SharePoint Not on the Radar
September 26, 2013
Microsoft recently updated its SharePoint Cloud services to include more options that allow more flexibility for mobile users. While the PR for this update has been well received, “AIIM Research Indicates SharePoint Has A ‘Cloudy’ Future” says PRWeb. This reminds me of something Stephen E Arnold of Arnold IT notes in many of reports about how upgrades may be good, but they do not solve the underlying problems, such as implementation and security.
AIIM conducted a survey and found that only 6% of its respondents found their deployments successful, while 43% are struggling with implementing SharePoint, and another 28% say that progress has stalled in their SharePoint projects. That only touches the shallow end of the SharePoint pool. Many companies are also running multiple versions of the software, which can only lead to compatibility issues.
And how is SharePoint Cloud security viewed?
“ ‘There are many benefits to tapping into the power of SharePoint 2013, specifically the mobile and social aspects, yet as our research indicates, many business and IT leaders are wary of security issues around cloud technology,’ said AIIM President John Mancini. ‘While using SharePoint can help companies of any size, as a collaborative platform and even a records management tool, it’s clear from our research that, based on a variety of factors, deployments and adoption of the technology has not reached its original goals.’”
SharePoint is a viable solution, but behind the shiny labels and screensaver there are many, many problems.
Whitney Grace, September 26, 2013
SharePoint Search: An Open Source Widget
September 15, 2013
If you have SharePoint responsibilities, you know how fabulous Microsoft’s Swiss Army knife solution is. Let me explain. The “fabulousness” applies to consultants, integrators, and “experts” who can make the rusty blade cut better than it does once the system is installed.
I learned about “SharePoint 2013 Search Query Tool” from one of the ArnoldIT SharePoint experts. You can download tool to test out and debug search queries against the SharePoint 2013 REST API. The tool does not help improve either the system or the user queries, but I find this software interesting for three reasons:
After years of Microsoft innovation, there are still issues with getting relevant results. Ergo the open source tool.
SharePoint does not provide a native administrative function to perform this type of testing.
Open source may be edging toward SharePoint. If the baby steps mature, will an open source snap in to replace the wild and crazy Fast Search & Transfer technology pop into being?
Stephen E Arnold, one of the world’s leading experts in information retrieval said:
Fast Search is on a technical par with SharePoint. The idea that two flawed systems can cope with changing user needs, Big Data, and unexpected system interactions is making SharePoint software which boosts costs. Change may be forced on Microsoft and without warning.
Worth thinking about and checking out the free widget.
Stuart Schram
Microsoft Sharepoint Found Strong, But Lacking in Key Functions
September 15, 2013
In the article titled Is Semantic Search the Solution to Information Retrieval in Sharepoint? on CMS Wire, a survey taken by a UK firm is under discussion. The survey reveals that up to half of Sharepoint users have trouble with finding internal information or getting the full support for the business in which Sharepoint is being deployed. The article does stress that the survey does not specifically ask what version of Sharepoint the respondents use. The article explains,
“The research points out that SharePoint is primarily an enterprise collaboration platform and not a search tool… It also shows that many information professionals believe they are getting less out of SharePoint enterprise search functions than their peers. Even worse, a quarter of SharePoint users believe that the SharePoint search function is offering them access to less than half the information contained in the enterprise. It also shows that most users think that information workers in other enterprises have better search capabilities.”
With nearly 100 million users globally, and 78% of Fortune 500 companies using Sharepoint, the research suggests that the search function was the most problematic.
Chelsea Kerwin, September 15, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Image Rendition in Display Template for Content Search on Sharepoint 2013
September 12, 2013
The Sharepoint 2013 blog explains how to enhance image results in the post Sharepoint Search Vegas Style, Display Template with Image Renditions. Sharepoint 2013’s Image Rendition enables one to use specific image renditions combined with Channels. This is particularly important when using mobile devices, since smaller images used with Channels allow for a superior performance on websites for mobile devices. This article focuses on the steps needed to use Image Renditions in Display Template for Content Search web part. The article explains that after creating a page and configuring the web part to display only the images desired,
“I opened SharePoint Designer and made a copy of Item_Pictures3Lines.html.
I called the file Item_Picture3vegasLines.html. At line 50, there is a code: var pictureURL = $getItemValue(ctx, “Picture URL”);
I added: var vegasURL=pictureURL + “?RenditionID=5″;At line 71, I removed a class: <div class=”cbs-picture3LinesImageContainer” id=”_#= pictureContainerId =#_”> This removed class sets image to 100px width and 100px height.
The code looks like this: <div id=”_#= pictureContainerId =#_”>”
From there, the author adds an image title next to the image with the code: <div style=”float:left;margin-bottom:5px;” id=”_#= pictureContainerId =#_”>. (The article also includes the full code for Item_Picture3vegasLines.html.)
Chelsea Kerwin, September 12, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Research before You Start a SharePoint Architecture
September 9, 2013
When the preprogrammed “help” function on Microsoft’s software does not work, the next place users turn to is Microsoft’s Technet. Technet is Microsoft’s official help Web site that has more useful information and gets into the nuts and bolts of the software. It takes a bit of computer savvy to understand some of the information on Technet, but it was written in mind for the beginner. We have been thinking about SharePoint search a lot lately, but one cannot search SharePoint without a system setup, right? We felt it was best to inform our readers on how to get started on working on a SharePoint architecture, so we found “Plan Enterprise Search Architecture In SharePoint Server 2013” on Technet.
Here is how you can use the article to your benefit:
“Before you set up your enterprise search architecture, there are quite a few things that require careful planning. Step by step, we’ll help you to plan a small, a medium, or a large-size enterprise search architecture. Are you familiar with the components of the search system in SharePoint 2013, and how they interact? By reading Overview of search in SharePoint Server 2013 and Search architectures for SharePoint Server 2013 before you get going, you’ll become familiar with search architecture, search components, search databases, and the search topology.”
Even if Microsoft causes headaches, having information directly from the software source is often the best place to start for planning projects. Who knows software better than the developer? The article may not have all the information you need, but thanks to the Internet there are other sources available. More SharePoint tips, tricks, and news are available at ArnoldIT.
Whitney Grace, September 09, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Once Again SharePoint Search Needs Augmentation
September 9, 2013
Collaborative content management programs are a solution to share information and connect users across multiple devices. An important function of the platform is search. SharePoint is a favorite out-of-the-box content software of many organizations, but like any Microsoft product it needs to be tweaked to make it perform at its best. Search is one of its functions that needs a lot of tweaking and Mentor Mate has a SharePoint Tips blog to help administrators improve search. One of its latest posts, “Pitfalls Configuring A SharePoint 2010 Search Service Application” tries to answer how to set up restricted access:
“In the following, first, blog we talk about restricted access for Search Service Application on a clean SharePoint farm even for a farm administrator account. So, we have a clean SharePoint 2010 install, we try to access the Search Service Application (under Application Management ? Manage Service Applications) and… we get an unexpected access denied. “
The author, Kiril Illiev, follows through with how he resolved the situation and the steps he took to get there. The post reads as an instructional article on how to fix SharePoint’s search application, complete with screenshots. SharePoint search can be enhanced with tips like this.
Whitney Grace, September 09, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
SharePoint 2010 Disappoints on ECM
July 31, 2013
Microsoft’s SharePoint can be many things to an enterprise. It helps us manage intranets, portals, forms processing, BI, business process management, collaboration. . . . However, one of its most basic functions, content management, has underwhelmed many companies, we learn from “Does SharePoint Measure Up for Enterprise Content Management?” at Australia’s IDM. In fact, many organizations supplement their SharePoint investment with a traditional enterprise content management (ECM) platform.
The article cites a recent whitepaper from AIIM that addresses SharePoint’s shortcomings:
AIIM recently released a whitepaper that explores the topic of SharePoint adoption, titled: “The SharePoint Puzzle.” In this Whitepaper, AIIM discusses why organizations selected SharePoint in the first place and how it performed against expectations. AIIM describes the drivers within this report:
“The collaborative aspects of SharePoint were the strongest original driver for exactly half of our respondents, rising to 57% for the largest organizations, with 38% for the smallest. Web portal/intranet (26%) and project management (13%) were also strong drivers but of more interest is the fact that SharePoint was more often selected to be a file-share replacement than a live document/content management system.”
Some key findings include:
– 28% of respondents have SharePoint in use across their whole workforce. 70% have at least half of their staff using it once a week or more.
– Over half feel they would be 50% more productive with enhanced workflow, search, information reporting and automated document creation tools.
– Over half (54%) are using or planning to use 3rd party add-on products in order to enhance functionality. Only a third thinks they will stick with the vanilla product.
– Difficulty of content migration and information governance capabilities are given as the biggest shortfalls in expectations.
The article discusses anecdotal examples from a couple of companies. The Aussie offices of law firm Herbert Smith Freehills uses SharePoint 2010 for its intranet, but relies on the Autonomy‘s Interwoven Filesite for ECM. In the public sphere, the city of Bunbury, Western Australia, was happy to replace its old data repository with SharePoint 2010. However, reports the city’s IT manager, they are disappointed by the platform’s limited search capacity.
Note that in both these examples, the SharePoint version used is 2010. Does SharePoint 2013 step up its search-functionality game?
Cynthia Murrell, July 31, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Information Manager Enterprise User Edition Improves on SharePoint Usability
July 22, 2013
An article on MarketWatch titled MetaVis Makes It Easier to Organize Content in SharePoint 2013 refers to the announcement by MetaVis that its product Information Manager Enterprise User Edition supports SharePoint. Working to simplify SharePoint for users, this edition allows for bulk copy, upload, download and classify content features. The article states,
“Organizing information in SharePoint does not need to be hard,” said Peter Senescu, President and Co-founder of MetaVis Technologies. “MetaVis Information Manager Enterprise Edition provides users with more control to manage content directly from the SharePoint 2013 user interface minimizing the learning curve and increasing the use of metadata. For a SharePoint deployment to be successful, content needs to be properly tagged and easily searched. “
A free trial version is available, touting such features as Remap Content, which enables the user to move content easily into new fields, Security Trimmed, which limits access to locations or items as permitted by the user and Hide/Show Features, which works with the permission levels to only reveal features to users with permission. In spite of some concern that SharePoint is at the end of its usefulness, Metavis has continued to stick with it. Whether or not this is the right choice remains to be seen.
Chelsea Kerwin, July 22, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
JackBe Embraces SharePoint with Presto Release
July 19, 2013
An article on Business Wire titled JackBe Presto Makes SharePoint Real-Time for the Enterprise reports on the software provider, JackBe. JackBe provides intuitive dashboards that organize Big Data. Presto Add-On for SharePoint, the most recent version of their software, allows users to build apps and dashboards with a familiar interface. The article explains,
“Presto Add-On for SharePoint enables users to query Presto-connected data within SharePoint, using SharePoint Search. In addition, the solution’s new “FAST Enterprise Search” Wires block provides a simple drag-and-drop search experience using FAST, SharePoint’s popular enterprise search capability. Powered by Wires, Presto’s “point-click-mash” visual assembly tool, Presto Add-On for SharePoint enables mashing of multiple FAST search results with support for keyword and FAST Query Language (FQL) queries. This allows users to easily combine data from multiple sources, lists and queries into single, meaningful data visualizations.”
Not only FAST Search block, but several other new Wires are included in the recent upgrade. SharePoint List Add Item, SharePoint List, SharePoint List Merge, SharePoint Search and External Content Adapter are all Wire blocks that will enable reading and replying to data sources and solving List ID issues. We can’t help but notice that as soon as other vendors are exiting SharePoint, JackBe jumps in full throttle.
Chelsea Kerwin, July 19, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Topology Configuration for SharePoint 2013
July 16, 2013
We’ve found an interesting how-to on topology configuration. The Team Blog of MCS @ Middle East and Africa posts, “Configuring SharePoint 2013 Search Topology.” Blogger and Microsoft employee Issa Ayyash begins:
“When creating the Search Service application, a default topology will be built automatically where all Search components are assigned to the server which is running the Central Administration, in multi servers farm scenario you need to change this topology, the only available way currently is through PowerShell which will provide more flexibility in configuring the topology, (you can NOT modify the topology through UI like you used to do with SharePoint 2010)”
Yes, that change could be frustrating if one didn’t get the memo. For a rundown of the differences between SharePoint 2010 and SharePoint 2013, click here.
Ayyash goes on to guide us through an example five-server setup, complete with a helpful diagram, a screenshot, and snippets of code. The model dedicates three servers to query processing and two as application servers. This post is a concise and informative resource for anyone who may be called upon to configure a SharePoint 2013 search topology.
Cynthia Murrell, July 16, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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