What Are Your Predictions for SharePoint and Office 365 for 2017?

As we wrap up yet another year — a year in which we saw SharePoint gain some steam once again — it is time to come together as a community and share our collective thoughts about what we think will happen next. Microsoft is pumping out innovation at a record pace, and has been dubbed "cool" again not just by those of us in the community, but folks outside of the gravitational pull of Redmond.

We're preparing to cross the 5 year finish line for the #CollabTalk tweetjams. Amazing how fast time flies when you're having fun! For the 5th time, we will use our end of year tweetjam to speculate on what is next. Out topic this month is “SharePoint and Office 365 Predictions for 2017” and we'll convene on Wednesday, December 28th at 9am PST. Historically, this end of year event is our biggest, with around 8.5 million impressions last year and more than 100 active participants. This year should be even bigger, with 50 "confirmed" panelists from around the globe, another 20 or so who are tentative, and a wealth of lurkers jumping in now and then. I'm expecting this one to be yuuuge. Join us via Twitter or use the dedicated site at http://twubs.com/CollabTalk

As with all of the CollabTalk tweetjams, the questions are meant to be broad or ambiguous, allowing participants to add depth to the conversation based on their unique experiences. You can talk about high-level marketing and messaging or go deep into specific technology; you can focus on the end user, admin, or developer experiences; you can even represent your own company or personal brand. We want different viewpoints.

If you’ve never participated in one of these tweetjams, they can be a lot of fun – and for those like me who do a lot of blogging, they are also a great source of material for future posts. Within each hour-long session using the Twitter UI of your choice (Twitter.com, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Twubs, whatever) we will go through a series of questions over the course of the hour, responding to Q1, Q2, Q3 and so forth with A1, A2, A3 and always including the #CollabTalk hashtag with your answers. Feel free to reply as often (or as little) as you’d like, ask your own follow up questions, share relevant links, retweet others, and engage with the audience.

The questions will include:

1. What was the biggest news for SharePoint and Office 365 this year?
2. How has your outlook on SharePoint changed this past year?
3. Is SharePoint still relevant? Why, or why not?
4. Groups, Teams, or Yammer – what is your conversational preference, and why?
5. What 3 features (available or forthcoming) will have the biggest impact on SharePoint in 2017?
6. What are your predictions for Office 365 as a platform in 2017 and beyond?
7. If you could give one piece of advice to Microsoft re: SharePoint and Office 365, what would it be?

Within the one hour tweetjam, there will be side-questions, follow-up questions, and occasional silliness. The format can be thought-provoking as well as fun. These tweetjams usually includes a great lineup of Microsoft MVPs and MCMs, and other community experts across SharePoint, Office 365, Yammer, Exchange, Azure, Skype, Project and more. This month's panel of confirmed participants includes:

• Jeffrey Schwartz (@JeffreySchwartz), editor at 1105 Media, including Redmond and Redmond Channel  
• Jeremy Thake (@jthake), vp of product technology at Hyperfish
• Christopher Regan (@cjregan), managing partner at B&R Business Solutions
• David Wilhelm (@SharePointFest), president at SharePointFest Tech Conferences LLC
• Dion Hinchcliffe (@dhinchcliffe), chief strategy opfficer and futurist at 7Summits
• Martina Grom (@magrom), co-founder of atwork.at, Office 365 MVP
• Fabian Williams (@fabianwilliams), SharePoint MVP and all-around ninja at K2 
• Chris McNulty (@cmcnulty2000), senior product manager at Microsoft (and still here)
• John White (@diverdown1964), SharePoint MVP and cto at UnlimitedViz Inc.
• Treb Gatte (@tgatte), Business Solutions MVP, international speaker/man of mystery at TumbleRoad LLC
• Noah Sparks (@noahsparks), community igniter and strategy manager at Carpool Digital
• J. Dan Attis (@jdattis), SharePoint MVP and sr. solution architect at B&R Business Solutions
• Ryan Schouten (@ShrPntKnight) senior SharePoint architect and evangelist at ZAACT
• Robert Toro (@SharePointToro), SharePoint practice director at Slalom
• Paul Stork (@pstork), SharePoint MVP and MCM, principal architect at BlueChip
• Brian Culver (@SPbrianculver), SharePoint MCM and founder, president of Expert Point Solution
• Eric Riz (@rizinsights), SharePoint MVP and ceo of Empty Cubicle
• Sebastien Levert (@sebastienlevert), Office365 MVP and specialist in Azure, SharePoint, and O365 at Pollen
• Erica Toelle (@ericatoelle), portals and content manager at Valorem Consulting
• Andrew Connell (@andrewconnell), SharePoint MVP, and founder, instructor, male model at Voitanos LLC
• Nikkia Carter (@carterMcGServ), ceo at CMW LLC and tech speaker
• Jeff Willinger (@jwillie), Office 365 MVP and director of collaboration and social business at Rightpoint
• Dean Swann (@sdeanswann), social collaborator, growth hacker and product manager for UnlimitedViz
• Heather Newman (@heddanewman), co-founder and cmo of ContentPanda
• Tobiasz Koprowski (@KoprowskiT), Data Platform MVP, independent consultant
• Roberto Yglesias (@robertoy), business technology director at Buildingi
• Adam Levithan (@collabadam), SharePoint MVP and senior product manager at Metalogix
• Rob Windsor (@robwindsor), .NET/SharePoint developer and MVP, trainer, and author
• Tracy Van der Schyff (@tracyvds), Office Servers and Services MVP and manager at GT Academy / GTconsult
• Doug Ware (@DougWare), SharePoint MVP and founder of Elumenotion
• Scot Hillier (@scothillier), SharePoint MVP and independent consultant
• Gokan Ozcifci (@gokanozcifci), SharePoint MVP and IT infrastructure consultant at Neoxy
• Gina Montgomery (@ginammontgomery), vp of corporate strategy at Softmart
• Stacy Deere-Strole (@sldeere), SharePoint MVP and owner of Focal Point Solutions
• Hans Brender (@hansbrender), SharePoint MVP and solution architect at BitTitan
• Robert Bogue (@RobBogue), author, speaker, strategist and consultant at Thor Projects
• Ed Senez (@edsenez), president at UnlimitedViz and TyGraph
• Kipp Sorenson (@kbes), SharePoint consultant at Soren Innovations
• Scott Restivo (@CrowCanyonSW), ceo at Crow canyon Software
• Joel Oleson (@joeloleson), director of strategy and innovation at Konica Minolta
• Fernando Melo (@frmelo21), SharePoint architect and evangelist at Helios Cooperative
• Matt Moalem (@mmoalem), vp of corporate development at Beezy
• Randy Drisgill (@drisgill), SharePoint MVP and branding and design expert at Rackspace
• Jeff Shuey (@jshuey), founder and managing director at NuNalu, president of IAMCP Seattle
• Owen Allen (@owenallen), Office 365 technology specialist at Microsoft
• Agnes Molnar (@molnaragnes), enterprise search & findability consultant/ceo at Search Explained
• Marc Anderson (@sympmarc), SharePoint MVP and co-founder, president of Sympraxis Consulting
• Patrick Curran (@pcfromdc), director, federal group at Planet Technologies
• Brian Alderman (@brianalderman), SharePoint MVP, founder and ceo of MicroTechPoint
• Bob German (@bob1german), principal architect at BlueMetal Architects
• Naomi Moneypenny (@nmoneypenny), Office365 MVP and cto at ManyWorlds
• Adam Burden (@jaburden), sr SharePoint architect and trainer at JourneyTEAM
• Marlee Long (@cardiolog), marketing manager at Intlock
• Chris Bortlik (@cbortlik), collaboration solution architect at Microsoft
• Brett Hill (@bretthill), Office365 MVP and manager of technical marketing at Riverbed Technology 
• Kanwal Khipple (@kkhipple), Office 365 MVP and founder of 2toLead
• Maarten Eekels (@maarteneekels), Office 365 MVP and cto at Portiva
• and your host, Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), Office Server and Services MVP, CollabTalk founder, holder of a +7 vorpal sword, and cmo + chief evangelist for Beezy

I hope you can all make it to the event! It's always illuminating to hear opinions from different perspectives around the world, especially when speculating about technology. Don't miss it!