Note: This article discusses a scenario that may be addressed by Microsoft Advisory Services.

Microsoft Advisory Services is an hourly fee-based, consultative support option that provides proactive support beyond your break-fix product maintenance needs. This is a remote, phone-based support option that includes working with the same technician for assistance with issues like product migration, code review, or new program development. This service is typically used for shorter engagements, and is designed for developers and IT professionals who do not require the traditional onsite consulting or sustained account management services that are available from other Microsoft support options. This article also provides some self-help resources for this scenario.

For additional information on Microsoft Advisory Services, including on how to engage, refer to this Microsoft web page:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=AdvisoryService (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=advisoryservice)

SharePoint Forms Based Authentication (FBA) is a difficult issue for customers deploying SharePoint due to the complexity and options available. Deployment of FBA is labor intensive as there is no wizard available, and it requires editing the web.config directly. In addition, there are a number of different authentication providers that each require their own unique configuration.
Additionally, FBA introduces additional challenges for organizations in other arenas, such as interoperability with Office Applications.

Each Advisory Services engagement will begin with some questions designed to scope the project and determine your exact needs. For this scenario, the scoping questions include:

1. Are you engaging Microsoft for interactive assistance with a support engineer or are you explicitly looking for Microsoft to provide general documentation on best practices?

Below is a list of self-help resources or this scenario. These resources may also be used by Microsoft Support Engineers during an Advisory Services engagement.

Configure forms-based authentication (Office SharePoint Server):

This document discusses how to configure forms-based authentication.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262201.aspx (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262201.aspx)

Note This is a "FAST PUBLISH" article created directly from within the Microsoft support organization. The information contained herein is provided as-is in response to emerging issues. As a result of the speed in making it available, the materials may include typographical errors and may be revised at any time without notice. See Terms of Use (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=151500) for other considerations.