SharePoint 2010: Search Improved, But Think Twice About FAST Search Upgrade

Microsoft recently unveiled the public beta of SharePoint Server 2010 and the public beta of FAST Search for SharePoint. Information professionals will welcome the new ability to centrally manage metadata, as well as improved search for people functionality in SharePoint. In fact, Microsoft has improved SharePoint's integrated search capabilities to the point where the upgrade to FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint may prove unnecessary. Of course, Microsoft-centric enterprises will short-list FAST when they want to invest in an advanced enterprise search tool; the pricing and packaging are compelling relative to the alternatives. But if centralized search administration and a common developer experience is not your top priority, then FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint should be just another new, unproven product to stack up against alternative enterprise search platforms