Neither Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 nor Office SharePoint Server 2007 offers a built-in rich mapping solution. By leveraging the SharePoint platform and its Web Part Framework, Microsoft's IT Information Services team developed a reusable solution for rendering a map in a SharePoint environment without any additional custom code. It enables SharePoint users to integrate Virtual Earth maps on their web site and use a database or any other data source to store pushpin data.

The solution provides a map web part, which can be dragged and dropped onto a SharePoint page to display a variable size Virtual Earth map view. Users can also use the pushpin database to store different landmarks to be displayed on the map. The solution also provides an admin web part for managing the content of this database as well as an object model to manage content programmatically. In addition, if users want to use an existing data source to render pushpins in the map, a programmable interface is provided that can be implemented to integrate the existing data source with the map, which should significantly reduce the amount of additional custom code.

Please download and read the Implementer's Guide first.

Also, be sure to read the Virtual Earth Terms of Use, which has restrictions for free use to which you must adhere.