Impressions of the 2011 SharePoint Conference, Part 2 (Monday Keynotes)

Another impression that occurred to me throughout the week at the SharePoint Conference, in stark comparison to the Oracle/Salesforce kerfuffle up the coast at OpenWorld, was that I rarely, if ever, heard about competitive technologies to SharePoint in keynotes or sessions.  No Jive, no Cognos, no Box.net, no Alfresco, no Yammer, no Autonomy, etc., at least in the sessions I was in.

Sometimes, it’s a compelling technical vision (RIP, Steve Jobs), but many times, it’s an existential threat in the form of a competitor that really fires people up: just ask Larry Ellison and Marc Benioff.

So I wonder, and I ask you – would the SharePoint Conference have been better if more focused on key competitors, or was the “we’re winning and we’re increasing our lead every day” messaging of momentum the best way to play it?