PolySpot Adds In Connector to Social Technology Giant Blue Kiwi
November 7, 2012
Productivity is the name of the game for enterprise infrastructure software vendor PolySpot. Now, they
have added in another connector to their list spanning over 100. The article “The Blue Kiwi Connector for
PolySpot is Ready!” tells us more about this forward-thinking move.
Since BlueKiwi is Europe’s largest cloud based enterprise social software solution, it was a no-brainer for
PolySpot to develop a connector and add it to their library.
The author states in his post on the subject:
“But beyond collaboration and co-creation, what good is creating, or co-creating information if the fruit of
the collective intelligence of employees can not be quickly found? Thus, to offer the use of our converging
technologies, the R&D department at PolySpot has developed a BlueKiwi connector for PolySpot. With
BlueKiwi and PolySpot, employees would enjoy a productive environment, strengthening collaborative and
social innovation, expertise finding and sharing.”
What is productivity without social? This is the question users do not have to learn the hard way that social
technologies do in fact fuel productivity. Thanks to PolySpot’s Information At Work, the social power of
BlueKiwi is now a part of the picture.
Megan Feil, November 7, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Business Users SharePoint Conference
November 6, 2012
In the world of enterprise search, particularly SharePoint, training and professional development opportunities are a lifeline. Solutions can be complex and often change rapidly. Conferences are a good way to stay abreast of emerging trends and updates. CMS Wire advertises an upcoming opportunity in, “SharePoint Conference for Business Users Amsterdam 2013.”
The conference program is summed up:
Join us at the SharePoint Conference for Business Users in Amsterdam next March to learn how to evaluate, deploy, use, and customize SharePoint to run a more efficient and integrated business. The 3 day event is a jargon-free environment designed for business professionals to hear from like-minded users on how they have moulded SharePoint to suit requirements, how to realise business benefits and make the most of their SharePoint environment. The program features case studies and best practice workshops from leading organizations which would help users and decision makers pick up new techniques and more importantly, avoid costly mistakes.
Some users will find that trainings such as this conference are enough to keep up to speed. However, others will find that a more intuitive solution is needed to avoid costly customization or lengthy in-house training. Fabasoft Mindbreeze offers solutions that bridge the learning gap and improve end user experience. They also offer their own training. The addition of third party solutions cuts down on overall cost and staffing investments to manage the enterprise.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 6, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
AvePoint Continues Support for SharePoint
November 5, 2012
Many excellent options exist for third party SharePoint support. AvePoint, with its focus on governance and management solutions, has been supporting SharePoint deployments for eleven years. In the full report, “AvePoint Showcases Tradition of Excellence and Support for Microsoft SharePoint 2013 at SharePoint Conference 2012,” the author discusses how AvePoint will participate in the upcoming SharePoint 2012 conference.
AvePoint, leader in governance and management solutions for Microsoft SharePoint, today announced that it is a Platinum and Keynote Sponsor of Microsoft SharePoint Conference (SPC) 2012, taking place from November 12-15 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, NV. AvePoint’s Platinum and Keynote sponsorship for the third consecutive SPC highlights the company’s continued commitment to the global SharePoint community, and provides an opportunity to showcase the DocAve Software Platform, its award-winning product line for managing, governing, and scaling enterprise technology platforms with support for Microsoft SharePoint 2013.
Some companies need more than governance, management, and backup support. Some enterprises struggle to implement a SharePoint infrastructure because of staffing, funding, or other shortages. That is where a third party add-on can help bridge the gap. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise is quick, cost-efficient, and service oriented. Its intuitive interface flattens out a potentially steep learning curve. Furthermore, Mindbreeze works as a standalone solution, or as an addition to an existing infrastructure.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 5, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Using SharePoint to Streamline Common Business Processes
October 31, 2012
SharePoint is a complex system and it helps to do some outside reading to stay abreast on helpful features and tips to share with your team. Ellen van Aken looks at some ways SharePoint can help save time and effort in an organization in her article, “4 Common Processes that SharePoint Can Streamline.” Aken explains that creating a tailor-made subsite and making a template out of it can allow for creating a ready-to-use team site for every project in no time. This could help make recurring projects more efficient.
She also explains streamlining requests with incomplete data coming from multiple channels:
How often do people send you a request, by plain email, telephone, or Word/Excel document? And how often do you have to contact them again to ask for missing information?
Depending on the complexity, you can use a simple SharePoint list, an Office template in a Document Library, or an InfoPath form in a Forms Library, with mandatory fields. As additional advantage SharePoint stores all your requests in one central place, so you do not have to spend time on filing them…The finished requests can be used to gain insights in your process.
She adds that a filter can be put in place to show which requests still need processing. Another way to streamline information requests with missing data is to provide a search feature that can tap into all company knowledge, whether text or person related. For example, Fabasoft Mindbreeze with the SharePoint connector provides an all-inclusive search without redundancy or loss of data. Additionally, Mindbreeze has the ability to process data and turn it into relevant knowledge for users.
Philip West, October 31, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
SharePoint 2013 Goes Social with Community Templates
October 29, 2012
As users continue to drive demand for social networking features and companies look to increase collaboration among employees, technology is aiming to deliver solutions to fit the need. SharePoint 2013 is no exception as they add social features as well as other smaller configuration improvements to give users more power with a friendlier interface. Jennifer Mason summarizes some of the changes in the coming SharePoint release in her CMSWire.com article, “SharePoint 2013: Intranets with a Side of Social.”
Mason discusses new features including the ability to reuse content across multiple sites, new navigation features, improved search Web part, and changes to design tools. She has this to say about SharePoint’s goal to bring people together with the data they need in a social business context:
The community template provides a way for this type of capability within SharePoint 2013. Community templates have been designed in a way that allows anyone within the organization to join a community and to begin discussions on things relevant to the community. These communities are a great way to share information in a collaborative way, at the same time making intellectual property with the organization available to a larger audience.
Community templates may help bring people together and allow for a new kind of collaboration that previous SharePoint versions simply did not support. While new features are exciting, we also know that out-of-the-box SharePoint tends to have gaps. A complete social business experience also relies on a powerful search feature accessible to all users. One third party application worth looking into is Fabasoft Mindbreeze and their Enterprise Search solution. Mindbreeze connects all company data, including documents, notes, e-mails, calendar entries, contracts, intranet or internet, person- or text-related, and more. In addition, their SharePoint connector allows for a seamless install to complement your existing content management investments.
Philip West, October 29, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Microsoft 2013 Releases Head to Production
October 26, 2012
Microsoft is releasing the 2013 suite of solutions to manufacturing. Updated solutions include Office 2013, Exchange 2013, and SharePoint 2013. More information can be found in the full article, “Office 2013, Exchange 2013, SharePoint 2013 Released Oct. 18.”
Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate vice president of the Microsoft Office Division, announced the RTM milestone in a blog post. He claimed that the 2013-branded Office represents ‘the most ambitious release of Office we’ve ever done.’
In July, Koenigsbauer and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer showed off touch-friendly Office 2013 apps. These apps will run on the “Desktop” side of the Windows 8 user interface. Microsoft is also building ‘Metro-style’ Office apps, but so far only the OneNote Metro-style app is available for testing. Gartner analyst Steve Kleynhans has described the new Office 2013 apps as very similar to those in Office 2010, but with screen layouts optimized for touch.
Many organizations are excited to implement the newest iteration of SharePoint, but others may be nervous about the transition. The fact is that there is always a steep learning curve when it comes to a new Microsoft product, particularly SharePoint. However, third party solutions can ease that transition. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise offers more frequent updates that are intuitive, easing use without a steep learning curve. Additionally, Fabasoft Mindbreeze can enhance an existing SharePoint infrastructure, meaning that large disruptive updates may be a thing of the past.
Emily Rae Aldridge, October 26, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Concept Searching Set to Sponsor SharePoint City Party at 2012 Conference
October 23, 2012
Concept Searching, a provider of enterprise-grade software products that aim to deliver conceptual metadata generation, auto-classification, and taxonomy management from the desktop, is sponsoring the ‘SharePoint City’ Party, to be hosted by Axceler exclusively for attendees at the SharePoint 2012 Conference, on November 14th in Las Vegas. Concept Searching provides basic enterprise-search capabilities, and this is explained about their additional product:
Going beyond a technology solution, Concept Searching’s Smart Content Framework™ for information governance is a toolset based on conceptClassifier for SharePoint that provides the enterprise infrastructure framework to mitigate risk, automate processes, manage information, protect privacy, and address compliance issues. The result is one set of technologies, running natively in SharePoint, which improves search, provides an enterprise metadata repository, automates records management, ensures compliance, protects and secures data, and facilitates migration.
If you plan to attend the conference, the party held at Tryst Nightclub may be worth checking out. A link to register for the party is provided in the article. If you’re weighing enterprise search applications for your existing SharePoint investments, you may also want to look up Mindbreeze. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise gains each employee two weeks per year through focused finding of data, a competitive business advantage and added bonus to employee satisfaction. In addition, their suite of solutions includes mobile and Web site search, a variety of connectors, and certified security.
Philip West, October 23, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Zeppelin looks to enter the Ring with Other Social Business Tools
October 19, 2012
In “Yammer, Jive, Microsoft SharePoint are ‘Blank Pieces of Paper,’ says Zeppelin,” Meghan Kelly relays comments from Zeppelin on the social business tool’s potential to connect employees in the workplace. Zeppelin co-founder Anze Vodownik voiced opinion at the DEMO Conference that Yammer, Jive, SharePoint, and the like claim to be a new Facebook or Twitter but are installed in a company and become underused. She had this to say about the Zeppelin service:
Zeppelin lets employees put quick blurbs about their day in front of coworkers. It connects with Google Analytics, Basecamp, Microsoft, and customer relationship management systems, and allows employees to upload files and photos. You can also sign up for a daily or weekly summary of what is happening on your team.
The company launched its private beta today. Right now, Zeppelin is only going after the small to medium-sized business market.
SharePoint is a ubiquitous platform that is only increasing adoption rates. When it comes to encouraging collaboration in the business environment, consider a third party application that also taps into all of your information, including social media channels. Mindbreeze facilitates the comprehensive incorporation of all electronic data repositories and connects seamlessly with SharePoint. Social business and employee collaboration fueled by efficient and comprehensive access to information is possible with Mindbreeze.
Philip West, October 19, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Microsoft Mastery Becoming Harder to Find
October 16, 2012
It is often said that the power of a solution and its ease of use are conversely proportional. If a solution is powerful, it will no doubt be very difficult to master, or vice versa. The rule holds very true for SharePoint. Even as SharePoint 2013 is unveiled, highly trained developers are being warned that additional training will be needed. The Redmond Channel Partner covers the issue in, “Office 365, SharePoint and SQL Server: Our Experts Weigh In.”
The author states:
Meanwhile, as the flagship Microsoft database and collaboration platforms become more entrenched, provisioning and managing them have become more complex. The new capabilities and use cases of Windows Server — combined with the new requirements of SQL Server and SharePoint — require organizations to offer extensive new skill sets.
So how is a small or medium size organization supposed to cope with the growing demands? Fabasoft Mindbreeze offers an entire suite of solutions for the enterprise, all designed to be intuitive and powerful, even for an end-user who is not a highly skilled developer. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise is a small third-party solution that adds quality, usability, and style to the enterprise seamlessly. Read more to see if the solution can optimize your organization’s intranet.
Emily Rae Aldridge, October 16, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
SharePoint Training Essential to Success
October 12, 2012
The secret to a successful SharePoint implementation is in planning and training. Research and Markets has added new training pieces to their class offerings. Herald Online provides a full story in their article, “Research and Markets: Comprehensive Microsoft SharePoint Training – Manage SharePoint Sites like a Professional.”
Read about their latest SharePoint 2010 End User class:
The SharePoint 2010 End User class is for end users working in a SharePoint 2010 environment. The course teaches SharePoint basics such as working with lists and libraries as well as basic page customizations. The SharePoint 2010 Power User training class teaches students to manage SharePoint sites.
This class is hands-on and interactive, with exercises, presentations and readings to ensure students stay engaged and learn the material presented.
Training is important for complicated enterprise solutions, but there are some third party options that focus on intuitive ease of use. Fabasoft Mindbreeze offers Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise, one such smart third party solution. Data is given meaning and is made more easily retrievable. Therefore, training is still important, but becomes less urgent. Usability is brought down to the level of a more common user, meaning small or medium size businesses can save time and money on both training and specialized developer positions.
Emily Rae Aldridge, October 12, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
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