The Heat in SharePoint Semantics April 2 to 6, 2012
April 10, 2012
This week SharePoint Semantics delivered some informative posts that show some unique and not so unique ways for end users to get the most out of their Microsoft SharePoint experience.
In the post “Use of Microsoft SharePoint May Reduce Exam Dishonesty,” points readers to an article that asserts that, depending on the culture in your workplace, one of SharePoint’s benefits is that it lowers chances for dishonesty.
The article states:
“SharePoint works to reduce fraud in a case where SharePoint passwords are usually kept secret because it might give them access to private information or allow actions that could reflect badly on the user.”
Often times when we talk about SharePoint, we get so bogged down in the details that we forget that there are quite a few folks out there that are brand new to this software. “A Useful Microsoft SharePoint Overview for Beginners By David Severn” addresses primary issues of concern for SharePoint novices.
The article explains the fact that while SharePoint has a lot to offer, it is important that users take it upon themselves to utilize all of its features which can take some time:
“It is massive and complex but SharePoint isn’t simply a product that you install and start using. SharePoint is an impressive framework upon which is built many components. Some of which can be used pretty much out of the box such as basic team site with lists and libraries to get you started through to Business Intelligence services which can display incredibly meaningful dashboards.”
Since SharePoint isn’t a simple product that’s potential is fully realized right out of the box, many people have mixed feelings about it. “Three Likes and Three Dislikes About SharePoint from SharePoint Stories” reports on a recent Boston panel on SharePoint best practices. Only this article focuses primarily on the question and answer segment.
The article concludes with a statement that I wholeheartedly agree with:
“SharePoint – The good stuff is really good. The bad stuff can usually be made good by one of the many amazing vendors working to make SharePoint better.”
For those looking to make their SharePoint experience better and who don’t necessarily have the time or desire to read through the multitude of literature on the subject, a product like Smartlogic may be right for you. Smartlogic’s Semaphore Content Intelligence Platform enhances SharePoint’s less than ideal navigation and gives unstructured content the findability advantage.
Jasmine Ashton, April 10, 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
The Heat in SharePoint Semantics March 23 to March 29
April 3, 2012
This week SharePoint Semantics delivered some excellent best practice related posts that end users and search enthusiasts will equally enjoy.
Solutions to help make companies more social have increasingly been incorporated into the workplace, it’s only natural that SharePoint would hop on board the train. In the post, “Examples of Social Media Solutions Such as SharePoint Aiding Productivity” we learn how several companies used SharePoint as a tool to help their employees become more productive at work.
The article states:
“MindTree turned to Microsoft SharePoint to create a portal they named People Hub to make it easier for their employees to locate needed data. The effort has been so successful that they are now looking to extend the system to customers as well.”
In the vein of creating a successful SharePoint experience for companies, “Tips for a Successful Microsoft SharePoint Online Deployment” shares an article that recaps a presentation that states the seven most important factors that are indicative of SharePoint success.
The article states:
“The detailed article covers the decision making involved with a SharePoint Online deployment and how to determine and support ROI. The article focuses on the practical and effective points of Harbridge’s presentation, including how to improve user adoption and plan for growth.”
When figuring out if SharePoint is a good fit for your company, size is often not one of the factors that is considered. The post, “Large Versus Small Companies for the Best SharePoint Professional Work Environment” weighs the pros and cons of working for a large or small company as a SharePoint professional.
Ken Toth states:
“Working for a larger company means larger challenges, budgets, and environments. However, deployments can also become complicated in such a large environment with so many stakeholders. You will have access to more equipment and will find it easier to take time away for conferences. You will have more colleagues, but also more managers and meetings. In a smaller company, you will find yourself doing a wide variety of tasks with a wide variety of challenges. It will be easier to have working relationships with other people in the organization and there will be less bureaucracy.”
While best practice stories are always useful when deciding how to incorporate SharePoint into your organization, often times investing in a third party solution like Smartlogic’s semantic technology can provide end users with the guidance they need to succeed.
Jasmine Ashton, April 3, 2012
Give SharePoint PDFs ID Numbers
March 31, 2012
On a daily basis I work with hundreds of PDF files and in order for me to keep track of them, I assign each an ID number. If one goes missing, I automatically know who the MIF (missing in filing, trying to play off MIA—ha ha!) document is and I can locate another copy. As a content management tool, SharePoint is a warehouse for all sorts of files and it occurred to Gary Lapointe of Aptillon that, like me, others may want to mark their PDFs. In “‘Stamping’ PDF Files Downloaded from SharePoint 2010,” you will not only read about how Lapointe created a PDF tracking tool, but he also provides to code for your use.
As he explains:
“There are various ways in which this problem can be solved but perhaps one of the simpler approaches, and the approach outlined here, was to create an HTTP Handler which intercepted requests for any PDF files and then simply retrieve the file from SharePoint, modify it, and then send it on its way. The cool thing about this approach and the pattern shown here is that it can easily be applied to any file type which requires some user or request specific modifications applied to it.”
Keeping track of documents is part of the SharePoint organization process, another part is having a reliable search tool. In order to mange SharePoint documents, you will want to check out Smartlogic’s system. It beats other vendors’ approach by a Kentucky mile.
Whitney Grace, March 31, 2012
Protected: SharePoint A Key Tool in the Collaboration Network
March 30, 2012
Protected: To Moderate SharePoint Comments Or Not To Moderate
March 29, 2012
Protected: A Little SharePoint Humor
March 28, 2012
Protected: You Do Not Need Hot Water to Shrink Your SharePoint Crawl Database
March 27, 2012
The Heat in SharePoint Semantics March 16 to March 22
March 27, 2012
This week SharePoint Semantics shared several very informative and unique articles that are pertinent to the search community of SharePoint end users.
In Bring Social Business Alive by Popping Social Bubbles, Ken Toth shares an article that breaks down the pros and cons of social businesses in relation to SharePoint. Apparently, “social software bubbles” both encapsulate and keep separated employees, partners, customers, business, culture, data, and information.
As a result:
“The challenge is getting the “social software bubbles” and people to become “one”, not necessarily in some kind of zen-like state (although that would be kinda cool), but more allowing a flow of interactions between them, and if we have that flow then it’s going to be (potentially) messy and chaordic, but that is a very very good thing, trust me.”
In the article, “Fill In Microsoft SharePoint Web Analytics Gaps with Third Party Solution.” Toth shares an article that explains some of the benefits and shortcomings of SharePoint web analytics.
For organizations seeking a tightly integrated solution, Toth recommends:
“Semaphore for Microsoft SharePoint from Smartlogic “is a complete, comprehensive solution to address the metadata gap in SharePoint 2007 or 2010 and provides the highest quality of automatic subject classification.” Comprehensive text analytics, taxonomy management and governance, and components that enhance the user experience make the solution robust.”
The final post of note for this week helps end users take advantage of SharePoint lists to meet your businesses needs. “Four Powerful Ways to Improve Project Delivery Using SharePoint Lists” recommends using custom lists and delete the columns that are not relevant. In addition to this, the article referenced also summarizes three other useful tips to help with project delivery.
While the highlighted posts offer some excellent solutions to helping with your SharePoint needs, it is also important to know when to utilize the professional knowledge of a third party solution such as Smartlogic’s Semaphore Content Intelligence Platform.
Jasmine Ashton, March 27, 2012
Protected: Meet the SharePoint Experts at Their Own Conference
March 26, 2012
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