Blackberry Adds SharePoint Access
February 20, 2014
Enterprise is moving toward mobile at a rapid pace, and applications that hope to stay in the game have to adapt. SharePoint has made great strides in mobile in the last two years particularly. And in response, Blackberry is enabling SharePoint mobile functions. Read the story in, “Work Drives for BlackBerry 10 Adds Sharepoint Access for BES Users.”
The article says:
“BlackBerry has updated their Work Drives application to v2.0 today for devices running OS 10.2+. This new version extends the application to allow remote file access to SharePoint sites. This is on top of the network drive access they had in the previous versions. Sadly you still need BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10.2 to use the network shares even though BlackBerry could easily expand the user base for the application by allowing all users to mount network drives.”
Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search and follows the latest on SharePoint on his Web site, ArnoldIT.com. Arnold finds that organizations are increasingly motivated by mobile technologies, as work and employees is moving increasingly off-site and outside of regular hours.
Emily Rae Aldridge, February 20, 2014
SharePoint Licensing Models
January 23, 2014
SharePoint used to be a straightforward on-site installation. However, as with all things, SharePoint has changed to keep up with the times. They now offer a few options for licensing, and Search Content Management attempts to break them down in their article, “Making Sense of SharePoint Licensing Models.”
The article begins:
“Microsoft is moving away from, though not yet abandoning, its traditional model. The new model increasingly emphasizes annuity payments for Software as a Service and services. So how can customers make sense of this new model amid an already confusing licensing setup? Microsoft has simplified licensing somewhat. There are three major approaches you can make sense of today: 1) Traditional SharePoint on-premises 2) SharePoint in the cloud and Office 365 3) Hosted SharePoint.”
The traditional on-site licensing model is still the backbone of SharePoint. However, organizations are growing more agile, and more mobile, and that means they appreciate the new options. Stephen E. Arnold, of ArnoldIT.com, is a longtime leader in search and follower of SharePoint. His coverage of the latest SharePoint news points to a trend in customization and mobile, which means that SharePoint is listening to what the customers want. Whether or not customers are completely satisfied with the out-of-the-box solution is another matter.
Emily Rae Aldridge, January 23, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Add Mobility to SharePoint with Box
January 15, 2014
Many devoted SharePoint users are turning toward mobile access and mobile solutions. But SharePoint is a big ship and it is having a hard time turning in the direction of mobile. So many organizations are turning toward add-on solutions that can help SharePoint stay current in the mobile age. Information Week Digital Library offers a white paper on the topic in their article, “Five Ways Box Makes SharePoint Better.”
The article says:
“Box, the leader in Enterprise Content Collaboration, helps customers extend their SharePoint environments, quickly and easily meeting employees’ needs for mobile productivity and secure external sharing with customers and partners. This whitepaper describes the top five ways that businesses are adding mobility and collaboration to SharePoint with Box.”
Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search and devotes much attention to SharePoint on his information service, ArnoldIT.com. He has spoken of Box before and its benefits not only for mobile, but also for Mac users who historically have suffered under the dominance of SharePoint.
Emily Rae Aldridge, January 15, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SharePoint Trends of 2013
January 10, 2014
SharePoint had a big year in 2013 as users settled in to their SharePoint 2013 deployments. In addition, Microsoft made a few significant announcements relating to the software. CMSWire covers all of the biggest SharePoint news in their article, “A Look Back: Yammer, Office 365, Mobile Dominate SharePoint in 2013.”
The article begins:
“Everyone that has had anything to do with SharePoint over the year has his own SharePoint story. With such a vast platform used in so many ways, everyone has something he loves and something he hates. The only thing everyone agrees on is to disagree. For my money, SharePoint this year was characterized by SharePoint and Yammer, SharePoint and Office 365 and Mobile SharePoint.”
Stephen E. Arnold, a longtime leader in search, including enterprise, is a frequent contributor to the ongoing SharePoint discussion. His SharePoint coverage on ArnoldIT.com is also reflective of the trends mentioned above. Along with the points in which Arnold is in agreement with the CMSWire article, he has also found that 2013 was a year in which many large SharePoint deployments turned to add-ons and third-party solutions in order to make SharePoint infrastructure work.
Emily Rae Aldridge, January 10, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SharePoint Consulting Services Ranked
January 8, 2014
As SharePoint deployments get more and more involved and customized, many organizations are turning to SharePoint consultants to help launch or refresh implementations. In light of the trend, PR Web looks at the most successful SharePoint consulting firms in the article, “Ten Top SharePoint Consulting Services Issued in December 2013 by bestwebdesignagencies.com.”
The article says:
“The independent authority on web solutions, bestwebdesignagencies.com, has promoted the best SharePoint consulting firms in the mobile development industry for the month of December 2013 . . . The rankings are produced by the independent research team through painstaking testing and analysis to decide the best firms offering SharePoint consulting solutions. To view the ratings of the top SharePoint development services click here.”
Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search and frequently covers SharePoint on his information service, ArnoldIT.com. His coverage also points to an increasingly complicated enterprise environment, one that begs for outside expertise and consultation. Users who are in need of such services may find some assistance in the consulting services ranked by bestwebdesignagencies.com.
Emily Rae Aldridge, January 8, 2014
Huddle Offers iOS Alternative to SharePoint
January 3, 2014
With the changes in mobile computing and cloud computing, the weaknesses in SharePoint are being exposed. Add to that the fact that SharePoint does not function on a Mac platform and many organizations are looking for alternative solutions. CMS Wire looks at one option, Huddle, in their article, “Will Huddle Note App Hammer Another Nail in SharePoint’s Coffin?”
The article begins:
“Huddle has just announced the general release of Huddle Note, a new iOS application that enables users to create content in the cloud, share it inside or outside the firewall and collaborate with other workers on documents — all from a mobile device. Taking all Huddle’s functionality into account, the company’s management claims it provides a viable alternative to SharePoint.”
Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search and the brains behind ArnoldIT.com. He gives a lot of attention to SharePoint and SharePoint alternatives. Most organizations will need some piece of enterprise software, and SharePoint is the most common. Stay tuned for the latest SharePoint news and ways to improve your enterprise infrastructure.
Emily Rae Aldridge, January 3, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Secure Collaboration in SharePoint
December 24, 2013
While SharePoint is the mostly widely used collaboration software available, broad adoption does not quell the security concerns of organizations. And as mobile becomes more widely adopted, access is not limited to a single at-work machine. Organizations are getting creative about security and KM World covers a newly available solution in its story, “Secure collaboration in SharePoint and File Shares from HiSoftware.”
The article begins:
“HiSoftware has launched a new version of Security Sheriff specifically designed for secure collaboration of sensitive information stored in File Shares and SharePoint. The company explains the new Secure Document Viewer included in Security Sheriff allows users to open an encrypted document in a protected state to ensure that a user with read-only permission cannot open and decrypt a document, then manually distribute it using print, save as and send to actions, or copy its contents. It will then remove the file from their system once the file is closed.”
Stephen E. Arnold is a long time leader in search and the man behind ArnoldIT.com. He spends a lot of time writing about SharePoint and security is a common topic. SharePoint isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so users would do well to pay attention to what the experts have to say about security.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 24, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Putting SharePoint in the Palm of Your Hand
December 16, 2013
Technology is moving toward mobile at a rapid rate. It comes as no surprise that enterprise technology is expected to keep up with the trend. And while major players like SharePoint are more mobile friendly than before, they are still playing catch-up compared to other mobile-born applications and software. GCN covers the latest in SharePoint mobile in their article, “How to Put SharePoint in the Palm of your Hand.”
The article begins:
“It is only logical that users would want access to SharePoint via their mobile devices. So how do you put an enterprise platform such as SharePoint, literally, in the hands of users? . . . SharePoint’s Mobile Browser View checks if the user’s mobile browser supports HTML5. If it does, then a contemporary mobile view is shown. If it does not, then a text-based view is shown. For more complex sites, developers can use SharePoint’s device channel feature to create a single site, but map the content to use different master pages and style sheets that are specific to a device or group of devices.”
Stephen E. Arnold of ArnoldIT is a longtime leader in search. He frequently covers SharePoint and helps users stay up to date on the latest in all things search, including enterprise. In much of his coverage, it is clear that SharePoint is improving in mobile, but still lags behind.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 16, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SkyDrive Pro with SharePoint 2013
December 9, 2013
SharePoint 2013 offers several usability improvements, and chief among them is SkyDrive Pro, although it is often misunderstood. Redmond Magazine helps clear up some of the confusion with their article, “How To Configure and Secure SkyDrive Pro in SharePoint 2013 and Office 365.”
The article begins:
“SkyDrive Pro is a critical addition to SharePoint 2013. It lets you synchronize specific document libraries in SharePoint to your desktop and interact with them locally or online. As the use of tablets, smartphones and multiple computers fueled by the ‘bring your own device’ movement, SkyDrive Pro promises to become an increasingly more important component of SharePoint and Office.”
Ultimately, SkyDrive Pro is a personal library useful for organizing and storing your work documents. Mobile functionality is definitely a feature that more and more organizations want to integrate into their existing enterprise platform, so SkyDrive Pro will be a draw. Stephen E. Arnold of ArnoldIT often covers SharePoint, and one of his frequently noted weaknesses is mobile capability. It seems Microsoft is making small steps in the right direction.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 9, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Microsoft Improving Touch Functionality for SharePoint
November 25, 2013
With an enterprise stalwart like SharePoint, Microsoft needs to constantly tweak in order to keep the up with current trends. Redmond Magazine relays the latest update in their article, “UPDATE: SharePoint Online Getting Touch Improvements.”
The article sums up the improvements:
“New touch improvements for SkyDrive Pro and SharePoint Sites will be seen over ‘the next few weeks.’ The improvements are just for Office 365 business, education and government users of Microsoft’s SharePoint Online service, according to Mark Kashman, a senior product manager for SharePoint, in a blog post on Tuesday. Organizations that have deployed SharePoint Server 2013 on premises aren’t getting the rollout.”
The focus will be on what Microsoft is calling “touch design mobile pages.” Shooting for an app-like experience, Microsoft hopes to update the user experience to bring it in line with current expectations. But many wonder if the entire paradigm is shifting – perhaps small user experience tweaks aren’t enough. Stephen E. Arnold, a longtime leader in enterprise search, often covers SharePoint on ArnoldIT.com. He recently reported that SharePoint no longer works as a standalone solution, with most users relying on add-ons for functionality.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 25, 2013
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