Hello allergy season. ::sniff::  -  Dooley

Top News Stories
Understanding the Pillars of SharePoint Governance with 21apps Ant Clay (CMSWire)
With the widespread adoption of SharePoint across the enterprise, and the steady growth of the small to medium-sized business deployments of both SharePoint on premise and in the cloud (with much of that coming from the success of Microsoft’s Office365 platform), organizations are tempering much of their IT-centric push for anything SharePoint.

Are SharePoint and Connections the New UC Clients? (No Jitter)
A few weeks back, Eric Krapf asked, “Is Skype the Next SharePoint?” This was based on an interview with Microsoft’s CFO where the interviewer was trying to suss out Microsoft’s directions with Skype. The guarded answer seemed to be that Skype will be part of Microsoft’s Office suite to advance Microsoft’s solutions for communication, collaboration and social networking.

10 ways Windows 8 Beats the iPad (GadgetBox)
Windows 8 is now available for anyone to download, and it already shows a ton of potential. In fact, Microsoft’s bold new OS, which reminds us a lot of Windows Phone, outshines the iPad in some key areas. Granted, there were things we didn’t like in our Windows 8 Consumer Preview– — and the iPad 3 or iPad HD is just around the corner– — but there’s no question that Apple will soon have a real fight on its hands. Here are the top 10 ways Windows 8 is better than the iPad right now.

No Windows Phone 8 OS Upgrade For You? (InformationWeek)
Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows Phone 8 platform will run at least 95% of apps available for Windows Phone 7, but owners of WP7 devices may not be upgraded to WP8 when it becomes available, a Microsoft executive said. Speaking to financial analysts, Microsoft VP Terry Myerson declined to directly answer a question about whether current Windows Phone 7 owners would be offered an upgrade to Apollo (Microsoft’s code name for WP8) but implied that such a move would create significant logistical issues between the company and its hardware and carrier partners.

Microsoft Cloud Strategy Coming into Focus (MarketWatch)
Microsoft Corp. is expanding its Dynamics suite of cloud software, replacing conventional software with subscription services and ramping up the competition in a market dominated by rivals Oracle Corp. and Salesforce.com Inc. On March 19, Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., will announce its Dynamics software for managing enterprise resource planning will begin moving to the cloud, a change that began earlier for its customer relationship management products. Delivering software and applications online will make Dynamics more mobile for customers and allow Microsoft to begin a “perpetual release cycle about every six months,” said Michael Park, corporate vice president of marketing for the Business Solutions division. Among the first changes: moving its Dynamics NAV resource planning application to the cloud.

Around the Blogosphere
The Best Way to Start the “Requirement Gathering Phase” (The Scribble SharePoint Blog)
I’m basically a “business analyst”. I get to work mainly at the start of a project, where someone has to go in and ask lots of questions. The work is given different names across the industry (discovery, initial analysis, requirements workshops) but it is basically trying to work out what the client wants. As well as different names there are a million ways of running this type of work. I’ll let you Google various terms to discover a wealth of advice covering:

SharePoint and HTML5 (EndUserSharePoint)
The purpose of this SharePoint and HTML5 series is not to dismember HTML5 but to see how we can apply it within SharePoint. Each article, features relevant research and useful links to other related resources for SharePoint and HTML5, as well as some live samples.

Do You Know What’s Going to Happen When You Enable the SharePoint BLOB Cache? (SharePoint Interface)
The topic of the SharePoint BLOB Cache and how it operates jumped back into the front of my brain recently given some conversations I’ve had and things I’ve seen (e.g., a promising CodePlex project called the SharePoint 2010 BlobCache Manager). SharePoint PSA: This post is my way of doing something akin to a SharePoint public service announcement. I’ve recently seen some caching-related functionality and topics – especially the BLOB Cache – getting some real traction in different circles, and I think that the attention and love is generally a good thing. I am somewhat concerned, though, by the fact that the discussions and projects that have been surfacing don’t seem to say much beyond the Post-It on the right.

SharePoint: The Problem with Contextual Search Scopes (ITPro)
Contextual Search Scopes are a widely used feature in SharePoint deployments and while some question their value many users rely on them. It also turns out that in certain situations contextual scopes pose a real design challenge. But before we get into that let’s explain what contextual search scopes are for the uninitiated.

Introducing ‘The Bottom-Line PM: A Realist’s Guide to Using SharePoint and Microsoft Project for Project Management’ (The Bamboo Team Blog)
It gives me great pleasure to announce that we’ll be launching a new Bamboo Nation blog tomorrow morning.  I’m so anxious to share it with you, in fact, that I’m going to offer a sneak peek at the introductory post … but first, please allow me to provide a little background to set the table if I may. Last month, I was on a call with SharePoint MVP Dux Raymond Sy (well known to Bamboo Nation readers for his SharePoint for Project Management articles over the years), and we were discussing a variety of upcoming initiatives between Bamboo and Innovative-e, where Dux is a Managing Partner.  During the call, Dux introduced me to his colleague, Pamela Flora, who was assisting Dux on several of his projects.  Pamela is relatively new to SharePoint and, during the conversation, Dux recommended that she check out my SharePoint Blank blog, in which I documented my own SharePoint learning curve on a daily basis over several years.

 

SharePoint Job Listings*
SharePoint Services Support Specialist – Washington, DC
The SharePoint Systems Support Specialist is a mid-level IT professional, who is capable of supporting users and applications associated with the ACS enterprise collaboration, information, and process management environment. This position requires the ability to work under senior, lead, and management-level supervision, and to collaborate as part of departmental and project teams.

Sr. Engineer, SharePoint Job – Charlotte, NC
As a senior member of the technical team, participate in all required phases of full lifecycle product development and provide subject matter expert level development, support and maintenance for the tools and services managed by the team. Working with the Principal Engineers, members of the team, engineering and business resources, help define optimal short and long term system architecture for our customers needs, including researching new technologies and supporting proof of concepts projects. Attend team meetings and provide input to validate system design and development; represent group in cross-functional and cross-departmental meetings.

 

Microsoft Updates
External Storage of Binary Large Objects (BLOBs) in SharePoint Foundation (MSDN)
The Help topics in this section describe how to use the special external binary large object (BLOB) store provider (EBS Provider) interface, ISPExternalBinaryProvider, to allow you to store BLOB data in a data store that is external to the SharePoint content database. Topics in this section discuss the rationale for storing BLOB data externally, the architecture of the EBS Provider, and implementation of the EBS Provider in front-end Web applications for SharePoint Foundation.

 

SharePoint Events*

• March 13, Online – Bamboo SharePoint Project Management Central Webinar
• March 13, Online – Content Types 101: Easier than the Theory of Relativity
• March 14, Online – Bamboo SharePoint Workflow Conductor Webinar
• March 20-22, San Francisco, California - AIIM
• March 20, Online – Bamboo SharePoint Administration Webinar
• March 21, Online – Bamboo Knowledge Management Webinar
• March 22, Online – Bamboo SharePoint Project Management Central Webinar
• March 23, Online – How to Build a Project Management Information System (PMIS) with SharePoint 2010
• March 24, New Orleans, Louisiana – SharePoint Saturday
• March 24, Vianen, Holland – SharePoint Saturday
• March 27, Online – Bamboo SharePoint Time Tracking & Management Webinar
• March 28, Online – Bamboo SharePoint Community Central Webinar
• March 29, Online – 5 Risky SharePoint Temptations for IT Leaders
• April 10, Online – What’s new in SharePoint 2010 Central Administration
• April 14, Los Angeles, California – SharePoint Saturday
• April 14, Twin Cities, Minnesota – SharePoint Saturday
• April 16-18, Québec – SharePoint Summit
• April 19-20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – ShareFEST – The SharePoint Conference for Life Sciences
• April 23-25, London, England – International SharePoint Conference
• April 23-26, Atlanta, Georgia – Share Conference
• April 27, Online – 5 Risky SharePoint Training Temptations
• April 28, Boston, Massachusetts – SharePoint Saturday
• April 28, Houston, Texas – SharePoint Saturday
• April 28, Brussel, Belgium, SharePoint Saturday
• April 29 – May 2, Reston, Virginia – SharePointConference.org
• May 12, Baltimore, Maryland – SharePoint Saturday
• May 14-16, Toronto, Ontario – SharePoint Summit
• May 19, Johannesburg, South Africa – SharePoint Saturday
• May 23, Online – 5 Risky SharePoint Human Resource Temptations
• June 21, Online – Executives Beware: 5 Risky SharePoint Temptations for Executives

 

SharePoint Training*

• March 13, Nashville, Tennessee – Exploring SharePoint 2010 – New Features – SharePoint Solutions
• March 13, Nashville, Tennessee – SharePoint 2010 Upgrade and Planning – SharePoint Solutions
• March 13, Online – Empower Your Organization with SharePoint – Innovative-e
• March 14, Online – Project Management Central (3.0) Application Administrative Training – Bamboo Solutions
• March 15, Online – Project Management Central End User Training – Bamboo Solutions
• March 19-23, Minneapolis, Minnesota – SharePoint 2010 Administration Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• March 19-23, Online – SharePoint 2010 Administration Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• March 19-23, Calgary, AB, Canada – SharePoint Foundation 2010 Developer – Mindsharp
• March 19-23, Online – SharePoint Foundation 2010 Developer – Mindsharp
• March 20, Online – Bamboo Component Training – List Extenders – Bamboo Solutions
• March 20, Nashville, Tennessee – Introduction to SharePoint Foundation 2010 – SharePoint Solutions
• March 20, Nashville, Tennessee – Introduction to SharePoint Server 2010 – SharePoint Solutions
• March 26-29, Phoenix, Arizona – SharePoint 2010 Power End User – Mindsharp
• March 26-29, Online – SharePoint 2010 Power End User – Mindsharp
• March 27, Online - Bamboo Component Training – Administration Enhancers – Bamboo Solutions
• March 27, Chicago, Illinois – Introduction to SharePoint 2010 for Server Administrators – SharePoint Solutions
• April 2-6, Los Angeles, California – Essential SharePoint 2010 for Developers Training – DevelopMentor
• April 2-6, Minneapolis, Minnesota – SharePoint 2010 Advanced Developer – Mindsharp
• April 2-6, Online – SharePoint 2010 Advanced Developer – Mindsharp
• April 3, Nashville, Tennessee – InfoPath 2010 and SharePoint 2010 No-Code Workflow Deep Dive – SharePoint Solutions
• April 3-6, Houston, Texas – SharePoint 2010 Power End User – Mindsharp
• April 3-6, Online – SharePoint 2010 Power End User – Mindsharp
• April 9-13, San Antonio, Texas – SharePoint Foundation 2010 Developer – Mindsharp
• April 9-13, Online – SharePoint Foundation 2010 Developer – Mindsharp
• April 11, Online – Project Management Central (3.0) Application Administrative Training – Bamboo Solutions
• April 12-13, Online – InfoPath 2010 Power End User – Mindsharp
• April 16-20, Minneapolis, Minnesota – SharePoint 2010 Administration Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• April 16-20, Online - SharePoint 2010 Administration Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• April 16-20, Minneapolis, Minnesota – SharePoint Designer 2010 – Mindsharp
• April 16-20, Online – SharePoint Designer 2010 – Mindsharp
• April 17, Online – Bamboo Component Training – List Extenders – Bamboo Solutions
• April 17, Chicago, Illinois – Introduction to SharePoint Foundation 2010 – SharePoint Solutions
• April 17, Chicago, Illinois – Introduction to SharePoint Server 2010 – SharePoint Solutions
• April 19, Online – Project Management Central End User Training – Bamboo Solutions
• April 23-26, Minneapolis, Minnesota – SharePoint 2010 Power End User – Mindsharp
• April 23-26, Online – SharePoint 2010 Power End User – Mindsharp
• April 23-27, Minneapolis, Minnesota – SharePoint Foundation 2010 Developer – Mindsharp
• April 23-27, Online – SharePoint Foundation 2010 Developer – Mindsharp
• April 23-27, Phoenix Arizona – SharePoint 2010 Administration Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• April 23-27, Online – SharePoint 2010 Administration Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• April 24, Online – Bamboo Component Training – Administration Enhancers – Bamboo Solutions
• April 24, Dallas, Texas – Introduction to SharePoint 2010 for Server Administrators – SharePoint Solutions
• April 30-May 4, London, England – Essential SharePoint 2010 for Developers Training – DevelopMentor
• May 7-11, Seattle, Washington – SharePoint Foundation 2010 Developer – Mindsharp
• May 7-11, Online – SharePoint Foundation 2010 Developer – Mindsharp
• May 14-18, San Antonio, Texas – SharePoint 2010 Administration Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• May 14-18, Online – SharePoint 2010 Administration Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• May 17-18, Washington, D.C. – Delivering SharePoint Success Mentoring Workshop – Innovative-e
• May 21-25, Minneapolis, Minnesota – SharePoint 2010 Administration Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• May 21-25, Online – SharePoint 2010 Administration Core Technologies – Mindsharp
• May 21-25, Minneapolis, Minnesota – SharePoint Foundation 2010 Developer – Mindsharp
• May 21-25, Online – SharePoint Foundation 2010 Developer – Mindsharp
• May 30-31, Online – InfoPath 2010 Power End User – Mindsharp

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

 

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