Or using SharePoint 2010 Foundation to complement your Project Server 2010 Deployment

So often when I work with clients who are implementing Project Server 2010 will say to themselves, "well we got this great SharePoint tool, let's get everyone on it." They make sense at first, but then the client realizes that all the users on the SharePoint / project server will need enterprise licenses, which mean the costs, go up. So what's the best way to implement SharePoint global in your organization after project server has been deployed.

The answer is really just depends, but assuming the client only wants an intranet and a repository for documents, then a good solution is to create a second SharePoint farm using SharePoint Foundation, which is free. In fact, I would say that best practice for keeping cost down is to start with SharePoint Foundation. If the client needs additional features that are part of SharePoint Standard, then great a second SharePoint Farm for this group and additional requirements are required that push the need for SharePoint enterprise, then create another farm for these users and provision them in the Project Server Farm.

Let's take a typical scenario of implementing Project Server 2010. Assume that 20% of the organization is part of the project and using Project Server 2010. The SharePoint enterprise license for project server users is purchased. Now management wants to bring in the reminding 80% of the corporation to use SharePoint, but the budget doesn't allow for the additional costs of SharePoint Enterprise licensing and their only requirements is local intranet sites and document libraries. So in this simply scenario, I would recommend, installing SharePoint Foundation on separate VM or physical box and put the remaining users into the SharePoint Foundation Farm.

I do not claim to have any understanding of Microsoft Licensing cost for SharePoint, but as of today it looks like Enterprise User CALs are cheaper than Standard User CALS. However, it may be, the SharePoint Foundation will probably fit 80% of most organization needs and a separate SharePoint Foundation Farm can be setup to lower the cost of implementing.

SharePoint Farms

Conclusion: Use multiple SharePoint Farms to right size your organization and best manage costs.