SharePoint Predictions for 2014
December 19, 2013
SharePoint seems to be getting bigger in scope and more widespread in adoption. Turning the page into a new year provides a good excuse to reflect on the past year and predict what will happen in the next, even when it comes to technology. CMS Wire does just that in their article, “6 Predictions for SharePoint, Office 365 in 2014.”
The article begins with a prediction for content collaboration:
“SkyDrive Pro is Microsoft’s response to document sharing tools such as DropBox and Google Drive. They have put a lot of emphasis on using SkyDrive Pro with SharePoint and Office 365 to easily share documents and take them offline. Google Drive is a little further along than DropBox, but we see the real opportunity in SkyDrive Pro. With Microsoft’s commitment to the cloud, SkyDrive Pro is going to get a lot of attention and we know how Microsoft likes to take on Google.”
And while the article goes on to list several other trends to keep an eye on, this one about SkyDrive Pro may be the most important. Stephen E. Arnold, a longtime search expert and man behind ArnoldIT, has covered SkyDrive Pro and continues to keep an eye on what could be the most important new angle for SharePoint.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 19, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SharePoint Exchange Service Pack 1 Coming Soon
December 13, 2013
Service pack one is coming to the Microsoft suite: Office, SharePoint, and Exchange. Users are wondering what to expect and InfoWorld gives some details in their article, “Get Ready for the Office, SharePoint, and Exchange 2013 SP1 Service Packs.”
The article begins:
“Early 2014 will see Service Pack 1 updates for Office 2013, SharePoint 2013, and Exchange 2013 (but apparently not Lync), bringing the on-premises versions of these servers and applications up to par with the then-current Office 365 versions. It appears that issuing periodic service packs is how Microsoft will keep the on-premises versions of its offerings at parity with the cloud-delivered Office 365 versions, whose changes come more incrementally but more often — and automatically.”
Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search. He follows the latest happenings of SharePoint through his Web service, ArnoldIT. And though many will spend time on the pros and cons of SharePoint, Arnold finds add-ons and customization tools to help you get the most out of your deployment.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 13, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SharePoint Faces Challenging Future
December 12, 2013
Anytime a company is the leader in a particular area, the challenge is to hold that position. In many ways it is a lot more fun to be the up-and-comer than to be the behemoth trying to hold on to the lion’s share of the market. SharePoint is in this very position. ComputerWorld brings the news in their article, “Why Microsoft SharePoint Faces a Challenging Future.”
The article begins:
“Many enterprises use and like SharePoint. Microsoft likes it, too, because it’s one of the company’s fastest-growing product lines. But making enterprises support separate cloud and on-premises versions and telling SharePoint app developers not to work in C# and ASP.NET may make for a rocky relationship as time goes by.”
SharePoint is going to constantly battle threats to its supremacy. Stephen E. Arnold, a longtime leader in search and the brains behind ArnoldIT, often covers the comings and goings of SharePoint. He finds that although most enterprises prefer customization and add-ons to their SharePoint infrastructure, it doesn’t appear that SharePoint will lose its number 1 spot anytime soon.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 12, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SharePoint Online Capitalizes on Consumer File Sharing
November 21, 2013
Security concerns plague the enterprise when employees turn to unsanctioned cloud-based file sharing. But for years, the convenience of services like Dropbox could not be matched by sanctioned enterprise services. SharePoint Online hopes to change that by offering convenient and safe cloud storage options for employees. CMS Wire covers the story in their article, “What Consumerization of IT Means for SharePoint Online, SkyDrive Pro.”
The article begins:
“BYOD has taken over the enterprise, whether the enterprise likes it or not. But it’s not just BYOD. Employees are turning to consumer versions of file sharing cloud solutions like DropBox, Google Drive, SkyDrive (not to be confused with SkyDrive Pro) and others to access their documents no matter where they are. IT needs to resolve this problem, and it won’t be done by banning the use of these devices and apps. There’s a smarter way.”
ArnoldIT.com, a service run by longtime search expert Steven E. Arnold, is skeptical of SharePoint’s continued relevance in the changing enterprise environment. Arnold often argues that SharePoint is not capable of its main function, search, and has diluted its mission by focusing on add-ons. Regardless, SharePoint is still a large portion of the market and is worth following.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 21, 2013
SharePoint Online Adoption is Slow
November 20, 2013
Although Office 365 SharePoint Online makes the enterprise fully accessible on the cloud, the latest research shows that users are slow to move away from the traditional server model. Redmond Magazine covers the story in their article, “Enterprises Slow To Move to SharePoint Online.”
The article states:
“Office 365 SharePoint Online use was at 15 percent among respondents, according to August 2013 survey results produced by Forrester. That result is up just 3 percentile points from last year’s survey. The survey found that 79 percent were using SharePoint Server 2010. The lag in online adoption has its roots in SharePoint being considered as an on-premises solution historically, but there are other concerns.”
Security may be on reason why organizations are keeping deployments on on-site servers, but the functionality of Office 365 is likely another. Enterprises are slow ships, hard to turn. According to Arnold IT, a leading search news service of Steven E. Arnold, another reason may be that for most organizations, SharePoint is not enough in and of itself. Add-ons keep most SharePoint deployments afloat, and most organizations probably aren’t ready to move so much content, with its patchwork approach to ECM.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 20, 2013
SharePoint Online Limits Customization
November 18, 2013
SharePoint in the cloud is attempting to keep up with the overall trend of movement to the cloud. However, some organizations are looking for alternatives, complaining that Office 365 inhibits portability and customization. Redmond Magazine covers the news in their article, “SharePoint Shops Eying Windows Azure as Office 365 Alternative.”
The article says:
“Even the majority of those planning to move to SharePoint in the cloud are leaning toward Office 365 . . . While 66 percent of current SharePoint online users have Office 365 subscriptions (compared with 14 percent using Windows Azure and 15 percent using other cloud providers), of those planning to run SharePoint in the cloud in the future, 55 percent will opt for Office 365 and nearly 29 percent will use Windows Azure. That points to a segment of SharePoint shops that are turned off by the lack of code portability from older versions of SharePoint. By standing up their own SharePoint servers in Windows Azure, they get the benefit of running their custom or shrink-wrapped apps in the cloud.”
Stephen E. Arnold is a long time leader in the world of search – following the trend with his service Arnold IT. He has long argued that SharePoint is on shaky ground, and a plethora of noteworthy alternatives are not only emerging, they are being rapidly adopted. So it is no wonder that Windows Azure is a popular alternative, and may be one angle that Microsoft uses to maintain its relevance.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 18, 2013
Project Hosts Offers Government Approved Cloud SaaS
October 15, 2013
Security is the primary concern for government agencies when it comes to software. And though Cloud services have really ramped up in recent years, some agencies that work with the government might be leery to use the Cloud for security reasons. However, a new offering by Project Hosts might change that. Read more in the latest article, “Project Hosts Offers SharePoint, CRM on Government-Approved Azure Cloud.”
The article begins:
“Hosting provider Project Hosts is making its software-as-a-service solutions (including Microsoft PPM, SharePoint and Dynamics CRM) available on a Windows Azure cloud infrastructure that meets the necessary security assessments required by US government offices and agencies. Last week, Microsoft announced that Windows Azure had been granted Provisional Authorization to Operate (P-ATO) from the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Joint Authorization Board (JAB).”
A variety of deployments for SharePoint is really essential for increased adoption throughout the enterprise. And while SharePoint continues to be the default solution for enterprise search, there are criticisms. Stephen E. Arnold, of ArnoldIT, is a longtime industry expert in search and a frequent critic of SharePoint. Arnold states that where SharePoint truly misses the mark most often, is in its most basic function, search. In a recent article, Arnold argues that SharePoint 2013 was found unsatisfactory in its basic functions when deployed by many organizations. Stay tuned for the latest SharePoint news and the best advice on how to use it successfully.
Emily Rae Aldridge, October 15, 2013
SharePoint User Training Cannot be Overlooked
October 11, 2013
SharePoint is a huge deployment for any organization. Most will just focus on implementation and many make the mistake of overlooking user training. CMS Wire gives many reasons to invest in SharePoint user training in their article, “Don’t Overlook the Importance of Effective SharePoint User Training.”
The article begins:
“While most of the recent stories about SharePoint revolve around the latest buzzwords and hot topics — gamification, cloud, mobile, social, Yammer, etc. — one component of a successful SharePoint rollout that is often overlooked is an effective user training program. Although talking about training seems to be out of fashion at the moment, it’s still very important.”
User training is so important for SharePoint because it is a huge, complicated deployment. User satisfaction is pitifully low for the enterprise search solution, and training can only help improve those numbers. Stephen E. Arnold, a longtime expert in search and the brains behind ArnoldIT.com, is a critic of SharePoint. He recently covered a story that revealed that only 6% of enterprises found their SharePoint deployments to be successful. There is clearly room for improvement.
Emily Rae Aldridge, October 11, 2013
What Is in Store for SharePoint 2013
October 9, 2013
Steve Arnold of Arnold IT, the leading expert in search and content management, turned my attention to the article, “SharePoint 2013 Not Supported On Windows Server 2012 R2 Until SP1-Whenever That Is” on Windows IT Pro. The new Windows Server 2012 is set for deployment on October 18, 2013 with Windows 8.1 and System Center R2. It is meant to fix many of the bugs that came along with Windows 8, but there is a problem with the upgrade: SharePoint 2013 will not be supported on the new server operating system.
Microsoft alerted its users in a blog post that it will eventually be supported in the SharePoint 2013 Service Pack. The problem is that no one knows when that is. Does that sound annoying? It is Microsoft, so it is not new.
Here is the likely explanation to why the SharePoint will not run on the new server OS:
“But, it makes sense when you remember that Microsoft recently proclaimed a “Cloud First” development plan. This means that unless a product update or support need has a Cloud-value focus for Microsoft, it gets pushed down the list of to-dos. Customers can easily utilize SharePoint 2013 in the Cloud instead of running it on-premise, which is just another example of Microsoft gently prodding Enterprises to the Microsoft Cloud.”
Ugh! Arnold recommends we stall the pitchforks and fire burning for now, but it never hurts to revaluate content management plans. Until then give Microsoft the evil eye and mean glares.
Whitney Grace, October 09, 2013
Should Microsoft Axe SharePoint
October 8, 2013
This article’s title should be taken more as a question than a statement, but you might think differently after reading Meme Burn’s article, “Should Microsoft Kill SharePoint?” It says that Microsoft will delete SharePoint soon and organizations should start planning to adopt a cloud-based system. This comes from Gartner analyst Jeffrey Mann, who spoke at the 2013 Gartner Symposium. He noted that that barely anyone likes using SharePoint, because content management needs to be babied and it is not easy migrating content from system to system. Search is probably not any easier.
Mann suggest that Microsoft should make SharePoint cloud-based platform (like we have not heard that before) and the Yammer partnership will help shape that future.
Mann has an idea for the future:
“He advises that company technologists should develop long-range plans for a post-SharePoint world now. ‘I would hold back on upgrades and new development and choose the cloud option whenever I need to add new functionality. Microsoft may or may not provide an easy way forward, but for anyone who’s invested heavily in customization it will never be painless.’”
We have heard that before too from Steve Arnold of Arnold IT who suggests whenever you need to make a search and content management change, that forming a long-range plan and implementing it in pieces is the surefire way to make new ideas work.
Whitney Grace, October 08, 2013
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