An interesting article on Windows Account Management about the need for 3rd-party support for provisioning and managing new users in Windows SharePoint Services confirms our speculation in the Enterprise Portals Report that Microsoft will continue to rely on third-party suppliers for what we consider basic functionality. While this plug-in may only require $200 and 15 minutes of work, it unfortunately sounds all too familiar to current SharePoint 2003 users, many of whom struggle to maintain multiple plug-ins from multiple vendors. When the new SharePoint 2007 comes out late this month, it will surely make an impact in the market, and one of the strengths of the platform is its plethora of 3rd-party suppliers (and bloggers). Buyers should remember, though, that true enterprise portals may require more than what SharePoint offers out of the box.