Top 25 Most Influential People in the Microsoft SharePoint Community
November 28, 2012
In “These are the Top 25 Microsoft SharePoint Influencers for 2012,” Mark Fidelman discusses the community around SharePoint and those influencers leading the way. The top 25 were chosen based on the social scoring system outlined in the book, Socialized!. Numbers one and two on the list are discussed:
Joel Oleson (number one on the list this year) created a public facing micro-community on Yammer called SPYam to discuss and support SharePoint and Yammer. The community rallied around the Microsoft acquisition and in an attempt to learn about it – then quickly started using it in a highly visible way. You can’t buy community members like him.
Mark Miller number #2 on the list, helped organize a world SharePoint promotional tour which helped to expand the community base.
The SharePoint community is a major benefit of the software platform. The article points out that the community has grown stronger and more influential given increase in numbers and strength from year to year. Along with using the SharePoint community, you may also want to use a third party tool to fill in any gaps in the software. Fabasoft Mindbreeze offers a proven enterprise search solution with the benefit of a SharePoint Connector. The Connector links systems for enterprise-wide information access with faceted search, a familiar user interface, search results that can easily be processed into actionable information, and more.
Philip West, November 28, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Metalogix Announces Migration Tool for SharePoint 2013 Upgrade
November 20, 2012
Metalogix recently launched Content Matrix 6.0, a new take on the former Migration Manager product. Details of the tool can be read in, “Speeding, Easing SharePoint Migration.” Content Matrix aims to provide power, speed, and flexibility to upgrade to SharePoint 2013 from any previous version. The product is explained:
Content Matrix 6.0 is designed to simplify an organization’s content experience, including moving to the cloud. In addition to SharePoint migration, architects and administrators can migrate file shares and documents from legacy enterprise content management (ECM) systems and keep SharePoint content organized in a high fidelity and ongoing basis. Further, content owners have more control over content directly from the SharePoint user interface.
The company is also introducing SharePoint 4.0, which offers the ability to automatic and continuously back up unstructured SharePoint content. The tool may be worth looking into for a migration option. You may also want to consider a more comprehensive solution, especially for reducing content storage sprawl and adding structure to your vast unstructured data. Fabasoft Mindbreeze integrates knowledge from all sections of a company into a uniform, linked whole hub of business information. With the added benefit of a SharePoint connector, Mindbreeze snaps seamlessly into existing systems to extend capabilities and efficiently create relevant business knowledge.
Philip West, November 20, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SharePoint 2013 Walk Through from Search Technologies
November 16, 2012
With the recent release of SharePoint 2013 to manufacturing clients as well as volume licensing customers, people are struggling to find information about the product to prepare for the transition.
New information is available about SharePoint 2013’s search capabilities in a recent blog post from Search Technologies. The post, “Search for SharePoint 2013,” provides a high-level summary and a functional walk-through of the capabilities, including crawling, content and analytics processing, and query processing.
The article also breaks down the main headlines about the release:
“The FAST search technology, acquired by Microsoft in 2008, is at the heart of SharePoint 2013
Technologies and ideas from Bing and elsewhere have been added to the mix to provide a comprehensive set of enterprise search capabilities, with plenty of room for customization
It includes a rules-based query parsing framework
Pricing has not yet been formally announced, but it is generally assumed that this search functionality will be a standard part of SharePoint 2013.”
We found the information on SharePoint which is available at this site to be informative and easy to digest. Browsing the blog brought up numerous other points of specialties in the IT services and search engine field of expertise. Other articles can be found at http://www.searchtechnologies.com/blog.html. We recommend adding this blog to your must-read list.
Andrea Hayden, November 16, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com
Azaleos Survey Reveals Increased SharePoint Adoption but also Challenges
November 16, 2012
SharePoint adoption continues to grow and remain high according to an Azaleos Corporation and Osterman Research survey. The survey also revealed some inhibitors to greater SharePoint growth, including lack of administrative skills, training, and knowledge for current staff members. HeraldOnline weighs in on the findings in the article, “SharePoint Cost of Ownership Jumped 16 Percent in 2012 Finds Osterman Research.” This is added about possible challenges:
’According to Osterman Research, SharePoint is still an extremely high growth platform, but soaring management costs, coupled with insufficient staffing levels and training are leading to performance and satisfaction issues. This is threatening its momentum,’ said Scott Gode, vice president of product management and marketing for Azaleos. ‘To derive maximum business value from SharePoint enterprises need to reevaluate current approaches to systems administration and storage management in order to reduce costs. In addition, SharePoint governance should be given a much higher level of priority by both IT and business leadership.’
The author adds that staffing cut backs and poor governance are also challenges for organizations. The article highlights some important SharePoint issues you may want to consider when evaluating your approach to the ubiquitous platform. One approach worth looking at is a cost-effective third party solution to extend SharePoint capabilities, like Mindbreeze. Mindbreeze facilitates the comprehensive incorporation of all electronic data repositories and connects seamlessly with SharePoint. And with an intuitive user interface, users will find can easily adapt.
Philip West, November 16, 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.
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.
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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