Building Community and Improving Search
April 9, 2012
Christian Buckley at AIIM maintains that improving search is not just about improving the methods and the systems, but about improving the community. He lays out his argument in, “Stop Complaining and Improve Your Search.”
As with any successful online or offline community, the SharePoint community continues to grow and evolve as the collective unconscious of its members grows and evolves. As new ideas and community members join, they add to the dialog and to the content of the community. In some cases, old ideas are purged, but in most cases they simply add to the perspectives and content already out there. This makes finding content and identifying expertise more difficult. The wrong thing is to say ‘we need to reduce the amount of content’ or ‘there are too many opinions here.’ Limit the sample size of your query, and you limit the quality of the results you will find.
A strong community does strengthen enterprise search solutions and options. In fact, we would argue that the third-party solutions surrounding SharePoint have done more to improve SharePoint itself than perhaps any other factor. Many of these add-ons can also stand alone, and all seek to increase the efficiency of the search and improve the user experience.
One that we particularly like is Fabasoft Mindbreeze, with its suite of complimentary and smart search solutions. Mindbreeze has built quite a community around its products as well, with numerous customers trading ideas and success stories. Additionally, Fabasoft Mindbreeze offers support through tutorials, wikis, phone assistance, and one-on-one training sessions. You can use these tools to create your own local Mindbreeze community, increasing the effectiveness of this intuitive solution.
Emily Rae Aldridge, April 9, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Perfect PLM Products
April 9, 2012
To offer viable data management solutions that appeal to a variety of today’s increasingly complex, diverse, and globalized companies, product lifecycle management (PLM) products must provide high levels of scalability and customization without compromising their immediate utility and basic affordability to their users.
In their posting entitled “Objects, Attributes/Properties and User-Defined Data Elements in Aras” that appeared in the blog PLM Alpha, which provides technical information for PLM professionals, the authors explain why companies should refrain from actively seeking an “out-of-the-box” PLM solution and should instead devote effort to selecting a flexible and scalable product whose features can meet both the enterprise’s immediate and potential future PLM needs.
They emphasize that:
“The most important fact about your company’s data and process requirements is that everything is constantly changing. Today’s requirements will not be tomorrow’s requirements. As your company grows and responds to market opportunities and competitive pressures, the internal data and process requirements will change.”
Inforbix, with its nimble size and its customer-focused orientation, is perfectly positioned to meet this mandate and offer its clients a user-friendly, secure, cloud-based, and affordable PLM solution that will seamlessly adapt to their needs as their products and competitive landscapes change.
Tonya Weikel, April 6, 2012
Solve Your SharePoint Storage Problems Before They Start
April 6, 2012
SharePoint is the most highly adopted and used collaborative content platform in the US and it is beginning to see a rise in the world market. With this comes a higher demand on SharePoint storage and, of course, the start of problems. IT Business Edge caught wind of this trend and wrote about “Five SharePoint Storage Performance Killers and How to Fix Them” with the help of Quest Software.
“Rapid user adoption is positive for any organization leveraging SharePoint for content collaboration and version control. As user adoption increases, however, so does the amount of data that must be stored in SharePoint. Content overload can wreak havoc on SharePoint infrastructure, and can become a leading cause of poor performance – not to mention the corresponding management headaches. For example, as the amount of content steadily increases, so does the need to scale database capacity and SQL Server processing power to ensure that performance matches user demand. When this happens, organizations face a dilemma: cope with poor SharePoint performance, or bite the bullet and buy additional SQL storage space and computing power to catch up with demand.”
The article format is very interesting, you scroll through a slideshow of pictures with a description of the problems and how to resolve them. Or so you would think. The pictures are from free-image farms and hardly inspirational. While the problems are identified, only a couple offer tips on how to fix them. The majority of the information simply explains the problem; after reading it you get a “duh” feeling from already knowing the content.
Despite the poor presentation, data storage problems are an issue and I’ll see what I can find that addresses them better. In the meantime, while you have all that content to search through, you will be able to find your information quicker with solidly engineeded methods. Search Technologies offers engineering and consulting services which support search and general purpose SharePoint use cases. To learn more, navigate to www.searchtechnologies.com.
Iain Fletcher, April 6, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
SharePoint Extranet Collaboration Manager 2010
April 6, 2012
SharePoint Extranet Collaboration Manager 2010 now has an online extranet sandbox to allow users to test drive the product before purchase. PR Web gives the full report as posted in Virtual Strategy Magazine, “SharePoint Solutions Creates Online Evaluation Sandbox for SharePoint Extranet Collaboration Manager 2010.”
“Developed by SharePoint Solutions, SharePoint Extranet Collaboration Manager for SharePoint Server 2010 and SharePoint Foundation 2010 (ExCM) provides the easy SharePoint extranet collaboration and simplified SharePoint extranet administration that SharePoint 2010 is missing in the out-of-the-box product. From its award-winning 2007 release, ExCM has established itself as the industry leader in powerful, effective SharePoint extranet deployment and management. This latest version adds substantially greater functionality and is simple and intuitive to use. Because EXCM integrates right into SharePoint 2010, all of its features are accessible from within SharePoint itself, so there is no proprietary interface or separate program to learn.”
Third party solutions that interface with SharePoint are a necessity for organizations that need to increase the functionality of their SharePoint deployment without committing huge resources to a customization project. However, a cutting edge solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze may be a smarter long-term solution for organizations seeking an intuitive, scalable, and mobile enterprise search interface. Functioning stand-alone or as a compliment to an existing SharePoint installation, Mindbreeze is ahead of the competition in mobile searching and the Cloud.
“Smartphones and tablets allow you to act quickly in business matters – an invaluable competitive advantage. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Mobile makes company knowledge available on all mobile devices. You can act freely, independently and yet always securely. Irrespective of what format the data is in. Full functionality: Search results are displayed homogenously to the web client with regards to clear design and intuitive navigation.”
SharePoint needs a little help in realizing its full potential, and while many add-on solutions are on the market, Fabasoft Mindbreeze is worth a second look.
Emily Rae Aldridge, April 6, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
PLM and Cloud Computing
April 6, 2012
The integration of cloud computing capabilities into product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions has rendered this technology a flexible and cost-effective choice in corporate research and development (R&D) departments, particularly as workflows become more cross-functional.
In his article “The Rise of Cloud Computing Extends to PLM,” which appeared in Food Manufacturing, Eric Marks comments on the impact of corporate PLM solutions deployed through the cloud and urges PLM manufacturers to integrate this capability into their products:
“Most industry analysts (Forrester, Gartner, Frost & Sullivan, ARC and The Yankee Group) covering IT agree that the power and potential of cloud computing, properly leveraged and deployed, can have a significant impact on the PLM industry. PLM customers are giving serious consideration and evaluating their PLM business processes in regard to how to run them seamlessly and securely connect them to cloud-based data sets. This is to say that today still few are fully deployed. It is still in the infancy stages of use even if the technology has matured. It is still curing.”
Inforbix, whose scalable and secure data management solution already offers proven cloud-based integration, has demonstrated itself to be on the cutting edge of PLM providers with its dedication to offering robust but nimble technology to its cost-conscious clients focused on streamlining and innovating their often complex product development networks and supply chains.
Tonya Weikel, April 4, 2012
SharePoint Increases Efficiency and Leads to Restructuring
April 5, 2012
Christian Buckley often covers SharePoint and enterprise from the perspective of a business analyst. In, “Increased Productivity Means Focusing on Adoption,” on AIIM, Buckley draws an analogy between the increased productivity in the manufacturing sector, and subsequent failure to increase demand, and the same scenario unfolding in the IT world.
Buckley sums up the argument:
“Just as our economy moved from an agricultural to an industrial market, and from industrial to an information-based marketing, within the world of the Information Worker this increase in productivity is allowing organizations to move from a hardware-centric view (where IT pulls cables, stands up servers, maintains those servers) to a business intelligence and decision support view. Where are the business opportunities today? And where does SharePoint fit? There is a gap between productivity increases and resource utilization decreases, and here are three business impacts that I believe will become more visible: 1) Repurposed roles 2) Increased reliance on services 3) Focus on user adoption.”
So how does SharePoint fit in and how can enterprise solutions in general respond? Smart third-party solutions are one way to increase efficiency all the more. A solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze can provide an organization with an intuitive interface and intelligence search results. Working as a stand-alone solution or as a compliment to SharePoint, Mindbreeze can free information workers from enterprise customization and maintenance leaving them time to focus on business analyst functions.
“Our information pairing technology makes you unbeatable. Information pairing brings enterprise information and information in the Cloud together. This gives you an overall image of a company’s knowledge. This is the basis for your competitive advantage. In this way you can act quickly, reliably, dynamically and profitably in all business matters.”
Buckley argues that business analyst numbers will grow as the maintenance functions of IT workers continue to decline. Organizations can begin to focus on complimenting smart business decisions with smart technology decisions, instead of spinning wheels in an attempt to keep on-site servers and solutions running. Sounds like a good trade-off.
Emily Rae Aldridge, April 5, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
PLM Might be the Definition of Innovation
April 5, 2012
Manufacturing has turned to product lifecycle management (PLM) to increase productivity and product development. Recently, Jos Voskuil’s weblog explored “PLM and Innovation.” He says those two words are used “as Siamese twins, but no one explains explicitly why they are connected.” He explores three different ways PLM supports innovation – invention discovery, support selection for the right invention and support new product introduction.
Companies usually look outside their walls to find inventions. Voskuil believes that companies “can stimulate invention by implementing the modern way of PLM and not use PLM as an extended PDM.” Secondly, PLM helps innovation by “assisting companies to select the right opportunities that can be the next big opportunity for these companies.” Finally, Voskuil says that PLM helps can “bring this opportunity to the market as fast as possible, with the right quality and the right manufacturing definition.”
“A famous PLM one-liner is for PLM is: PLM – doing it right the first time, it refers more to the fact that a product introduction process is done only once and with the right quality. It does not mean iterations to improve or change the product scope are not needed.”
Today’s PLM is the definition of innovation for numerous industries across the board. Companies like Autodesk and Inforbix are totally changing the way manufactures handle their product development. Inforbix as revolutionized the way companies find, reuse and share their product data. That seems to be the textbook definition of innovation.
Jennifer Wensink, April 4, 2012
Autodesk Credits the Cloud with PLM Growth
April 4, 2012
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is starting to take stride. Its growth may not have been instant, but it is now catching fire. Autodesk PLM 360 launched in March and “Autodesk Uses Cloud Computing to ‘Fix’ PLM.” Robert Kross, Autodesk’s senior VP of design, lifecycle and simulation, says that PLM “is still fundamentally immature,” but the cloud will “finally help PLM fulfill its promise to the enterprise.”
Autodesk PLM 360 is “designed to go beyond PDM’s engineering focus and bring together all aspects of a product lifecycle…on all platforms.” Kross also added that “it works with existing enterprise business models and practices” and “the cloud makes it relatively simple to set up trial installations.” The cost has also become manageable.
“According to Kross, a typical PLM installation can approach $5 million in the first year. PLM 360 clocks in under $300,000. Even if the product can’t match traditional functionality, cutting costs by an order of magnitude can open up the category to many more potential customers and use cases.”
As the cloud grows, so will PLM. It will also allow other PLM companies to break out of the shadow of their bigger competition. Take for example Inforbix. By utilizing the cloud, their software has increased the value of product data and improved productivity. They have revolutionized the way companies find, reuse and share product data. PLM is on the move and will finally deliver as promised.
Jennifer Wensink, April 4, 2012
Approach SharePoint as a Business Analyst
April 4, 2012
The SharePoint Expert Blog features Christian Buckley and his take on how most organizations would benefit from viewing SharePoint through the lens of a business analyst. In, “The Role of a Business Analyst in SharePoint,” Buckley states that organizations rarely approach their SharePoint installation with the same level of intentionality as their other ventures.
“In presentations on migration and planning best practices for SharePoint, I often remark that every new SharePoint project begins as a Business Analyst activity. What is the role of the Business Analyst, and how does it fit into a successful SharePoint strategy? While there are different kinds of Business Analysts . . . the core functions of this role remain fairly consistent . . . Now extend this understanding to how you staff your SharePoint deployment. Experience has shown that few organizations properly staff their administration team, much less provide the SharePoint team with a dedicated — or even a part-time — Business Analyst resource. SharePoint is generally grossly understaffed.”
Buckley goes on to state that many would overestimate SharePoint’s ease of use:
“I would venture that a lack of understanding of key business processes, and the gaps between what SharePoint provides out-of-the-box and what it is capable of doing is at the heart of most end user adoption issues.”
So in order to get more functionality out of SharePoint, more staffing and attention should be devoted. If not, as Buckley said, “what it (SharePoint) is capable of doing” will never be discovered. But perhaps there is a third option, a third-party option like Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
Intuitive and ready to use out-of-the-box, Fabasoft Mindbreeze can supplement an existing SharePoint installation, or completely replace it. The suite of solutions engineering by Fabasoft address the issues of today, including mobility, efficiency, information pairing, and the Cloud.
Emily Rae Aldridge, April 4, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
SharePoint 2010 Apple iPad Capability
April 3, 2012
SharePoint Server 2010 allows users to begin using Apple iPad devices to retrieve business intelligence content. Certain restrictions apply, but the functionality is introduced. The details are provided in, “Extra! Extra! Apple iPad Users Can Now View SharePoint Business Intelligence Content.”
“For SharePoint business intelligence users, CU 2011-12 for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 is particularly exciting because it opens the door for people to get business intelligence content on Apple iPad devices. People can now view PerformancePoint reports and scorecards and Excel Services reports on iPad devices running the iOS 5 Safari browser. We just published an article on TechNet that provides more details about which kinds of reports and scorecards will and won’t work on your iPad, how to configure business intelligence content to display with best results, and how to navigate content on your iPad.”
As technology changes, becoming increasingly more mobile, there is no doubt that large infrastructures will have to catch up. However, it seems that SharePoint is a bit late to the mobile game. Third party solutions, like those from Fabasoft Mindbreeze, have entire solutions and connectors devoted to streamlining mobile capability.
Read more about Fabasoft Mindbreeze Mobile:
“Smartphones and tablets allow you to act quickly in business matters – an invaluable competitive advantage. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Mobile makes company knowledge available on all mobile devices. You can act freely, independently and yet always securely. Irrespective of what format the data is in. Full functionality: Search results are displayed homogenously to the web client with regards to clear design and intuitive navigation.”
If your organization is moving more and more toward mobility, and SharePoint is having a hard time keeping up, consider adding a smart third-party solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Mindbreeze can compliment an existing infrastructure or stand on its own.
Emily Rae Aldridge, April 3, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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