Protected: Introductory Courses are the Best Way to Learn SharePoint
February 2, 2012
Training Ideas to Get End Users Understanding SharePoint
February 2, 2012
EndUserSharePoint.com’s Kat Weixel worked with the SharePoint community to build a certification test for team site administrators. The plan details can be read in, “End User Certification: A Test for the Rest of Us.” The community-generated test is not an official Microsoft certification, but it may give just as good insights because it was built by the end user community. Weixel’s goal:
I’m hopeful this will allow IT professionals or others in SharePoint management positions to feel far more comfortable handing out the coveted “full control” of a site. We can ask people to attend training or watch tutorials or read materials…but we can’t easily measure their absorption of all that learning. I think a certification test can really help fill that hole, and I can’t wait to develop it!
It is no doubt that end user training is heading to another level and taking cues from the social and collaboration trends. A certification test could be a handy tool for site administrators looking to get newbies up to speed. However, to really turn your users into power-users in the SharePoint system, you may need more than a Q and A.
To bypass the need for some expensive or time-consuming training, consider a third party solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze, which extends the capabilities of your SharePoint system. Their Web Parts based information pairing capabilities give you powerful searches and a complete picture of your business information, allowing you to get the most out of your enterprise search investments. And your end users will benefit from the fast and intuitive search with clearly displayed results and simple navigation.
Mindbreeze’s intuitiveness means less training required. They also have tutorials and wikis that are easy to use and more efficient. Here you can browse Mindbreeze’s support tools for users, including videos, FAQs, wikis, and other training options. Check out the full suite of solutions at Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
Philip West, February 2, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Protected: Tips for Improving SharePoint Search
February 1, 2012
SharePoint 2010 – Managing File Types and Sizes
February 1, 2012
SharePoint is a broad infrastructure, popular for its ability to handle a broad range of information storage and retrieval needs. However, SharePoint is a business tool and in order to function properly needs to be maintained according to best practices. One such best practice that should be followed in order to maintain efficiency pertains to file types and file sizes. Michal Pisarek with SharePoint Analyst HQ offers his input in, “Managing File Types and Sizes in SharePoint 2010.”
Good SharePoint governance policies will frequently containing operational directives regarding both the type and size of files that can be stored on SharePoint 2010. Being able to control the types of files is essential to any organization to ensure that only the correct type of content is stored within the platform. Many organizations encourage their users to move content to SharePoint, however they do not want users moving their entire iTunes library or video collection to the platform. Another issue is of maximum file size. The ability to control the maximum size of file that can be uploaded to SharePoint is a must for many organizations.
Pisarek goes on to offer helpful suggestions for setting best practices, templates, and standards when it comes to working with end users to set file types and sizes within a SharePoint installation. However, there are third party solutions that make handling files of any type much easier. One solution worth examining is Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise is able to search all data sources connected to the platform simultaneously. In addition to data from, for example, Microsoft Exchange or the file system, the Fabasoft Folio Connector allows to query information objects and documents from Fabasoft Folio too.
Read more about the Fabasoft Folio Connector and how it may help your organization handle files of all types.
Emily Rae Aldridge, February 1, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Protected: Windows 8 Is on the Way, so is SharePoint 2012
January 31, 2012
Getting the Most out of a New SharePoint Deployment
January 31, 2012
Christian Buckely of Axceler provides some insights on deploying a SharePoint system in your organization, namely what to avoid, for overall collaboration software success. In “Where Not to Begin with SharePoint,” Buckely advises to bypass automating Human Resources activities if you’re looking for big innovation. While automating expense reports or vacation requests is a good playground to learn the SharePoint technologies, getting the most out of your enterprise search investments requires expansion into new business information ground.
Your strategy should be to focus on those areas that will drive value to the business first. Quickly routing expense reports, while wonderful to your accounting team, is not adding tremendous value to your business. Email will work fine for a few more weeks while you focus elsewhere. SharePoint deployments should (like everything else) follow the 80/20 rule: focus your efforts and deliver functionality to the 20% of your organization who will be doing 80% of the workload in SharePoint. Find those teams that **need** productivity solutions, and build to their requirements first.
Identifying the areas in your business that will benefit the most from SharePoint features is a sure way to get the bang for your buck right off the bat. After working on organization needs, you can then focus on providing some ‘want’ features, like automated birthday reminders or vacation request forms.
SharePoint is a powerful platform that continues to grow, but we also know some out-of-the-box features can be lacking. To add rich value to your system while also providing an easier experience for your users, consider an intuitive solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Their out-of-the-box solution gives you information pairing, mobility, and a more powerful search in a user-centered environment:
Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise understands you, or more precisely understands exactly what the most important information is for you at any given moment. It’s a center of excellence and simultaneously your personal assistant for all questions. The information pairing technology brings enterprise and Cloud together.
Consider their full suite of products and solutions at Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
Philip West, January 31, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Protected: SharePoint Professionals Will Have a Developing Time in San Francisco
January 30, 2012
Building a SharePoint Web Site: Three Important Planning Points to Remember
January 30, 2012
In “3 Things to Know Before Using SharePoint to Build Your Website,” Will Saville of BrightStarr makes a few key points to consider before diving in head first. With a SharePoint deployment, planning is imperative.
What does Saville suggest for success? For starters, talk about business requirements and value 80 percent of the time and SharePoint technology capabilities 20 percent of the time. This helps you keep on track with your business goals. Second, know that out-of-the-box SharePoint capabilities may not meet all your needs, so plan to customize with Web parts. And last but certainly not least, consider your content:
If content is king, then Content Managers must be pretty important. But, it’s incredible how easily they can be side-lined. A poor editing and content management experience will lead to low user adoption, which will ultimately result in content not being published as quickly (if at all). Because SharePoint isn’t a point WCM solution, it’s really important to consider their needs and make sure it works from a content management perspective as early on as possible.
Getting your content managers on-board early will keep them engaged and encouraging of user adoption. The project success comes down to the people you have working on the project and their drive for innovation.
To customize your SharePoint site with Web parts and to make a user-friendly site that makes for easy adoption, look to a comprehensive solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Having Fabasoft Mindbreeze in your SharePoint system combines on-premise information with Cloud information, connecting your users to what they need. For an enriched user experience, the Mindbreeze InSite capability. . .
recognizes correlations and links through semantic and dynamic search processes. This delivers pinpoint accurate and precise ‘finding experiences.’ And this with no installation, configuration or maintenance required. Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite is the website search that your company needs.
Check out Fabasoft Mindbreeze’s full suite of solutions.
Philip West, January 30, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Protected: Resources for the Small SharePoint Owner
January 27, 2012
SharePoint 2010, Windows Azure, and the Issue of Scalability
January 27, 2012
SharePoint has not seen the same explosive growth in small or medium sized business as it has in larger organizations. One reason is simply the time and monetary investment that is required in running such an overwhelming infrastructure. Andrew Connell addresses this issue and its possible remedy with Windows Azure in his piece, “SharePoint 2010 + Windows Azure – Why You Should Care & the Development Story.”
Connell states:
Historically SharePoint has been very popular with large organizations because they can shoulder the financial and resource requirements required to deploy SharePoint. However one place where SharePoint hasn’t grown as fast is in the small and medium side business (SMB) area. The reason for this is most likely the cost and resource requirements (not just hardware, but people as well) necessary to deploy and maintain it. With Office 365, many of these barriers have been removed and therefore it represents a new era and opportunity to grow the SharePoint customer base. Therefore this is an area you should be very aware of and should learn how you can best leverage and exploit this new and untapped market of possible SharePoint customers!
Connell goes on to give specifics regarding the solutions in Office 365, and the ways that small or medium sized business might find SharePoint more amenable to their size and financial viability. Even as SharePoint becomes more accessible to smaller organizations, some third-party solutions are already customizing options to fit a variety of business needs.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze is one excellent third-party option for an organization of any size looking for an enterprise solution. Their scalable offerings are customized based on the needs of the customer, and expansion is an easy option whenever needed. Read more about “Three Configurations for Dynamic Scalability and Deployment.”
The blog entry begins,
In enterprise search, quality, usability and style are as important as relevancy of results and performance to engage your users right from the start. Let’s take a look at typical scale-out scenarios that become relevant when implementing enterprise environments with Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
The article then goes on to describe the different levels of deployment and how an organization might choose where to begin their installation. Keep in mind that moving from one level up to the next is effortless. Additionally, Fabasoft Mindbreeze is currently expanding onto the Cloud, where an organization’s storage needs are never limited.
So for SharePoint devotees looking for a way to make SharePoint more viable for smaller organizations, consult Connell’s findings above, but also explore the solutions presented by Fabasoft Mindbreeze and find a scalable solution that works for your organization.
Emily Rae Aldridge, January 27, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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