I got nuthin’ today. Maybe tomorrow my brain will be working again.  – Dooley

Top News Stories
SharePoint 2010 Adoption Planning (CMSWire)
At the European SharePoint Conference currently being held at the Estrel Convention Center in Berlin, Germany, I attended Matt Berg’s presentation entitled “Drive Adoption and Get Users Excited about SharePoint 2010.” For those who are not familiar with Matt, he is a Senior Product Marketing Manager on the Microsoft SharePoint team in Redmond, WA, and was one of the primary forces behind the SharePoint Conference held in Anaheim, CA earlier this month. In his role, he has a well-placed view into customers deploying SharePoint and partners augmenting their solutions, and I wanted to hear his perspective on one of the most important aspects of a successful SharePoint deployment: end-user adoption.

Staffing is Key to a Successful SharePoint Server 2010 Deployment (Search Content Management)
Although SharePoint 2010 adoption continues at a feverish pace, many organizations are finding that the initial deployment process takes longer than expected. While delays hinder an organization’s ability to derive business value from SharePoint 2010 quickly, there are ways to ensure the platform is ready to go once integration, hardware and other technical issues have been solved.

Ballmer Claims Microsoft Beats Down Google in Battle for the Cloud — is He Blowing Smoke? (ComputerWorld)
When it comes to cloud computing, Microsoft is leaving Google in the dust, especially when it comes to apps, Microsoft CEO boasted at the Web 2.0 summit. But take a close look at Google’s and Microsoft’s enterprise cloud-based offerings, and you’ll find that’s not necessarily the case. Ballmer was his usual hype-driven self during an interview with John Battelle of Federated Media. Here’s what he said about the battle between Microsoft and Google for the cloud, according to GeekWire:

Getting Started with Microsoft’s Windows Azure Cloud: The Lay of the Land (Dr. Dobb’s)
Recently, cloud platforms have emerged as a great way to build and deploy applications that require elastic scale, high reliability, and a rapid release cadence. By eliminating the need to buy and maintain hardware, the cloud gives developers inexpensive, on-demand access to computers, storage, and bandwidth without any commitment. Developing for the cloud also makes it easy and less risky to try out new ideas. If an idea is successful, it can be scaled up by adding more hardware. If an idea is unsuccessful, it can be shut down quickly.

Cloud Computing: Think Hard Before Moving Everything There (International Business Times)
With Steve Jobs’s death sparking more interest in Apple products and services, there is a growing interest among techies and companies in Apple’s looming iCloud service. Before iCloud’s formal launch, cloud computing has become a buzzword in the technology world and being pushed as a solution to the high cost of hardware. Australia, as a first world nation, is fast adapting to cloud computing. According to a study by VMware, 67 per cent of Australian businesses have cloud initiatives in place, up from 60 per cent in 2010.

Caution: iOS 5, iCloud and the iPhone 4S in the Enterprise (ComputerWorld)
Apple’s iOS 5 and the new iPhone 4S, which went on sale Friday, are packed with new features, many of which should boost the productivity and on-the-road capabilities of professional users. But, as with many consumer-oriented mobile platforms making their way into the workplace, iOS 5 and Apple’s new iCloud service present some serious challenges in business environments. Security issues involving iCloud and several other features will likely be the first things IT professionals weigh when it comes to iOS 5, which Apple rolled out last week. That’s good, because even though Apple quietly provided some new enterprise features in iOS 5 that should make iPhones and iPads better corporate citizens, new concerns have emerged.

Gartner’s Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2012 (InfoWorld)
The technology that makes up many of the systems in the IT world today is at a critical juncture and in the next five years everything from mobile devices and applications to servers and social networking will impact IT in ways companies need to prepare for now, Gartner vice president David Cearley says.

 

Around the Blogosphere
The Slow, Tentative Rise of the Knowledge Professional (AIIM)
There may be no SharePoint proletariat. There may be no guild of usability artists or local brotherhood of global search configurators. But there are scores of unsung working stiffs attempting to create revenue boosters and strap them to the exploits of the account managers and sales teams they train and support. The wind is in the sails of an emergent class of knowledge professionals. At least that’s the narrative weaved by Gartner Research – launcher of watchwords, plotter of magic matrices (do you know where your quadrant is?) and keeper of hype cycles. Gartner says “go big IM!” The instant message stands tall for these same information managers:

iOS 5 and SharePoint (EndUserSharePoint)
I have written multiple articles about the integration between the iPad and SharePoint. I dedicated two articles to the subject ‘What can and can’t you do?’. You can find these articles here: The iPad and SharePoint – What can and can’t you do – part 1. The iPad and SharePoint – What can and can’t you do – part 2. Since last week the OS of the iPad has been upgraded to iOS5, I thought it would be a good idea to review my articles and see what has been improved.

Metadata Defaults in SharePoint Server 2010 (Microsoft Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Team Blog)
SharePoint Server 2010 unleashes new features such as managed metadata and metadata navigation that make metadata even more important. But a big problem for many SharePoint projects is getting metadata onto documents. It is important to consider the tradeoff of metadata vs. user tax. As the number of metadata columns that must be filled in increases it becomes less likely that users will fill in metadata because it is that much additional work to go through and see which columns actually apply. If a large amount of required columns are used then user adoption may be slow because it is so taxing to upload content. In a very open and collaborative scenario this can be detrimental. But as the value of the content and effort to create that content increases, it becomes more likely that users will take the time to fill in the appropriate fields, especially when this operation is not frequent.

Top 10 SQL 2012 “Denali” Enhancements for SharePoint (SharePoint Joel’s SharePoint Land)
I’m NOT a BI guy, by any stretch, but I have been following the improvements of SQL over time, and while at first I wasn’t expecting too much from SQL 2012, the SharePoint Conference woke me up to some major improvements that made me dig deeper for more answers.  Many are waiting for some big “15” announcement of SharePoint, and I believe these enhancements in SQL 2012 previously known as code name “Denali” are worth looking at.  I’m now telling our architects we need to pay attention to this in a big way as we architect our SharePoint 2010 farms for BI and in our Disaster Recovery plans of today.

European SharePoint Conference Berlin – That Was Then, This Is Now (The Bamboo Team Blog)
I’ve been with Bamboo Solutions for over 10 years and been fortunate enough to either take part in, or stay plugged into almost every major SharePoint conference held around the world. The European SharePoint Conference 2011 has once again returned to Berlin, Germany. This is familiar stomping ground as it is being held at the same location that hosted the event held back in 2007. So much has changed in those intervening years, not only for SharePoint as a product, but for the entire SharePoint ecosystem. We ourselves have evolved from an emergent provider of Web Parts and add-ons in 2007 to a company which now offers complete solutions for project, community and knowledge management. I look back and see EU-SPC 2007 as the point where things really started to take off – not only for Bamboo, but for SharePoint in general. Here are a few of my observations comparing and contrasting the SharePoint ecosystem around this conference in 2007 and 2011.

Workflows & Six Shooters: Greetings from the European SharePoint Conference! (The Bamboo Team Blog)
After 26 hours of travel, inclusive of delays and missed flights, I finally made it from Atlanta to Berlin late Monday night. Yeah, in that time, I could have flown to Australia and downed a few Mojitos on the beach. Despite the nerve-wracking travel and lack of sleep, I was pumped for the first day of the European SharePoint Conference. The Bamboo booth looks great and really stands out from many of the other vendors in the exhibit hall. While we have one of the strongest brands in the third-party SharePoint vendor space, we’re still one of the relatively new kids on the block in the workflow arena, and our booth is sandwiched between K2, Nintex, and Datapolis. Historically, these have been the big guys as far as workflow for SharePoint is concerned, but Bamboo’s Workflow Conductor is generating a great deal of interest at the show.  The aforementioned companies are holding a “Workflow Shootout” this afternoon where audience members will suggest a process automation scenario and they will each build it in their technology in the quickest time possible.  This is a great idea and is going to be quite interesting, but I’m sure they are sweating it more than a little.

 

SharePoint Job Listings*
SharePoint Business Analyst – New York, New York
New SharePoint project creates need for a Junior Business Analyst to join this growing company for a long term 12+ month contract. Headquartered in NY, this Fortune 100 Financial Services Company is looking for candidates with 1-3 years of project and/or business experience. Responsibilities of the role would include working independently on moderately complex analysis, assist senior staff on more complex analysis, recognize strategic implications of problems and issues, generates alternative ideas/ solutions, assist in developing initiatives on process/workflow improvements and program/policy changes.

SharePoint Consultant – Marketing Portal Design – Redmond, WA
Ombrella is searching for a SharePoint 2010 consultant to work on a Central Marketing Self Service Portal Initiative. Phase one will be requirements gathering and scoping, then moving into Phase 2 of documenting requirements as they pertain to workflow design, streamlining etc. You will work closely with the development team on the design and test phase and then plan for communication, training and implementation of the new Portal. The idea of the portal is to allow end users, faster, more effective access to marketing assets for their own use.

 

Microsoft Updates
Working with Menus and Navigation Objects in SharePoint Server 2010 (ECM) (MSDN)
You declare horizontal and vertical menu instructions for navigation in XML for the master page. Two classes are used to make navigation work: PortalSiteMapDataSource and PortalSiteMapProvider. The PortalSiteMapProvider object provides the site hierarchy (navigation structure) and monitors the relationship between nodes. The PortalSiteMapDataSource object maps navigation features from the PortalSiteMapProvider and filters navigation elements to determine which are viewable to the user in the horizontal or vertical menus or in breadcrumbs.

 

SharePoint Events*

• October 20, Online – Bamboo SharePoint Project Management Central Webinar
• October 22, Manila, Philippines – SharePoint Saturday
• October 22, Belarus – SharePoint Saturday
• October 22, Melbourne, Australia – SharePoint Saturday
• October 26, Online – Bamboo SharePoint Workflow Conductor Webinar
• October 26, Online – Bamboo Knowledge Management Webinar
• October 26, Online – How to Build a Project Management Information System (PMIS)
• October 26, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania – October 2011 PhillySharePoint User Group Meeting
• October 27, Online – Bamboo SharePoint Lists Workshop
• October 27, Online – Thinking About SharePoint 2010, but Not Quite Ready for the Full Migration from 2007? Take “Search First” Approach!
• October 29, Twin Cities, Minnesota – SharePoint Saturday
• October 29, Cincinnati, Ohio – SharePoint Saturday
• November 1, Chicago, Illinois – Understanding the Business Benefits of Enterprise Social Computing
• November 2, Online, Bamboo SharePoint Project Management Central Webinar
• November 2, Online, Bamboo SharePoint Workflow Conductor Webinar
• November 2-3, Washington, D.C. – SharePoint Symposium
• November 3, Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Understanding the Business Benefits of Enterprise Social Computing
• November 3, Mountain View, California – SharePoint Intelligence Conference
• November 5, Richmond, Virginia – SharePoint Saturday
• November 8, Online, Bamboo SharePoint Project Management Central Webinar
• November 8, Online – Enterprise Collaboration: A Business Imperative and Competitive Differentiator
• November 9, Online, Bamboo Knowledge Management Webinar
• November 9, Online – Fast and Focused Migrations to SharePoint On-Premises and Online
• November 9, Online – How to Build a Project Management Information System (PMIS)
• November 9-10, Moscow, Russia – Tech·Ed
• November 11, Washington, D.C. – SharePoint Symposium 2011
• November 12, Nottingham, UK – SharePoint Saturday
• November 12, Denver, Colorado – SharePoint Saturday
• November 14-15,  Stockholm – SharePoint & Exchange Forum 2011
• November 15, Online, Bamboo SharePoint Calendar and Scheduling Workshop
• November 15, Online – Executive Briefing – Empower Your Organization with SharePoint
• November 16, Online, Bamboo SharePoint Project Management Central Webinar
• November 16, Online, Bamboo SharePoint Administration Webinar
• November 17, Online, Bamboo SharePoint Workflow Conductor Webinar
• November 17, Online, Bamboo Knowledge Management Webinar
• November 17, Melville, New York – JPoint (jQuery + SharePoint): Hottest Buzz Ever!
• November 22, Online, Bamboo SharePoint Lists Workshop
• November 29, Online, Bamboo SharePoint Project Management Central Webinar
• November 30, Online – How to Build a Project Management Information System (PMIS)
• December 2, Honolulu, Hawaii – SharePoint Saturday
• December 3, Sandy, Utah – SharePoint Saturday
• December 7, Online – How to Build a Project Management Information System (PMIS)
• December 8, Melville, New York – Business Process Transformation: Taking SharePoint Beyond the Intranet
• December 10, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida – SharePoint Saturday
• December 13, Online – Executive Briefing – Empower Your Organization with SharePoint
• December 19, Online – How to Build a Project Management Information System (PMIS)
• January 7, Virginia Beach, Virginia – SharePoint Saturday
• January 10, Online – Executive Briefing – Empower Your Organization with SharePoint
• January 11, Online – How to Build a Project Management Information System (PMIS)
• January 21, Austin, Texas – SharePoint Saturday
• January 25, Online – How to Build a Project Management Information System (PMIS)

 

SharePoint Training*

• October 20-21, Chicago, Illinois – Styling & Branding in SharePoint 2010 – SusQtech
• October 25, Online – Introduction to SharePoint 2010 Online – SusQtech
• October 27, Online – Bamboo Component Training – Administration Enhancers – Bamboo Solutions
• October 27, Online – Business Connectivity Services for SharePoint 2010 – SusQtech
• October 31-November 4, Online – SharePoint 2010 Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• October 31-November 4, Minneapolis, Minnesota – SharePoint 2010 Advanced Administrator – Mindsharp
• October 31-November 4, Winchester, Virginia – SharePoint 2010 Administration & Architecture – SusQtech
• October 31-November 11, Winchester, Virginia – SharePoint 2010 Immersion – SusQtech
• November 2, Online – Knowledge Base Accelerator Application Administration – Bamboo Solutions
• November 7-10, Cleveland, Queensland, Australia – Creating No-code SharePoint Designer Solutions for SharePoint 2010 – Intelligent Decisioning
• November 8, Online – Bamboo Component Training – Collaboration Enablers I – Bamboo Solutions
• November 10, Online – Bamboo Component Training – Collaboration Enablers II – Bamboo Solutions
• November 14-18, Calgary, AB, Canada - SharePoint 2010 Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• November 14-18, Online – SharePoint 2010 Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• November 14-18, Minneapolis, Minnesota – SharePoint Designer 2010 – Mindsharp
• November 14-18, Online – SharePoint Designer 2010 – Mindsharp
• November 18, Online – Using Claim Based Authentication in SharePoint 2010 – SusQtech
• November 22, Online – Bamboo Component Training – List Extenders – Bamboo Solutions
• November 24, Online – Bamboo Component Training – Administration Enhancers – Bamboo Solutions
• November 28-December 2, Online – SharePoint 2010 Web Content Management – Mindsharp
• November 28-29, Minneapolis, Minnesota – Introduction to InfoPath 2010 for Business Users – Mindsharp
• November 28-29, Online - Introduction to InfoPath 2010 for Business Users – Mindsharp
• November 28-December 2, Washington, DC – SharePoint Foundation 2010 Developer Course – Mindsharp
• November 28-December 2, Online – SharePoint Foundation 2010 Developer Course – Mindsharp
• November 29-December 1, Minneapolis, Minnesota – Introduction to InfoPath 2010 for Business Users – Mindsharp
• November 29-December 1, Online – Introduction to InfoPath 2010 for Business Users – Mindsharp
• November 29-December 1, Winchester, Virginia – Power User 2010 – SusQtech
• December 5-8, Minneapolis, Minnesota – SharePoint 2010 for Business Users – Mindsharp
• December 5-8, Online – SharePoint 2010 for Business Users – Mindsharp
• December 5-9, Huntsville, Alabama - SharePoint 2010 Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• December 5-9, Online – SharePoint 2010 Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• December 5-9, Washington, DC - SharePoint 2010 Advanced Administrator – Mindsharp
• December 5-9, Minneapolis, Minnesota – SharePoint Foundation 2010 Developer Course – Mindsharp
• December 5-9, Online – SharePoint Foundation 2010 Developer Course – Mindsharp
• December 5-9, Chicago, Illinois – SharePoint 2010 Administration & Architecture – SusQtech
• December 5-16, Chicago, Illinois – SharePoint 2010 Immersion – SusQtech
• December 7, Online – Knowledge Base Accelerator Application Administration – Bamboo Solutions
• December 8, Online – Bamboo Component Training – Collaboration Enablers II – Bamboo Solutions
• December 8-9, Reston, Virginia – Delivering SharePoint Success Mentoring Workshop – Innovative-e
• December 12, Online – Business Intelligence & Reporting – SusQtech
• December 12-16, Minneapolis, Minnesota – SharePoint 2010 Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• December 12-16, Online – SharePoint 2010 Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• December 12-16, Minneapolis, Minnesota – SharePoint Designer 2010 – Mindsharp
• December 12-16, Online – SharePoint Designer 2010 – Mindsharp
• December 13, Online – Bamboo Component Training – Collaboration Enablers I – Bamboo Solutions
• December 13-16, Washington, DC – SharePoint 2010 for Business Users – Mindsharp
• December 13-16, Online – SharePoint 2010 for Business Users – Mindsharp
• December 16, Online – Business Connectivity Services for SharePoint 2010 – SusQtech
• December 19-20, Online – Introduction to InfoPath 2010 for Business Users – Mindsharp
• December 19-21, Minneapolis, Minnesota – Introduction to InfoPath 2010 for Business Users – Mindsharp
• December 19-21, Online – Introduction to InfoPath 2010 for Business Users – Mindsharp
• December 27, Online – Bamboo Component Training – List Extenders – Bamboo Solutions
• December 29, Online – Bamboo Component Training – Administration Enhancers – Bamboo Solutions
• January 4, Online – Knowledge Base Accelerator Application Administration – Bamboo Solutions
• January 10, Online – Bamboo Component Training – Collaboration Enablers I – Bamboo Solutions
• January 12, Online – Bamboo Component Training – Collaboration Enablers II – Bamboo Solutions
• January 16-20, Cleveland, Queensland, Australia – Developing Solutions with SharePoint Server 2010 – Intelligent Decisioning
• February 1, Online – Knowledge Base Accelerator Application Administration – Bamboo Solutions
• February 13-17, Cleveland, Queensland, Australia – Professional SharePoint Server 2010 Administration – Intelligent Decisioning

* Please contact Chris Dooley (chris.dooley@bamboosolutions.com) to be included in SharePoint Daily™.

 

Have SharePoint Daily™ delivered to your email inbox every morning.