Microsoft Extends DLP to SharePoint
September 9, 2014
Microsoft is unveiling data loss prevention for the Office 365 suite. Administrators will be able to search for information across SharePoint Online and OneDrive. Read more in the PCWorld article, “Microsoft Rolls Out DLP to SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business.”
The article begins:
“Microsoft has extended the data loss prevention features in Office 365 so that they are available not only for its email tools but also for data in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business. Office 365 already had DLP capabilities for Exchange Online and Outlook, so that compliance officers could monitor email communications and enforce corporate and regulatory rules regarding the use of sensitive corporate data, such as confidential intellectual property details and customers’ financial information.”
Microsoft continues to improve the Office 365, spending special attention on streamlining and improving the user experience for SharePoint. For users who are interested in keeping up with the latest updates, keep an eye on ArnoldIT.com and particularly the SharePoint feed. Stephen E. Arnold has made a career out of all things search, and his expertise shines through as he offers the latest tips and tricks for SharePoint users.
Emily Rae Aldridge, September 09, 2014
Microsoft Clarifies SharePoint Patch Process
September 4, 2014
Microsoft has not had good luck with their service pack updates and patch processes this year. Riddled with complications, Microsoft has had to overcome some bad press, and this week had to offer some clarification for regarding its recently released August Cumulative Update. Read all the details in the article, “Microsoft Clarifies SharePoint 2013 Patch Process and New ‘Uber Packages’.”
The article begins:
“Microsoft offered clarification about its patch process for SharePoint Server 2013 this week. The occasion for confusion, prompting Microsoft’s clarification, was the release of the August Cumulative Update (CU) for SharePoint 2013. The August CU came with a caveat about having to install the July CU first. That led SharePoint experts, such Microsoft MVP Todd Klindt, to say that the August CU really wasn’t a cumulative update after all.”
This constant back and forth from Microsoft forces administrators into persistent vigilance regarding the latest news and changes to the SharePoint platform. Stephen E. Arnold has devoted his life to search and his Web site ArnoldIT.com is a good repository for helpful information. His SharePoint feed is a good one to bookmark to stay on top of the latest changes, and offers advice on how your organization can overcome the latest SharePoint struggle.
Emily Rae Aldridge, September 04, 2014
Microsoft Shakes Up SharePoint Online to Increase Storage
September 2, 2014
In response to an ever-increasing need for storage, Microsoft has announced changes to the way SharePoint Online manages storage blocks. Read about the latest announcement in the PC World article, “Microsoft Tweaks SharePoint Online to Free Up Site Storage.”
The article begins:
“Microsoft has tweaked the controls in SharePoint Online to let administrators make better use of storage resources allocated to SharePoint websites. The changes seek to make processes more automated, and to add some flexibility in how storage for SharePoint Online is managed within the Office 365 suite. Until now, SharePoint site collections, which are groups of related SharePoint websites, had to be assigned a set amount of storage, and that storage space couldn’t be used for anything else even if some of it went unused.”
Users and administrators will benefit from the increased flexibility. It also shows some effort on the part of Microsoft to improve the SharePoint user experience by taking care of some “no-brainer” flaws in the system. Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search and continues to keep an eye on the latest news in his SharePoint feed on ArnoldIT.com. Staying on top of these announcements is a great way for organizations to keep increasingly their SharePoint efficiency.
Emily Rae Aldridge, September 02, 2014
Using SharePoint as a Video Platform
August 28, 2014
Video and other forms of dynamic media are an increasingly large share of the information market. This type of media has historically been a bit harder to index and make sense of in the business realm, but that is beginning to change. Read more in the TechRadar article, “Why You Should Use SharePoint as a Video Platform.”
The article begins:
“In the modern age, video is emerging as a content medium of choice, especially for the next generation worker who has grown up with video content playing a key role in their daily lives. The SharePoint platform, while not built with video in mind, can be enhanced to become a powerful and effective video content platform, catering for both live video events and on-demand video content.”
The article then goes on to explain how you can work with video content by enhancing your existing SharePoint setup. These non-traditional functions of SharePoint can really help an organization get the most bang for their buck when it comes to SharePoint. However, it can take a good bit of time and customization, and to help ease that burden, Web sites like ArnoldIT.com can be helpful. Stephen E. Arnold has made a career out of all things search and devotes a good bit of time to the best tips and tricks regarding SharePoint. Keep an eye on his SharePoint feed for more ways to help your organizations squeeze all the good out of SharePoint.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 28, 2014
SharePoint Online Admin Center Simplifies
August 26, 2014
Microsoft is trying to simplify the Office 365 experience from all angles, but the latest SharePoint simplification focuses on the SharePoint Online admin center. Read all the details in the WinBeta article, “Simplified Office 365 Admin Experience Arrives for SharePoint Online Admin Center.”
The article begins:
“Microsoft has simplified the SharePoint Online admin center, as part of the company’s journey to simplify the Office 365 admin experience. You can now choose between a simple or advanced admin experience, control top navigation items, and block workflows from being used from your environment. The simple admin center experience displays only the essential options used in the most common scenarios. This includes site collection management, user profile management, and the main settings for external sharing, Information Rights Management, and more. The advanced admin center, on the other hand, offers access to all SharePoint Online management capabilities.”
The simplification is needed and welcome. However, using the admin center will still be far from intuitive. SharePoint is a huge infrastructure and tips, tricks, and workarounds are still greatly needed for most users and administrators. Stephen E. Arnold has dedicated his career to all things search, and reports his findings on ArnoldIT.com. His SharePoint feed is a great resource for those who are learning more about all angles of SharePoint.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 26, 2014
Microsoft Focuses on SharePoint User Experience
August 21, 2014
Microsoft is turnings its attention to the user experience of SharePoint in their roadmap for Office 365. SharePoint receives a lot of attention for its increased functionality, but it receives a lot of negative attention for its complexity and general difficulty of use. CMS Wire covers the issue in their latest article, “Where User Experience Should Fit in SharePoint’s Roadmap.”
The article begins:
“One only need to take a look at the Microsoft roadmap for Office 365 to see that the company is making huge investments in the UX for SharePoint, from new social and search capabilities (such as Office Graph, inline social and Groups) to deeper integrations with other Microsoft platforms, like Dynamics CRM. Unlike previous platform updates, the focus of each incremental release is clearly meant to improve the end user (and administrator) experience within the platform.”
And while it is comforting to see that Microsoft is taking user experience seriously, many users and managers will still need help along the way. One source of help may be ArnoldIT.com. The Web site is managed by Stephen E. Arnold – a longtime leader in all things search. His SharePoint feed is especially insightful, offering tips and tricks for all levels of user.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 21, 2014
Companies Do Not Reap all the Benefits of SharePoint
August 19, 2014
SharePoint has grown and expanded its many capabilities with the release of SharePoint 2013, and yet many companies are still not fully taking advantage of the platform. ITWeb covers the issue in their article, “How Are Companies Really Using SharePoint?”
The article begins by describing SharePoint:
“It is more than just ‘somewhere to put your documents.’ SharePoint is an enterprise platform that solves multiple business challenges. With this in mind and in an effort to provide a better view of the real-world application of the SharePoint platform and it capabilities, Concero IT, a Specialist SharePoint Service Provider, took it upon itself to analyse exactly what companies are using SharePoint for, and why. As illustrated in the infographic, SharePoint is a very powerful single platform that can address multiple business requirements.”
Some companies may just be overwhelmed by the vastness of SharePoint. It takes time and money to train SharePoint users and managers, but some organizations may find it worthwhile to squeeze all the potential usefulness out of this large application. Stephen E. Arnold has devoted his career to all things search, including a large percentage of that work to SharePoint. His Web site, ArnoldIT.com, is a useful repository of tips and tricks, and his SharePoint feed is especially helpful.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 19, 2014
SharePoint Benefits from Apps
August 14, 2014
SharePoint is an extremely popular, but extremely complicated piece of software. Many organizations build their entire information architecture around it, so it is important to have an understanding about how all employees can benefit from different aspects of the system. Visual Studio Magazine turns their attention to SharePoint’s emerging focus on apps in their article, “SharePoint: All About the Apps.”
The article begins:
“SharePoint is one of the more prominent collaboration platforms . . . Implementing such a complex collaboration platform can be a challenge. If your organization is using SharePoint or planning to, you can learn more about developing and deploying custom SharePoint apps at SharePoint Live, as part of Live 360, happening this November 18-22 in Orlando, FL.”
Stephen E. Arnold has made a lifelong career out of following all things search on ArnoldIT.com, and reports frequently on the popular topic of SharePoint, on his customized SharePoint feed. He understands the complexity of SharePoint and the necessity of almost constant training and professional development. It is encouraging to see an older software like SharePoint adapting to a new format through apps and other features, but it does take commitment on the part of the user to learn new skills.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 14, 2014
The Last Mile of SharePoint Connectivity
August 12, 2014
SharePoint is such a large infrastructure that it is easy for organizations to get bogged down in the big picture and forget about the final details. However, experts say that the “last mile” or last bit of software that connections to the actual user, is perhaps the most important. CMS Wire fleshes out this idea and how it relates to SharePoint in their article, “Focus on the Last Mile of SharePoint Automation.”
The article says:
“Within the telecommunications space, the ‘last mile’ is a metaphorical phrase used to describe the final leg of the telecom network where the customer physically connects to the network. How much of your SharePoint environment has been designed for that last mile? In other words, how much has been designed for the end user experience rather than just to meet your functional requirements?”
Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime expert in search and gives a good bit of attention to SharePoint on his Web site, ArnoldIT.com. He also concentrates a lot of his energy on the user experience, because a search solution is only effective if employees are willing to use it. If your organization is in need of more effective search, keep an eye on Arnold’s SharePoint feed for the latest tips, tricks, and add-ons.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 12, 2014
Tackling a Small SharePoint Cleanup
August 7, 2014
SharePoint cleanup is never fun, regardless of the size of the organization. However, there are ways to make it smoother than expected, and to take a bit of the pain out of the process. CMS Wire gives some advice on this process for small organizations in their article, “One Consultant’s Approach to a Small SharePoint Cleanup.”
The article begins:
“A pilot SharePoint cleanup project is straightforward. A consultant facilitating a small project to clean up a company’s SharePoint intranet can reach the lessons learned phase with a few basic tools. Recall the mantra: simple is elegant. You will require these basic tools: a project proposal, a workbook, a decision tree, a summary report.”
Stephen E. Arnold is also a helpful resource when it comes to SharePoint advice, tips, and tricks. He has made a career out of covering all things search, including SharePoint, and reporting on them via his Web service, ArnoldIT.com. His SharePoint feed is particularly helpful, and SharePoint users and managers for organizations of any size will find it useful. Keep an eye out for any tricks that might be helpful for your organization the next time you are called upon to update or cleanup your SharePoint implementation.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 07, 2014
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