Developing a Framework for SharePoint Success
July 19, 2012
In “The Art of SharePoint Success: Epilogue – The Call to Action,” Symon Garfield writes his 20th and final installments of the Art of SharePoint Success series. The series explains a framework which aims to ensure long term, measurable return on your SharePoint investment with four elements: governance, strategy, architecture, and transition.
Garfield explains his consulting approach:
Broadly the aim of these engagements is to align SharePoint investments with strategic objectives and deliver a high-level medium term SharePoint roadmap. Depending on the client and their particular strategic lens I call the engagement something along the lines of, ‘Knowledge & Information Management Roadmap,’ ‘Collaboration Strategy,’ ‘SharePoint Roadmap.’…Regardless of the size of the organization, the numbers of people involved, or the size of the budgets, I aim to deliver the engagement in five days of work.
Garfield’s in-depth article may be worth bookmarking if you are in any stage of a SharePoint deployment. And we know budgets are tight and the economy has been shaky for a while. Everyone is taking a close look at dollars coming in and out of the business. The series may be worth a read to help you develop a roadmap for measuring ROI. Consider adding a comprehensive and cost-effective solution to your system for maximum ROI. Mindbreeze snaps seamlessly into the SharePoint system to give your users an enhanced search and navigation experience with secure, reliable, and efficient action. Read more about the solutions at http://www.mindbreeze.com/.
Philip West, July 19, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Tips for Businesses to Take Ownership of SharePoint Management
July 3, 2012
Sometimes tensions exist between legacy management issues in SharePoint and new business goals and values. In her blog post, “How to Get Business to Take Ownership of SharePoint,” Veronique Palmer addresses the issue and offers some tips on how to get a business to take the SharePoint reins.
The author explains one of her tips:
Do you have a training plan and support path? If you want business to take ownership, you have to train them to do that. If you want them to use the platform in a certain way, you have to train them…Once they start building their own sites, do you have a dedicated help desk that can assist them with queries quickly without having to log a change request? What type of support do you have in place for them?
Palmer also points out that the system needs to be flexible and open to change and a governance forum initiative that involves key business people is imperative. 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.
Philip West, July 3, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Prepare in Advance for SharePoint 15
May 18, 2012
Much like the discussion that flowed before the release of SharePoint 2010, the same voices are now chattering about the impending release of SharePoint 15, likely launched in the first quarter of 2013. Many experts are already weighing in on how to best prepare your enterprise for the move. David Roe of CMS Wire talks with Chris McNulty of Quest Software in, “SharePoint 15: 8 Things to Help You Prepare.”
Everything, McNulty said, is about planning; you can’t just jump into SharePoint 15. But you couldn’t just jump into SharePoint 2010, or 2007 or 2003, for that matter. So just like the last time, Quest is advising companies to plan any future deployments, even if many companies appear to have had their head in the sand when that lesson was being given out the first time.
Chris McNulty goes on to suggest eight major categories of preparation: optimized environment, consolidate content, data externalization, governance plan, enterprise content management, be social, custom coding, and cloud strategy. While each of those categories comprises a good bit of advice, we think that they could extend to any number of enterprise offerings, and many organizations are looking beyond SharePoint.
Consider Fabasoft Mindbreeze. This smart third-party enterprise solution can stand alone or work alongside an existing SharePoint infrastructure. Furthermore, Fabasoft Mindbreeze offers Connectors that work to seamlessly integrate all electronic data.
As the optimum search and information access solution, Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise facilitates the comprehensive incorporation of all electronic data repositories. Data sources and storage systems are connected to Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise via Fabasoft Mindbreeze Connectors. The standard product scope includes Connectors for the most common data sources. Additional Connectors are available to purchase as required.
While many will still consider SharePoint as the flagship of the enterprise market, many organizations are eager for more agile, intuitive solutions that update more frequently than the typical three-year Microsoft cycle. These organizations would do well to consider Fabasoft Mindbreeze and their suite of solutions.
Emily Rae Aldridge, May 18, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Managing Change and User Adoption during a SharePoint Deployment
May 8, 2012
Symon Garfield discusses transition in the 16th installment of his Art of SharePoint Success series at the CMSWire.com Blog. In the article, “The Art of SharePoint Success: Transition – There’s No Such Thing as a SharePoint Project,” Garfield uses Transition as an umbrella term to include change management and user adoption. He also looks at Transition as the fourth element, behind Governance, Strategy, and Architecture, in a four point framework for ensuring long term return on a SharePoint investment.
SharePoint’s potential as a catalyst for a big change in an organization means you need a plan. Garfield explains:
A structured approach means that we have a plan. Transitioning from the current state means that you understand the current situation and know where you are starting from. A desired future state means you know what you are trying to achieve and will recognize when we have done it. A controlled manner means that you have some means of measuring your progress. If you don’t have all of these elements in place then you’re not ready to start.
Because SharePoint can facilitate change in business processes, organizational structures, power shifts, individual behavior, and business relationships, Garfield stresses understanding the different types of change and how to plan for them. For example, an incremental or gradual change, versus a radical or fundamental change, is often the secret to success with SharePoint, according to Garfield. Other types of changes, including organizational versus sub-system and remedial versus developmental, are also covered. Managing change and user adoption is no doubt a challenge for organizations. Garfield brings up some valid points that may be worth the read if you’re implementing a SharePoint system.
To help manage the change, consider a quality third party solution, like Fabasoft Mindbreeze, that gets your users the right information and the right time. Mindbreeze can really get you the most out of your enterprise search investments and extend the capabilities of your SharePoint system. For a deep solution that connects your business information with the Cloud and gives your users the search and navigation experience they need, check out Mindbreeze.
Philip West, May 8, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Security and Compliance Guidance with SharePoint
March 29, 2012
Maintaining security standards and governance compliance in the enterprise is not always easy when trying to minimize risks and maximize access. Mike Fleck addresses the issue in, “SharePoint, Security, and Compliance.” Fleck explains:
“One thing I think that the SharePoint community can easily agree on is that adequately securing SharePoint implementations and meeting compliance obligations are good things. The many capabilities and advantages that SharePoint brings to the enterprise are well documented…Security and compliance are closely related topics. Compliance regulations dictate numerous security controls. Having a strong security posture makes meeting compliance requirements (and proving compliance to auditors) far easier.”
Fleck’s article is the first in a series on security and compliance as related to the collaboration platform. SharePoint architects and administrators may benefit from the read. Some guidance might help as you look to prioritize high level concerns and pertinent questions for increased SharePoint security and compliance.
While information creation and SharePoint adoption continue to grow, you may find the platform is not the complete out-of-the-box solution for enterprise security and compliance needs. If you need a bit of help with it you might check into Mindbreeze and their dynamic search technologies that bring together security, mobility, and information pairing.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze exceeds relevant international standards, including ISO 27001, ISO 20000, ISO 9001, and SAS 70 Typ II. Here you can read more about Mindbreeze certifications:
“Fabasoft has received ISO 20000 certification for the IT services Folio Cloud and Folio SaaS. This furthers the Austrian company’s strategy of implementing international standards, with it already being ISO 9001 and 27001 certified. Fabasoft is one of just twelve companies in Austria with ISO 20000 certification.”
With strict compliance standards, certified security, and regular external audits, Mindbreeze can maximize your information assets with security reliability.
Philip West, March 29, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Considerations for SharePoint Career Development
March 28, 2012
Over at the ShareMuch Blog, Yaroslav Pentsarskyy looks at SharePoint career development in, “How Come Joe-the-SharePoint-Guy Doesn’t Know? SharePoint Career Evolution.” As SharePoint continues to expand and develop, IT employees have to keep up with continuing education and an evolving skill set. Pentsarskyy shares his subjective suggestion:
1. Pick your discipline area (Infrastructure, Technical BA, Developer, User Interface Developer etc.). Something you`re prepared to be an expert in;
2. Be clear on deliverables you are going to have to produce as a part of your area focus (Design Document? DR plan? Code? Governance Plan? etc.). Deliverables will outline your role on projects (usually your title is too vague, everyone wants to know what you`re actually going to produce);
3. Pick a few but not too many product areas (BI, Collab, Publishing etc) and be good at those.
Pentsarskyy warns that trying to keep up with everything may leave you as an expert in nothing. Honing in on a development area may be beneficial to many IT employees that feel stretched too thin across growing collaboration products.
SharePoint is a ubiquitous platform that continues to grow. 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 the full suite of products and solutions at Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
Philip West, March 28, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Overcoming Perceived SharePoint Barriers with Mindbreeze
March 26, 2012
Over at the AIIM.org SharePoint Experts Blog, Rich Blank confronts the tensions between SharePoint adoption, social technologies, and business goals in, “Is SharePoint an Obstacle in Your Organization.”
Blank summarizes:
“Bottom line is that SharePoint is not the obstacle. SharePoint has simply forced organizations to focus on real underlying information management, governance, compliance, service delivery, and cultural change issues at scale. In fact, if you view things holistically, the vast Microsoft ecosystem provides all the capabilities, security, and compliance required for effective communication, collaboration, news/information, team sites, communities, social, search, ECM at an attractive total cost of ownership.”
Blank suggests that organizations can focus on delivering collaboration as a service in order to introduce capabilities to users. He also warns against rushing into the hype of social business without carefully considering the overall architectural vision and basic information management principles.
This is not the first discussion on SharePoint out-of-the-box capabilities not meeting collaboration expectations in the organization. One way to make your SharePoint system accessible and more powerful is by integrating a third party solution. We like the feedback we’ve heard from customers of Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Mobility and Cloud search capabilities are just some of the Mindbreeze benefits. With information pairing, Mindbreeze allows you to connect valuable business knowledge with the right people:
“It sounds easy at first glance but it’s technologically highly complex. 6 years of research and development work later, Fabasoft Mindbreeze has the answer: Information pairing. This involves the boundless networking of company relevant information within an enterprise or organization and placing it in the Cloud. In my opinion acting in this way in all business issues is reliable, dynamic and profitable – the basis for competitive advantage.”
Read more about the full suite of solutions at http://www.mindbreeze.com/.
Philip West, March 26, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
MessageSolution for Managing SharePoint Data
March 8, 2012
We have here another attempt to tame SharePoint’s content wild ponies: “MessageSolution Showcasing SharePoint Governance and eDiscovery Platform at Microsoft SharePoint Technology Conference 2012”, reports SeattlePi. The write up declares:
By integrating award-winning enterprise archiving policy with SharePoint’s record center functions, MessageSolution has created a framework to automate eDiscovery and manage risk in SharePoint distributed farms. Now SharePoint administrators can regulate compliance, remotely offload Blobs to optimize SharePoint storage space and server performance, as well as search and restore objects instantly without the need for additional IT assistance.
For those who may not know, a Blob (also written BLOB) is a Binary Large Object. By offloading these objects from a SharePoint server using Microsoft approved EBS and RBS protocols, MessageSolution can speed up tasks in the SharePoint environment. This comes in handy when searching and restoring data for legal discovery proceedings. Furthermore, the article asserts, the tool reduces storage requirements with a high compression rate and single-instance storage.
Designed for both mid- and large-scale organizations, the product also sports a unified index; retention management; legal holds with hold notifications; a unified user interface and index; and federated search. The product’s focus on back-end design, according to the write up, means fewer hassles during installation and maintenance as well as a reduced backup time. See the article for more details.
MessageSolution’s SharePoint Management Solutions and its Enterprise eDiscovery Platform will be showcased at the 2012 SharePoint Technology Conference February 28-29 at the Union Square Hilton in San Francisco (booth #808).
Founded in 2002, MessageSolution has assembled a team of veterans from a number of other Silicon Valley enterprises. The company prides itself on providing solutions that simplify the complex processes of archiving and eDiscovery, including managing language differences, for organizations around the world.
Search Technologies stands ready to assist clients with search and content processing services for Microsoft SharePoint environments.
Iain Fletcher, Search Technologies, March 8, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Plan for Scalability with SharePoint
March 1, 2012
Brett Kovatch, “The SharePoint Dude,” takes an non-traditional approach to the common issue of SharePoint and its long list of things to do and things not to do. Kovatch gives his offerings in the article, “Five SharePoint Don’t-Dos.”
In addition to topics like planning and governance, the author also addresses the importance of scalability:
Don’t forget to plan for growth! This is extremely critical. All too often, I’ve seen companies build a solution that works . . . Right now. In order to build a successful solution, it must be one that works now and in the future. So many companies start out small and then, because they have done some key things right, suddenly grow to an unexpected scale. This is great news (unless you failed to plan for it). If you’re not prepared for growth, you will be scrambling at a time when your business critically needs a stable solution.
Many third-party solutions can make the issue of scalability a much simpler one. Fabasoft Mindbreeze offers an entire suite of enterprise search solutions. In addition to the software itself, the Fabasoft Mindbreeze Appliance meets an organization’s needs by providing swifter implementation and seamless upgrades.
The Fabasoft Mindbreeze Appliance is the optimal basis for highly efficient enterprise-wide search and easy configuration. To utilize the full potential of a software solution it is essential that hardware and software are fully aligned. Even more, the required time for deployment to the user is critical for gaining the highest ROI. The Fabasoft Mindbreeze Appliance components have been optimally synchronized in numerous tests.
The device can be simply scaled out at any time, eliminating the need for on-site scalability preparations or plans. While any enterprise solution should be implemented with care and planning, the addition of a third party solution can greatly reduce the effort that goes into preparation and customization and greatly improve the overall user experience.
Emily Rae Aldridge, March 1, 2012
Sponsored by: Pandia.com
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
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
