Watch founder Tony Byrne. "But enterprises should not look to the next version as a magic bullet, and instead do the hard work of addressing governance challenges, scalability hurdles, functional gaps, and other shortcomings in their SharePoint 2007 implementations."

CMS Watch's research found that many functional and administrative gaps in SharePoint can be closed with the careful application of 3rd-party products. However, enterprises should closely evaluate viability, fit, scalability, and administrative burdens in connection with additional modules.

"Enterprises need to develop specific skills to successfully engage the SharePoint ecosystem of consultancies, integrators, 3rd-party module-developers, and community resources," advises CMS Watch principal Alan Pelz-Sharpe. "Those same skills will surely remain necessary for effectively implementing future versions of the platform."

In the meantime, CMS Watch is advising its research customers and consulting clients to avoid first-mover disadvantage with SharePoint 2010. "Recall that with previous versions, SharePoint changed significantly from beta to final release," notes CMS Watch contributing analyst Shawn Shell. "The prudent customer will wait for final release and subsequent best practices to emerge before plunging in."

The SharePoint Report 2009 is available for purchase online from CMS Watch (/SharePoint/).