This has been an exciting – and transitional – year for enterprise search and our partners.

We have witnessed dramatic changes in the enterprise search landscape, and Microsoft itself has raised the ante by combining the innovation and agility of FAST with the discipline and resources of Microsoft.

Today, our compelling set of industry-leading enterprise search products meets the varying needs of customers, provides upgrade paths as those needs change, and offers tremendous potential for partners to expand your markets, develop new revenue streams, and increase sales.

You are integral in helping us fuel our vision of search – to connect people to information through engaging experiences that turn information into outcomes – and we thank you for your efforts in assisting us in the integration of the new Microsoft Enterprise Search Partner Program (MSPP). Many partners have joined the MSPP and leveraged  www.quickstartmicrosoftsearch.com to begin pursuit of the Search Specialization – a first step toward providing innovative and customized solutions with Enterprise Search from Microsoft.

Since we announced the Enterprise Search Roadmap at FASTforward’09 in Las Vegas in February, development has begun on many new search partner programs. Stay tuned this spring for details and announcements on the latest search partner resources that will include the new enterprise search Web site, Partner Extranet, Solution Profiler, and tools to encourage more collaboration among the partner community.

We look forward to an upcoming year of continued opportunity and innovation in enterprise search. We hope to see you this July in New Orleans at the Worldwide Partner Conference. For more details, please visit https://partner.microsoft.com/2009 Worldwide Partner Conference.