Make Easy to Use Solutions and They Will Come
July 17, 2012
One of the largest issues facing enterprises optimizing product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions is that they are often too complex for individual employees to use. When all employees along the production chain are not able to easily make the most of a solution they will return to tried and true methods making expensive PLM solutions a giant waste of money. The Design News article, “Kenesto Takes an Un-PLM Approach to PLM”, explores how one provider’s goal is to change all that.
Kenesto is a young PLM provider dedicated to creating solutions that don’t require an IT team for every task. As the article explains,
“Kenesto 2012, now generally available, aims to blend simplicity with a cloud-based approach to circumvent some of those familiar road blocks. Via use of familiar metaphors like attachments and email-like conventions, the platform allows engineering teams to route drawings and documents, create and circulate RFQs (request for quotes), interact with external suppliers, and populate bills of materials, all without any behind-the-scenes programming. The system is particularly compelling for organizations that have been chained to paper-based processes because they didn’t see the appeal of existing, often hard-to-implement PLM platforms…”
The problems Kenesto addresses are seen across industries and, in general, are the reasons PLM leaves a bad taste in many enterprises’ mouths. Kenesto is not alone in their desire to help companies take full advantage of PLM solutions. Other providers like Inforbix is dedicated to providing their clients with new data management solutions that enable all employees to find, reuse and share data effortlessly. Combine their technology with some of the best ongoing customer support in the industry and one can easily see why their reputation precedes them.
Catherine Lamsfuss, July 17, 2012
Inteltrax: Top Stories, July 16 to July 20
July 16, 2012
Inteltrax, the data fusion and business intelligence information service, captured three key stories germane to search this week, specifically, some breaking news in the industry.
Our story: “Data Mining and Other Issues on Slate at 2012 Joint Statistical Meetings” showed that analytics is rightly on statistic experts’ radar.
“Mike Miller Joins Digital Reasoning as VP of Sales” provided a glimpse into the wisest hiring minds in the business.
“Florida Community Benefits Medically and Financially from Analytics” gives a glimpse at the immediate impact analytics is making on the community level.
News crops up in all areas of analytics, so it’s helpful to have stories wrangled up that might slip through the cracks. We’re here everyday, monitoring just such stories so you don’t have to.
Follow the Inteltrax news stream by visiting www.inteltrax.com
Patrick Roland, Editor, Inteltrax.
July 16, 2012
Using InfoPath 2010 to Develop File Planning Solutions
July 16, 2012
John Holliday breaks down the process of configuring a SharePoint 2010 records center site in his post, “Building SharePoint-Friendly File Plans using InfoPath 2010.” Holliday explains the challenge,
As an example, most records management solutions use content organizer rules to route incoming records to a particular document library or folder so they can be associated with specific information policies and retention schedules. But configuring the content organizer requires that the site columns, content types, document libraries, folders and other components are constructed beforehand. The situation is even more challenging when working with target locations external to the site collection being configured.
In the included slide presentation, the author demonstrates how to use InfoPath 2010 to simplify the records center configuration by capturing all of the required elements in one place and pushing them out accordingly given your overall information architecture strategy. The presentation covers basic file plan definitions, goals and retention considerations for file planning, and tools available to you for file planning, along with pros and cons of each. A link is also provided to download the code for the solution.
The slide show may be worth checking out if you’re looking for some basic info on file planning or if you are considering the InfoPath method. It may be worth a try to save some time.
One other way to save time is by employing a third party solution to extend your SharePoint system. To boost your ROI, consider adding Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Here is a highlight:
The Fabasoft Mindbreeze Appliance is the optimal basis for highly efficient enterprise-wide search and easy configuration. To utilize the full potential of a software solution it is essential that hard- and software are fully aligned. Even more, the required time for deployment to the user is critical for gaining the highest ROI. The Fabasoft Mindbreeze Appliance components have been optimally synchronized in numerous tests. The Fabasoft Search Appliance cuts down the time-to-user dramatically.
A strong ROI is imperative for the sustainability of your enterprise search investments. Learn more about the Fabasoft Mindbreeze solution at http://www.mindbreeze.com/.
Philip West, July 16, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Autodesk Helps Morgan Cars Reach New Success
July 16, 2012
The automobile industry is perhaps one of the most effected by product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions. The latest company to bask in the glow of accomplishments due to PLM is Morgan Cars. According to Enhanced Online News in the article, “Autodesk Helps Morgan Cars Produce One of Its Most Successful Designs Yet”, the British car company is seeing large profits thanks to Autodesk’s 3D PLM solutions.
As the article describes the current circumstances,
“Before Autodesk products were introduced, 2D sketches were interpreted by eye into panel-beaten aluminum bodies; a time consuming process requiring high skill, while providing little margin for in-process evolution. Now Autodesk Alias software helps to rapidly transform concept ideas into 3D digital prototypes and then into actual concept cars. Visualised using Autodesk Showcase and Autodesk 3ds Max software, designs can be evaluated and refined until the design is well-established. The surface data is then 5-axis machined directly from the Alias data. Once painted and scanned, this model enables further evaluation and adjustment to be made in Alias software.”
PLM has not only enabled the automobile industry through such advances as 3D visualizations; these solutions are reinventing many industries. One of the most exciting aspects of modern PLM solutions is that thanks largely to the cloud it is now affordable to small and midsized businesses. Historically, only the largest, most successful enterprises could afford and utilize PLM but now PLM is transforming businesses of all sizes around the globe in all industries. New data management solutions are changing the way business is done and eliminating waste and duplication of processes.
Catherine Lamsfuss, July 16, 2012
How to Replace All Occurrences of SharePoint Web Part
July 13, 2012
SharePoint 2010 Web Parts are a modular unit of information that consists of a title bar, a frame, and content. They are the basic building blocks of a Web Part page. In “Replace SharePoint 2010 Web Parts by Type,” the author provides a cmdlet that allows you to replace all occurrences of one web part type with another type.
The author explains his PowerShell solution:
The Replace-SPWebPartType cmdlet accepts an URL to a web part page (or an instance of an SPFile object) and a string or Type object representing the type of web part to replace and what to replace it with; you can further restrict what web parts are updated by providing a web part title to filter on and you can pass in additional properties to set via a Hashtable object (closed web parts are ignored).
This tool may come in handy in a number of different situations, such as discovering a buggy web part. Let’s say you deploy a custom web part and remove the out of the box web part from the gallery, but then you need to replace the existing instances that are deployed on pages throughout your farm. The cmdlet and full help are provided in the article. You may want to bookmark the solution for an easy fix in those occasional Web part replacement occurrences. One way to avoid some Web part replacement needs is by employing a reliable third party solution. To maximize your SharePoint investments beyond implementation, consider Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Part of the full suite of solutions is the Fabasoft Folio Connector, which provides uniform, reliable management of your digital content.
With on-premise and Cloud information pairing capabilities, Mindbreeze provides a comprehensive and enterprise-grade solution that adds rich value to your business knowledge. Read more at Mindbreeze, where they seem to have the benefits of a proper installation down pat.
Philip West, July 13, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Dassault Unveils New Solution for Auto Industry
July 13, 2012
Traditionally, the manufacturing industry have been the primary implementers of product lifecycle management (PLM) because of the enormous losses that can occur when production lines and teams duplicate processes and fail to revise concepts in a timely manner. The automobile industry is one of the manufacturers with the highest stakes – especially in today’s economy. That has led one of the leaders in PLM solutions, Dassault, to offer a new solution aimed specifically at the auto industry. The ‘Smart, Safe & Connected Car’ is highlighted in the CFO World article, “Dassault Systèmes Launches “Smart, Safe & Connected Car” Industry Solution Experience”.
As the article explains,
“Dassault Systèmes’ “Smart, Safe & Connected Car” industry solution experience is comprised of multiple applications implemented in a modular approach and focused on early virtual vehicle validation. With this solution, automakers can successfully manage vehicle complexity by uniting various disconnected domain specific tools on a single platform, thus enabling dynamic testing of multiple systems engineering disciplines. Users can achieve knowledge re-use, safety targets and reduction of embedded electronics development time and cost.”
Even if one’s company isn’t in the automobile industry or manufacturing at that PLM solutions can have quite a positive effect on the bottom line. Innovative PLM providers understand the demands of all industries and strive to create solutions that get to the heart of the problem – data management. By creating efficient, new data management solutions PLM can streamline any enterprises processes and eliminate waste and duplication.
Catherine Lamsfuss, July 13, 2012
The Ideal SharePoint User is You
July 12, 2012
Is everyone touched by SharePoint in their professional life, or does it just seem that way? The latest SharePoint infographic provides pretty good evidence for just that fact. If SharePoint wants to cater to their ideal user, and broaden their appeal to additional users, how do you define those user groups? Rackspace Hosting tackles the topic in, “Who Is The Ideal SharePoint User?”
The author makes the case:
Regardless of business size or industry, SharePoint’s vast tool set and custom application ecosystem is being used by both small and large industries in diverse business segments. More than 78 percent of Fortune 500 companies use SharePoint and 62 percent of workers use it everyday, according to numbers reported in our recently published SharePoint infographic. The Library of Congress, Viacom and Citibank all use SharePoint for different uses in their businesses. With such broad market penetration, SharePoint has found a way to deliver value to diverse types of organizations with highly specialized needs.
SharePoint has gained broad appeal and usage, but does it truly perform all of the specialized functions that different organizations need? Well yes, if you are willing and able to customize. For those who cannot afford a SharePoint consultant or a fulltime on-staff developer, a third party enterprise solution might be a good bet.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise can work alongside an existing SharePoint deployment, or serve as a standalone solution. More importantly, it is highly intuitive and comes with the full support of the award-winning Mindbreeze team.
Emily Rae Aldridge, July 12, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
British Confectionary Chooses Aras Solutions
July 12, 2012
Anyone who has ever worked in the food industry understands how tight the ship must be run. With health codes, regulatory issues and food lifespan to juggle food enterprises demand streamlined processes and little to no wasted time or materials. Those are the precise reasons Britain’s top confectioner, Kinnerton Confectionary, chose Aras PLM solutions as described in the article, “Kinnerton Confectionery Selects Aras Enterprise PLM”, on Virtual Strategy.
As the article details,
“Kinnerton Confectionery, Britain’s largest independent manufacturer of chocolate and novelty confectionery, has selected Aras enterprise PLM to drive productivity, improve efficiency and optimize product development. The Aras PLM solution suite will support Kinnerton’s large and diverse product portfolio through their Concept to Launch Process, workflow and process management, and product costing.”
Such a large enterprise requires a complicated and highly efficient PLM solution which Aras is more than able to offer. Smaller businesses quite often have just as high demands placed on them but do not have a budget to pay for expensive PLM solutions. For those small to midsized businesses needing PLM solutions but whom traditionally have been outside the PLM circle we recommend Inforbix. Their new data management solutions are customizable to fit any size enterprise and are also surprisingly affordable. Just because one’s company is not the largest in a country doesn’t mean one can’t benefit from the same PLM solutions.
Catherine Lamsfuss, July 12, 2012
A SharePoint Search Refiner
July 12, 2012
The SharePoint Blog contained a very informative explanation of SharePoint “refiners.” A “refiner”, according to Microsoft is “enable end-users to drill down into their search results based on managed properties that are associated with the indexed search items, such as creation date, author, and company names.”
Custom SharePoint 2010 Search Refiner – Displaying Range of Choices is a presentation of information which originally appeared in the ShareMuch blog. The write is, in my opinion, quite useful. The information provides a streamlined explanation of how to implement a refiner in a SharePoint 2010 installation. The write up provides an XML snippet which makes the addition of a refiner quick and easy.
The article explains:
MappedProperty maps to an actual managed property that you must define or is already defined in search service application. The SortBy defines, in this case, a custom filter right below the category. The CustomFilters node’s MappingType property means we’ll have a custom filter. In our case, we’re using a range mapper, meaning that whatever value are going to be in the managed property, our filter will display UI based on the range of those and let user toggle the display based on that range. I hope this makes sense. The DataType has only 3 types, so please don’t make the same mistake I did and try to guess the value, it’s limited to “Numeric”, “DateTime”, “String”. The CustomValue inside CustomFilter specifies the user friendly value and the OriginalValue defines the range. In our example, the “Size” property is measured in Bytes so “..1? means range anywhere from 0 bytes to 1 byte. It happens that list items and lists in search results are less than 1 byte in size which means that we can refine by list items and lists results by capturing items with size less than 1 byte. Everything else is a document.
Search Technologies implements “refiners” as well as other advanced features of SharePoint. If you want to extend SharePoint and make the system deliver even greater value to your users, contact Search Technologies.
Iain Fletcher, July 12, 2012
SharePoint Needs to Up Mobile Game
July 11, 2012
Microsoft is on a roll with its mobile game, generating a lot of buzz about their new Surface tablet. With Microsoft 365 all systems and software are envisioned to be fully integrated, creating a fully portable and mobile experience. CMS Wire speaks to how this new direction and vision may impact devoted SharePoint users in, “SharePoint has Yammer, Now it Needs To Up Its Mobile Game.”
The article states:
Last week’s announcement of the new Surface tablet range is bang on theme. Whilst observers quibble about price points and the merits of a built in kickstand, there is no doubting that Microsoft thinks many of us will spend our future computing time prodding at a screen of some sort . . . So what about the next version of SharePoint? So can we expect a friendly touch enabled version of SharePoint? A ‘SharePoint: Metro’ to impress all those execs running meetings with their shiny new Surface tablets? The evidence suggest not.
So if SharePoint is not yet living up to the rest of the Microsoft mobile offerings, what is an organization to do? We suggest looking into the fully mobile capabilities of a trusted third party enterprise solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Mobile offers full functionality and navigation, losing nothing over the traditional desktop-centered enterprise approach. Working alongside an existing SharePoint deployment, or as a standalone product, we recommend Fabasoft Mindbreeze for a number of reasons, but specifically for its superior mobile functionality.
Emily Rae Aldridge, July 11, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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