Enterprise Search Meets the Cloud in 2012
February 9, 2012
In “2012 – Ready or Not,” Mike Alsup, Senior Vice President at Gimmal Group, lays out a summary of 2011 and speculates on 2012 in the world of SharePoint and content management. Of course, 2011 was another growth year for the ubiquitous SharePoint platform. One estimate puts SharePoint users at 125,000,000 and counting. Although, Alsup says, many of these SharePoint sites are collaboration sites, intranet, and other lightweight knowledge management, meaning lots of room to grow and innovate among the users.
Otherwise, 2011 is noted for lots of infrastructure consolidation and lots of waiting to see what happens with SharePoint Records Management. And for 2012? Alsup gives somewhat lengthy explanations on Records Management 2.0 and content enabled vertical applications. Of course, 2012 speculations are not complete without mention of the Cloud. Here’s what Alsup says,
In the world of SharePoint, the product is different in the cloud and on premise because of limitations on what can be deployed in the cloud and how it needs to be deployed. There are many SharePoint applications that provide great value that can’t be deployed in the Microsoft Clouds (Microsoft private cloud solutions, Windows Azure, Office 365) because of product limitations. If Microsoft enabled these applications to be more easily deployed in their clouds, and their customers could deploy their SharePoint applications similarly in each of the three environments, then the decisions on how and where to host would be based on economics and deployment strategy instead of the limitations of SharePoint in the clouds.
While SharePoint is a powerful and complex system, we know there are limitations when the Cloud is introduced. For a Cloud solution in your SharePoint environment, check out Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Here you can read about the power of information pairing.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze . . .
smoothly integrates itself into your website so that the user doesn’t even realize that Cloud services are working in the background. Furthermore, InSite always knows what a user is interested in. Navigation behavior on the website serves as the basis for recognizing their interests. If the user finds themselves on one of your sub-pages on the topic mobility, for example, even at this level Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite still displays further information such as blogs, news, Wikipedia etc. on the relevant topic.
Check out the full suite of solutions at Mindbreeze to see what works for you.
Philip West, February 9, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Before They Come to Your SharePoint Site Know This
February 8, 2012
This list is far from complete and should be an evolutionary thing as it’s just what I’ve collected myself.
A Developer Takes on SharePoint
February 8, 2012
Wendy Neal recently shared some highlights of the SharePoint experience in her piece, “The Top Ten Reasons Why I Love SharePoint.” Neal, a SharePoint 2010 Developer/Architect for GreatAmerica Leasing Corporation, created the list so to articulate exactly why she loves to work with the ubiquitous collaboration software.
Neal cites the time and money saved due to Microsoft handling most development processes as just one of the reasons she found SharePoint to be the right system. Organizations can spend more time on configuring the technology, rather than developing and testing it. The SharePoint community, complex technology potential, and Microsoft Office integration are also discussed.
In terms of the SharePoint potential, Neal also explains the ability to easily build up your system with third party products integration.
One of the really great things about SharePoint is that if something can’t be done out-of-the-box, and if you don’t want to build it yourself, chances are that someone else has. Whether it be vendors who specialize in SharePoint add-ons, or something you find on CodePlex or other code sharing sites, there are a ton of great solutions or tools that can integrate with SharePoint. In addition, many other CMS or storage systems have created web parts that will interface with SharePoint, so that you can keep your content where it is yet still access it through the SharePoint interface.
A quality third party solution, like Fabasoft Mindbreeze, can really get you the most out of your enterprise search investments and extend the capabilities of your SharePoint system. For a deep solution that connects your business information with the Cloud and gives your users the search and navigation experience they need, check out Mindbreeze.
Philip West, February 8, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
The Heat in SharePoint Semantics: January 27 – February 3
February 7, 2012
This week SharePoint Semantics shared a variety of informative reading material that is pertinent to both SharePoint end users and search enthusiasts.
In the article “Avoid the Most Common Mistakes Made by Beginning SharePoint Developers,” Ken Toth shares an article that outlines a list of situations worth avoiding if you are a SharePoint development novice.
Toth points out:
“Sometimes reinventing the wheel means you end up with a bigger wheel, but also you will have to look after and support that wheel for when it breaks, and you may also have wasted a load of time making that bigger wheel.”
Similarly, in “Uncover Business and Staff Needs Before Deploying a Microsoft SharePoint Intranet,” we learn that staff often don’t know what they’re talking about when it comes to determining what’s best in a SharePoint intranet.
Toth advises:
“First, conduct an intranet needs analysis to determine staff needs. Then, uncover how SharePoint can allow for new ways of working through scenarios, case studies, stories, and examples. Third, get everyone on the same page by making sure all stakeholders have the same definitions and priorities.”
As SharePoint grows in popularity, many people are starting to wonder what to do with paper information in this increasingly digital world. The post “Looking to Partners to Aid with Managing Paper-Based Information in the SharePoint Environment” offers some solutions.
Writer Jeff Shuey explains the importance of finding partners to manage your paper information.
Toth concludes:
“Bringing paper and digital information together is no doubt a challenge in our information age. It is a discussion worth having so that solutions continue to be made available for handling the ever-increasing variety of formats.”
Sometimes, regardless of the number of needs assessments and situations that you avoid when implementing your SharePoint platform, your site still falls short of its target. In this case, consider turning to The Semaphore Content Intelligence Platform from Smartlogic. It will ensure that your SharePoint content is easily found and re-purposed, saving valuable staff time and money.
Jasmine Ashton, February 7, 2012
Without Data There is No Point in Share
February 7, 2012
To monitor SharePoint Server 2010 servers and the services that run on the servers, you can directly access various logs such as the Windows Server event logs, SharePoint Universal Logging System (ULS) logs (also known as trace logs), or usage data logs. You can also go to SharePoint Server 2010 Central Administration to review various reports. Health analyzer reports contain SharePoint Server 2010 rules for servers or services. Administration (diagnostics) reports contain search-related information. Web Analytics reports contain web analytics metrics.
FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint: Features Breakdown
February 7, 2012
In “Fast Search in SharePoint 2010 – What’s that you don’t get in SharePoint 2010 Search,” the author discusses Microsoft’s acquisition of the enterprise search company, FAST Search & Transfer, and the subsequent Microsoft product development, FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint. The author notes the very visual change to the user experience and a handful of other capabilities that came with the new search. Two of the more noticeable changes include:
Thumbnails and previews for documents — Word and PowerPoint files in the search result will be displayed with a thumbnail of the cover page. Moreover, PowerPoint files can be previewed in the results list without opening the file, either with a PowerPoint client or with Office Web Applications. These capabilities can help end users visually find the expected content.
View in browser — By using Office Web Applications, Office files can be opened in the browser, without installing the thick client on the computer.
The fully integrated search server engine also lets you build user context from user profiles and define Visual Best Bets. New features and capabilities are exciting. But the learning curve and man hours for developing and customizing the features may not be.
FAST search is an improvement over the SharePoint out-of-the-box functionality; however, Fabasoft Mindbreeze is an even greater improvement. Here you can read about enterprise search with Mindbreeze’s quick, service-oriented, and cost-efficient technology:
Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise finds every scrap of information within a very short time, whether document, contract, note, e-mail or calendar entry, in intranet or internet, person- or text-related.
Mindbreeze solutions add value to your business information, no matter the data you’re looking for or the system you are working with.
Philip West, February 7, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
The Heat in SharePoint Semantics: January 27 – February 3
February 7, 2012
“Sometimes reinventing the wheel means you end up with a bigger wheel, but also you will have to look after and support that wheel for when it breaks, and you may also have wasted a load of time making that bigger wheel.”
“First, conduct an intranet needs analysis to determine staff needs. Then, uncover how SharePoint can allow for new ways of working through scenarios, case studies, stories, and examples. Third, get everyone on the same page by making sure all stakeholders have the same definitions and priorities.”
“Bringing paper and digital information together is no doubt a challenge in our information age. It is a discussion worth having so that solutions continue to be made available for handling the ever-increasing variety of formats.”
SharePoint 2010 Governance with DocAve Software
February 6, 2012
One thing I have learned by researching SharePoint 2010 is that if you do not create a governance plan for the collaborative content platform, then you have basically spent thousands of dollars on a networked harddrive. I constantly report on the best pieces referring to this important topic and recently I found that PRWeb.com reported that “New Release of AvePoint’s DocAve Software Extends Management and Governance for Microsoft SharePoint 2010.”
AvePoint’s DocAve 6 release provides more ways for people to work together using SharePoint 2010,” said Kristina Kerr, Group Product Manager for SharePoint, Microsoft Corp. “DocAve’s new features further extend the SharePoint platform’s governance and management functionality to provide organizations with additional options to enforce governance policies that meet their business needs.
Checklist: Before you Escalate a Ticket to Microsoft Support
February 6, 2012
Joel Oleson of SharePoint Joel blog recently published a list of “7 Things You Should Do Before You Escalate to Microsoft Support” when troubleshooting a system issue. Oleson’s in-depth list goes beyond the obvious troubleshooting that Tier 2, Tier 3, and Engineering should do and includes checklist items such as reading up on your service pack and cumulative update level, rebooting, working with the entire team to isolate the issue, and reviewing code. First on the list:
You know one of the first things Microsoft support will want to know is what version and patch level you are at. If you’re way back, they are going to ask you to upgrade. At a minimum you should be on the latest service pack to address the majority of bugs they will point to. Now understanding that there are different tolerances to patching, this will be something you will need to decide. My recommendation is you don’t install a CU unless you need it. Well, when you’re dealing with what you think is a bug, there’s a chance it’s fixed a CU rollup or more recent CU.
Oleson also suggests reaching out to social solution forums, such as Twitter or the Microsoft Newsgroups.
Steps to help prevent long man hours on the phone with tech support while your system is not functioning properly are, of course, welcome. But this checklist sure sounds like a lot of trouble. Depending on your organization, you may not want to devote the time and effort for extensive troubleshooting prior to calling tech-support. We think it would be easier to go with a simple third-party solution like Mindbreeze, cutting down on the costly man hours.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise provides consistent and comprehensive information access to both corporate and Cloud sources. The seamless Cloud solution makes sure you find the right information you need at any time. Check out the full suite of solutions at Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
Philip West, February 6, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Searching through the Intranet Jungle
February 3, 2012
Dr. David Livingston explored the jungles of Africa for adventure and new discoveries, intranet end users search through the webbed jungles of their servers for content and missing files. Content networks are supposed to eliminate search problems, but users usually upload their files without regard to structure and governance. CleverWorkarounds.com wrote a web article series about, “Why Can’t Users Find Stuff on the Intranet? An IBIS Synthesis.”
In part one, the basics behind IBIS (Issue Based Information System) mapping are explained.
Issue Mapping captures the rationale behind a conversation or dialogue—the emergent ideas and solutions that naturally arise from robust debate. This rationale is graphically represented using a simple, but powerful, visual structure called IBIS (Issue Based Information System). This allows all elements and rationale of a conversation, and subsequent decisions, to be captured in a manner that can be easily reflected upon.
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