This toolkit is provided via the Solutions Accelerator program for organisations who require creation and management of SharePoint sites for external collaboration.

Detailed planning should be carried out prior to deploying this Solution Accelerator and guidance is provided here.

This Solution Accelerator includes the following components:

External Collaboration Toolkit for SharePoint. This software helps administrators quickly deploy a SharePoint-based solution for collaborating across the Internet.

Choosing an External Collaboration Solution. This document examines various external collaboration scenarios and provides recommendations for addressing them using Microsoft technologies.

Planning for External Collaboration with SharePoint. This document describes the planning process for deploying the solution in a small or mid-sized environment.

Deployment and Operations Guide. This guide explains how to install and configure the solution, provides guidance for users, and describes how to deploy the solution in larger environments.

Informational Materials. These include supplementary materials that explain how the guidance and tools in this Solution Accelerator can benefit your organization.

Before deploying the solution the following should be considered.

• Solution cost
• Infrastructure Impact
• Scalability
• Data ownership, control, and confidentiality
• Auditing and reporting
• Automatic synchronization for offline access
• Precise access controls

The important aspects of choosing external collaboration is detailed in the TechNet article "Choosing an External Collaboration Solution" a must read to identify how you would benefit from deploying the toolkit.

You can download the External Collaboration Toolkit from here.