SharePoint 2013 of Little Consequence for the End User
September 17, 2012
For all of the buzz surrounding the release of SharePoint 2013, there may be little to no immediate impact for the actual end user. Developers and enterprise search bloggers are highly anticipating the full release as well as the SharePoint conference in November. However, Mark Miller at CMS Wire argues, “Why SharePoint 2013 Isn’t for You,” in his most recent article.
Miller states:
There is the marketing coming out of Microsoft, but the Man-on-the-Street conversation is mainly from developers and IT Pros who are talking to each other about how to set it up, how to optimize it, how it is different from 2010. This has absolutely nothing of relevance for people using SharePoint on a day-to-day basis. The day-to-day talk is a distraction to SharePoint end users. In general, the users are not interested in the technology, they are interested in the solutions the technology can provide . . . We had the same type of situation after the release of SharePoint 2010. At that time, I took the same position: It’s going to take two to three years for SharePoint 2013 to become relevant to the daily user.
So for users who need a better interface now, what is to be done? One option gaining acceptance and popularity is the addition of a third-party solution. Vendors such as Fabasoft Mindbreeze offer a suite of solutions to maximize enterprise search and overall functionality. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise can be added to an existing SharePoint infrastructure to add the values of quality, usability, and style. It takes a long time to turn a big ship, and SharePoint is definitely the biggest ship on the market. Therefore, many organizations will benefit more from the intuitive infrastructure and agility of a smart third-party solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
Emily Rae Aldridge, September 17, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
SharePoint 2013 Misses Opportunities
September 14, 2012
Chris Wright at Beta News adds to the buzz of the SharePoint 2013 Preview with is piece, “SharePoint 2013 is a Missed Opportunity.” After saying that a few of the surface updates are useful and intuitive, Wright gets to the heart of why SharePoint 2013 is ultimately a disappointment:
I work with lots of end users of SharePoint. What I would have liked to see, and what they needed, is much more focus on the user interface and the feel of SharePoint in this new version. There are some very powerful features in SharePoint, like Views on lists and libraries, but end users find them difficult to use and configure — if they find them at all. Even a simple thing like adding rich content to a page is a lot harder than it should be. The text editor tends to have a mind of its own, and this issue so far remains in the new version.
Followers of the SharePoint world and blogosphere will recognize this complaint against the feel of SharePoint as the number one recurring issue. Many organizations, particularly small to mid-size ones, are turning to smart third-party solutions to increase the feel of their SharePoint infrastructure without the painstaking SharePoint customization process. We like Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise for just this reason. Although it can stand alone, adding Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise to an existing SharePoint infrastructure immediately adds style, ease of use, and efficiency without a huge investment in other resources.
Emily Rae Aldridge, September 14, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
SharePoint 2013 Looks to Improve the Web Content Management Experience
September 10, 2012
Niraj Tenany discusses Microsoft’s evolution in Web Content Management environments in the Netwovenblogs.com article, “Is SharePoint 2013 Ready for Prime Time Web Content Management (WCM)? You be the Judge!”
Tenany explains the development:
Microsoft acquired a company called nCompass back in 2002. nCompass’s Content Management System (CMS) become the foundation of the WCM capabilities in SharePoint. Since then, Microsoft has been adding features to support WCM in SharePoint.
The launch of SharePoint 2013 preview presents an interesting opportunity for companies to consolidate all of their web infrastructure to SharePoint 2013…this can provide a great of value to companies by reducing the overall management costs as well as having a focused team.
Tenany also provides a summary of SharePoint 2013 improvements to support WCM, including the ability to work easily with video content, multi-lingual site support, and analytics and recommendations.
When it comes to creating Web site content and managing a Web presence, organizations may also want to look closer at their site search. With no installation, configuration or maintenance required, Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite is designed to intuitively find information on your site with a user friendly interface. Here you can read how InSite “recognizes correlations and links through semantic and dynamic search processes. This delivers pinpoint accurate and precise finding experiences.”
Philip West, September 10, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
What Designers Should Expect with the SharePoint 2013 Release
September 7, 2012
Brian Alderman discusses expected changes for designers in the upcoming SharePoint 2013 release in the third installment, “35,000-Foot View of SharePoint 2013 for Designers,” of his four part series.
Alderman explains the major change to expect:
One of the biggest changes in SharePoint 2013 is that SharePoint Designer is no longer necessary for branding a SharePoint site. Now there’s a new utility called Design Manager that designers can use for branding SharePoint websites…it is part of the publishing portal site collection template…and introduces a brand new interface that serves as the central hub for branding. With Design Manager, designers can use HTML, CSS and Jscript in any of their favorite HTML editors.
Workflow changes are also discussed, including the new platform called SharePoint 2013 Workflow which allows SharePoint Designer created workflows to include functionality for Windows Azure Workflows. If you are a designer, the brief read may be worth it to stay in the loop on what’s coming.
To maximize your SharePoint investments beyond implementation, consider Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Part of the full suite of solutions is the Fabasoft Folio Connector, which provides uniform, reliable management of your digital content. Here is a highlight:
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.
With on-premise and Cloud information pairing capabilities, Mindbreeze provides a comprehensive and enterprise-grade solution that adds rich value to your business knowledge. Read more at Mindbreeze, where they seem to have the benefits of a proper installation down pat.
Philip West, September 7, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Information about Search for SharePoint 2013
September 6, 2012
We have been tracking useful sources of information about search for SharePoint 2013. You will find the three minute video prepared by Search Technologies an excellent place to begin. Search Technologies points out that the Fast search technology, acquired by Microsoft in 2008, and it 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. Search for SharePoint 2013 includes a rules-based query parsing framework. Search Technologies indicates that pricing has not yet been formally announced, but it is generally assumed that this search functionality will be a standard part of SharePoint 2013. See http://www.searchtechnologies.com/sharepoint-15-search-overview.html.
Microsoft has done a great job of providing information about SharePoint 2013 search. I wanted to make sure you knew that a series of articles is pulling together much of the Microsoft information and adding some insights that could be difficult to locate.
We can point out another useful source of information in this Microsoft document.
The author is Nicki Borell. The first three parts of his coverage of SharePoint 2013 discuss:
- Office 365
- What Happens with Fast in SharePoint 2013
- Search Dictionaries, Query Builder, Query Client Type.
Two more articles will appear in the near future, and these will cover administrative changes and user interface modifications.
Our engineers at Search Technologies track SharePoint 2013 on an hourly basis. We found that the discussion of dictionaries, query builder, and query client type were useful for two reasons:
- The articles include screenshots which make it easy to get oriented in a graphical or PowerShell environment
- There is sufficient descriptive narrative to make clear the specific feature; however, for those working with certain large SharePoint environments, additional explanation might prove useful to some system administrators.
Search Technologies has the deep experience required to handle basic and advanced SharePoint configuration, customization, and integration for any size SharePoint deployment. For more information, visit http://www.searchtechnologies.com/.
Iain Fletcher, September 6, 2012
Sponsored by Augmentext
For SharePoint 2013 Less Might be More
September 5, 2012
As the discussion continues surrounding the new features rolled out in SharePoint 2013, an interesting conversation is taking place. Many experts believe that SharePoint is drowning its users in too many options. Chris Wright at CMS Wire continues this conversation in his article, “SharePoint 2013 Needs Less Features, Not More.”
Wright begins:
SharePoint 2013 is packed with lots of new and exciting features.
Users can experience the revamped MySites, with FaceBook style activity feeds and the ability to ‘follow’ pretty much anything. Developers have ‘apps’ to get their teeth into, allowing them to create SharePoint components in pretty much any language they wish . . . The list of new features goes on and on . . . All of these new features are very exciting, but what do end users make of it all? Will they actually notice? Will they get a better experience? I’m not so sure.
Wright states that there are lots of things that SharePoint 2013 does well, yet wading through all the unnecessary options is daunting. For small to medium size organizations, it might be worthwhile to invest in a smart third party solution. Investing in something like Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise can intuitively customize your existing enterprise infrastructure in one swift motion, avoiding costly detailed customization.
Emily Rae Aldridge, September 5, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Clearing Up or Adding to the SharePoint 2013 Rumor Mill
August 31, 2012
As rumors continue to fly regarding SharePoint 2013 it is hard to say at this point whether they are being dispelled or expounded. ShareMuch is adding their two cents with a Screencast video specifically targeted at SharePoint search and FAST search. Watch the full video, “Screencast: Clearing Some Rumors Around Sharepoint 2013 Search and FAST Features.”
The author gives us some points to be on the lookout for as we watch:
Here are some highlights of the video:
1. Search service is still a service application
2. Configuration options in Central Admin UI are pretty much the same as in SharePoint 2010 search
3. Content sources can be defined on the site and tied to a rendering template
4. Query Builder is a neat feature to create query transformations and preview them before publishing
5. Importing and exporting search configurations is great
SharePoint 2013 is exciting. The enterprise search community can hardly wait to see what’s around the corner. But for some smaller enterprises, a smart idea might be a third party solution. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise can work as a standalone solution or compliment an existing SharePoint infrastructure. Updates are released quarterly and require no maintenance or hassle on the part of the organization.
Philip West, August 31, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Hardware and Software Requirements for SharePoint 2013 Explained
August 24, 2012
In his post, “SharePoint 2013: A Look at Hardware, Software and Other Requirements,” Wictor Wilen explains some requirements users should expect with the upcoming SharePoint 2013 release. Wilen summarizes:
A few new requirements and increased hardware resources compared to SharePoint 2010. But this is all about planning – you cannot just take the requirement and apply that onto your SharePoint 2013 farm, you need to evaluate your farm design and test it. Over the next few months I expect to see some great design samples including metrics from MSIT and of course gain experience from the 2013 engagements starting now…
As far as operating systems, SharePoint 2013 will support Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2012. Database servers, .NET Framwork, and hardware requirements are also discussed. If you are thinking to migrate or adopt the new release, you may want to check out Wilen’s summary as you make your plans.
And while SharePoint adoption continues to grow and the platform develops, you may want to consider a cost-effective solution available now to boost your farm. A comprehensive third party application worth a second look is the suite of solutions available from Fabasoft Mindbreeze. With clear navigation and a self-explanatory interface, Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise facilitates findability. No install solutions are also available, including Mindbreeze InSite.
Philip West, August 24, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Thake Discusses Business Opportunities with SharePoint 2013 Marketplace
August 20, 2012
In “Why We Need a SharePoint 2013 Marketplace,” Jeremy Thake shares his thoughts on the opportunities that lie in the new SharePoint app home. In looking back at the history of marketplaces, Thake credits Apple iOS marketplace as the best example where Microsoft has a number of marketplaces, but they do not share the same platform.
He adds this about potential Web parts:
There is already an app for World Clock and Weather app. I expect a Stock Ticker app to be close behind this also. The big limitations with making web parts available this way is that there is no API to automatically add a web part to the parent site collection homepage at the moment. The metro tiles on the site home pages can’t be manipulated by the apps to add the web part there.
Thake also comments on the possibilities of community involvement, financial rewards, and the light integration hoped for the Marketplace. The new feature for SharePoint is exciting as it may greatly enhance work processes and collaboration. But we also know there are gaps in an out of the box SharePoint deployment. Thake sees some blockers with the expected Web part functionality.
Here you can read about the smooth integration of Fabasoft Mindbreeze with rich Web part capability:
It enables all information that is connected to Mindbreeze to be displayed in Microsoft SharePoint. This takes place smoothly via Web Parts. In this way not only information contained within Microsoft SharePoint, but also all other information that is available within the respective company, can be consolidated within one ‘platform.’ Mindbreeze therefore delivers real additional value to Microsoft SharePoint in the form of an add-on.
Philip West, August 20, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Web Content Management in SharePoint 2013
August 17, 2012
John Ross gives us an updated view of web content management (WCM) in light of SharePoint 2013 in his piece, “SharePoint 2013: WCM and Search Go Together Like Peanut Butter and Jelly.” With SharePoint 2013 the FAST search engine has been fully integrated into the platform and will be the primary force behind WCM.
Ross states:
Search will be a far more efficient way to surface content in almost all circumstances. The way we’ll plan and think about WCM in SharePoint will fundamentally change. For example in the past, content needed to be in SharePoint for us to roll it up. With the new model, as long as content is in the search index we can surface it where ever [sic] we need. So the biggest limiting factor we’d have would be whether we’d be able to get SharePoint to crawl a datasource. This has massively huge implications!
While the web content functionality of SharePoint has been improved, there are good third party solutions that integrate search more successfully into the platform without needing additional customization. Fabasoft Mindbreeze is an Austrian vendor worth keeping an eye on. In addition to increasing the intuitiveness of in-house enterprise search with Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise, Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite can also enhance search on public facing Web sites.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 17, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
