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Alright, I exaggerated a little, Shadow Priests are not forgotten, but when it comes to raiding end game content most guilds shun the idea of a shadow priest.  I myself can attest to the fact, once you hit 80 everyone asks when your going to start healing for raids.  Most people only consider shadow a viable spec for leveling, with little consideration to it being a legitimate raiding spec, so I would like to go over some of the facts that few people consider.

1. DPS- DPS is first and for most for the shadow priest spec when it comes to raiding.  Few realize it, but pound for pound, shadow as a ranged caster spec can hit just as hard, if not harder than any mage or warlock in the game.  DPS may be a dime a dozen for heroics, but when it comes to building an ICC raid, the need for high dps ranged output from a caster is normal a little more hard to find, having a geared shadow priest in the guild could add that needed spot.
2. Raid Buffs- When building a 10 man raid, you can’t always get your winning combo of a priest heals, druid heals and shammy heals.  Having a shadow priest in the raid allows you those vital buffs of Divine Spirit, Power Word: Fortitude and Shadow Protection, while still allowing an open spot for another healer.
3. Free HOTS- Here is what I consider the key to a shadow priests power, and thats Syphon Life. This not only gives your shadow priest the ability to keep themselves healed up during the raid, but also tosses out around 100 hp per second of heals to the raid.  I don’t know about you, but I love any extra healing I can get raid wise.
4. Free Mana- One of the most useful shadow talents, Vampiric Touch, causes a 15 second DoT effect on the target. On a successful Mind Blast hit, it places the Replenishment effect on up to 10 raid or party members, which restores 1% of their total mana every 5 seconds for 15 seconds.
5. Magic Dispell- A shadow priest has the ability to dispell magic, both on friendly and hostile targets, and as a veteran of TOC 10, having the ability to dispell on Lord Jaraxxus can mean the difference from a win and and wipe.
6. Abolish Disease- Once again, if you don’t have a holy or disc healer in the raid, a shadow still has the ability to throw Abolish Disease on an afflicted target.

So as you can see a shadow priest has alot more to offer a raid than just high dps, and I really do believe people should see it as more than just a leveling spec. One thing to consider when gearing a shadow priest is that they are not geared the same as a priest but as a mage or lock would be. Gear should focus on spell power, critical strike rating and reaching hit cap.