According to Fpweb.net's announcement Thursday, to help users of all levels better understand SharePoint, the company will be encouraging group activity by hosting forums and discussions, online and otherwise. Fpweb.net will be sponsoring the Los Angeles SharePoint User Group meeting in September to encourage member participation and meeting attendance, and present information about its SharePoint services.

"We understand that user groups are often sponsor-funded and may lack the resources to maintain an enhanced community site," Fpweb.net president Rob LaMear said in a statement. "For this reason, we have been sponsoring user groups around the world by offering free SharePoint Hosting for their site, sponsoring member meetings and providing giveaway prizes."

SUGs most often meet face-to-face or by webcast monthly. Fpweb.net hopes to make this easier for groups by taking over the responsibility of licensing, server management, basic web parts and other considerations. It has also tailored its SUG hosting to offer the Community Kit for SharePoint: User Group Edition that includes a template specifically to accommodate user group websites.

In early April, fpweb.net changed its brand name from Frontpages Web Hosting Network to fpweb and made significant efforts to revamp its logo and website. Fpweb.net still provides the same Software as a Service solutions as before, including support for SharePoint, Exchange, CRM, Project, PerformancePoint, Office Communications Server and SQL. As well, it has retained more than 5,000 enterprise customers including Intel, Boeing and the New York Yankees.