Protected: 2012 SharePoint IVP Products
January 26, 2012
Simplified Database Maintenance in SharePoint
January 26, 2012
Database maintenance tasks are a part of general SharePoint infrastructure upkeep and care. However, as Steve Hord writes, it is not always the easiest task for a SharePoint administrator. In “Find active databases used by SharePoint Server 2010,” Hord writes the following:
One of the best ways to know what databases your SharePoint deployment uses is to keep a record and add database names each time you create a new database. This isn’t always easy as there usually isn’t enough extra time during the day to keep records. Plus, more often than not your SharePoint database maintenance tasks tend to occur either late at night or in the pre-dawn hours when no users are accessing the system, so remembering to add a new database name to an ongoing list is really tough.
Hord then goes on to give a few tried and true methods for finding the active databases in the SharePoint installation as well as their properties. However, some administrators might desire an easier method for database maintenance. We have found that many third-party solutions offer an ease of maintenance that SharePoint simply cannot supply.
Read about one of our favorite offerings, Fabasoft Mindbreeze, and its Fabasoft Mindbreeze Database Connector solution.
The Database Connector enables the connection of databases to Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise. Furthermore, directory services such as Active Directory can be accessed via LDAP and searched very efficiently via Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise. The development of the Database Connector is based on the data integration connector, making it easy to connect databases to Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise.
So while there are tips and tricks for almost any SharePoint issue or gripe, there are more and more quality third-party solutions available that replace of enhance SharePoint’s functionality. Check out the Fabasoft Mindbreeze offerings and see if they can supplement or replace your organization’s current SharePoint infrastructure.
Emily Rae Aldridge, January 26, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Protected: SharePoint Joins the iPad Revolution
January 25, 2012
SharePoint How-To: Keep It Simple
January 25, 2012
There is a saying in the library world, and apparently a version has made its way into the SharePoint world. This version is, “Make it easier to use than not to use and it will get used.” We could all learn a thing a two from this principle, but let’s look at what Kerri Abraham has to say about SharePoint in, “Give Them Instructions!”
Referring to the principle above, Abraham says:
Someone in the SharePoint community used this quote in a webinar I watched years ago and it has never left me, I find myself quoting it often because it is just dorky (and easy) enough to remember. And again, proves the point that easy sells! The real gauge of an elegant solution is in its ease of use, not in how complicated it was to build. So how do I make SharePoint easy? I provide great instructions. I test solutions with users and think creatively about how they might end up frustrated or lost and include those tips in the how-to. Then I place the link at the top of the page for a consistent method of presentation.
It is worth taking a look at Abraham’s entry and viewing her instructive photos and screenshots. Ultimately, the point is well taken. Give clear instructions, make it simple, and any organization’s SharePoint installation will be cleaner and more efficient. However, we also think that third-party enterprise solutions often offer a platform that is more intuitive and easier to use out-of-the-box. One we particulary like is Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
Read what the Upper Austria Chamber of Commerce had to say about the Mindbreeze ease of use:
Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise enables access to information from various data repositories throughout the organization (such as e-mail systems, file systems, data bases). By expanding the scope of Fabasoft Mindbreeze, the service center staff is now able to receive all relevant information at a glance with only one search query. The simple and intuitive user interface eliminates the need for time intensive training.
Abraham’s creative solution for implementing instructions might help end users with the everyday functions of SharePoint. If additional efficiency is required, research Fabasoft Mindbreeze and see if it can meet your organization’s enterprise needs.
Emily Rae Aldridge, January 25, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Proving the Value of Fast Search
January 24, 2012
A growing number of companies are specializing Fast services for large companies committed to rolling out SharePoint 2010.
Search Technologies, the largest and best established of these apparently have more than 50 trained/qualified Fast engineers. A number of these were no doubt picked up during 2011, when Microsoft let a lot of them go. That said, Search Technologies were “Fast Alliance Partner of the Year” back in 2006, a while before Microsoft took an interest in the Scandinavian technology company. Since then, they claim to have since delivered more than 40,000 consultant-days of implementation assistance. That’s a significant amount of hands-on experience.
I note that they are actively promoting a Fast for SharePoint proof of concept service.
For large organizations on the edge of a decision, this makes a lot of sense, particularly because the proof of concept aims to show how Fast works with the customer’s own data sets, in a live environment, enabling a cost-effective comparison to be made with the alternative of staying with a base SharePoint search.
Worth a look.
Stephen E Arnold, January 24, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Protected: Simple SharePoint Differences Between Document Libraries and Lists
January 24, 2012
More Efficiency for SharePoint with Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite
January 24, 2012
The Fabasoft Mindbreeze Winter 2012 Release gives lots of good reasons to consider their third-party solution for any organization’s enterprise needs. Founder and managing director, Daniel Fallmann, highlights some of the most innovative features of the newest release in, “Our 2012 Winter Release – More Efficiency for SharePoint.”
Fallmann provides some highlights:
The Microsoft SharePoint search is replaced by Fabasoft Mindbreeze, with the added value of information pairing, which extends the search to the entire connected company knowledge – all on one page. So-called search-driven dashboards can also be created. What does this mean? All information of a page is displayed by Web Parts made available by Mindbreeze. A simple configuration is all that’s needed. The displayed content is always up-to-date and to the point. And after the initial configuration, this takes place automatically and maintenance-free. Furthermore, our 2012 Winter Release is the link between the Cloud and Microsoft SharePoint. Data from the Cloud can thereby be integrated just as easily into Micrososft SharePoint.
The Mindbreeze functionality as an add-on, connecting an existing SharePoint infrastructure to the cloud, is a good solution for companies currently struggling with the decision of moving to the cloud. Another major feature worth highlighting is Fabasoft Mindbreeze Insite.
Fallmann continues his discussion:
A further example . . . is Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite. The software achieves what would normally only be possible with intensive maintenance – to keep internet sites constantly up-to-date. Imagine you want to post a current blog article on your internet site. This is normally only possible via the use of personnel resources . . . What if search results could appear without anyone realizing that a search engine is working in the background. In other words: Always up-to-date, without anyone needing to take care of or dedicate working time for it. For example the updating of blogs, news or whatever else you want to post on your site.
The InSite feature seems to be an effective way to maintain a current web presence without devoting extensive work time to the project. So whether your organization is searching for an enterprise solution for the first time or is simply looking for a way to improve a current SharePoint installation, Fabasoft Mindbreeze has many features that definitely warrant a second look.
Emily Rae Aldridge, January 24, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Protected: Prepare for SharePoint BLOB Storage
January 23, 2012
Looking Toward SharePoint 2013
January 23, 2012
In the constant conversation surrounding SharePoint, the next SharePoint release seems to always be on the horizon, ever present in the blogosphere. SharePoint 2010 is still relatively new, and yet some experts have already moved on to the yet unknown SharePoint 2013. Mike Walsh discusses this and more in his piece, “End of year look at SharePoint.”
Walsh offers:
SharePoint 2010 came out in May 2010 so we are now just over halfway through the usual three year cycle before the next version of the product . . . Also while clearly most of the developer team have been working on the new version since they virtually left the SP 2010 forums in summer 2010, people from the team such as Bill Baer seemed to have stopped writing anything on SP 2010 and there was even a Microsoft SP 2010 blogger who recently announced the end of his SP 2010 blog articles because he had moved to working with the next version of the product. Whether this means that they are already informing people . . . about what the next version will include is something that I don’t know . . . I do however suspect that if that stage hasn’t been reached yet it will be by maybe May 2012. That would be followed by the first private betas (end summer 2012?) and in time by the first public beta . . .My own guess is that we’ll be back to the October (2013) release date we had for the 2007 products.
It seems to me that Microsoft is stuck in an old-fashioned update routine. Instead of making updates, improvements, and patches a constant fluid process, SharePoint is confined to a rigid three-year release cycle. We wonder if users might be getting a bit tired of the three-year redesign schedule. It is a bit like a lame duck presidency – if something is on the way out then it gets no further attention. Everyone is looking forward to the next thing.
For this and other reasons, we like the flexibility and agility of third-party enterprise solutions. Fabasoft Mindbreeze, for example, releases updates quarterly for on-site installations and monthly for the cloud.
From their web site:
Continuous quality assurance and performance optimization ensure extremely short release cycles. We release a new Mindbreeze Cloud update every month.
If you are looking forward to a day when SharePoint is no longer hindered by the three-year cycle, consider a third-party solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze, and enjoy the added agility that it brings to your organization’s enterprise needs.
Emily Rae Aldridge, January 23, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Protected: Personalizing SharePoint’s Search Box
January 20, 2012
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