|
In This Issue:
• Report from the MVP Global Summit: No Serious Injuries
• Microsoft and Office/Sharepoint 2010: Microsoft is Listening
• Dan goes on SharePoint Tour
Report from the MVP Global Summit: No Serious Injuries
Last week, I spent several days surrounded by many of the leaders of the SharePoint community at the MVP Global Summit in Seattle and Redmond. This annual event is an opportunity for us to represent the pulse of the community to Microsoft, and for Microsoft to share with us their plans and activities surrounding upcoming product releases. Each product group is slightly different, but I'm happy to say that the SharePoint product group is particularly forthcoming--willing to share both their successes and the challenges they face--and also particularly willing to solicit and listen to feedback from the community. It was a phenomenal experience, and a humbling one--to be around that many SharePoint brainiacs.
The week started off with friendly warfare as many of the SharePoint MVPs took to blasting each other to smithereens in a paintball game. Luckily there were no fatalities, though I heard a rumor that Andrew Connell may not be having any more children. Not sure if that's true or just vicious rumor. The SharePoint MVPs were also rumored to have undergone brainwashing. Not the kind that happens when we are called to the mothership in Redmond for annual reprogramming, but the kind that happens when dozens of fun loving men and women get away from their homes and spouses in a town that has a few good bars.
More seriously and importantly, we were treated to a number of technical deep-dives into SharePoint 14, which I've been referring to as SharePoint 2010 on the off chance that there's a predictable pattern to Microsoft's branding and which, now publically by Steve Ballmer, has been slotted into "not this year"--i.e. 2010 may be just about right. This rite of passage begins an uncomfortable phase of the product release for people like me--a phase in which I can begin to tell you just how excited I am about the new release, but can't tell you anything really useful for a bit longer.
Microsoft and Office/Sharepoint 2010: Microsoft is Listening
What I can tell you is that I am, in fact, very excited by what I saw and, moreover, how impressed I am that Microsoft has thrown a lot of investment in time, people, money, and creative energies into the future of SharePoint. It's no secret that SharePoint is a huge success, and that a number of other product lines are to some extent being asked to "toe the line" with SharePoint. It's the engine right now that will give both Microsoft and the market an opportunity to revamp the relationship we have with our information, our peers, and the devices with which we interact... perhaps even moreso than Windows. Microsoft has also publically discussed online versions of Office applications, and that, combined with Microsoft Online Services hosting SharePoint, Exchange and more, might prove to be a game changer. SharePoint is a thrilling product to be watching and working with.
Microsoft has had its hands full with a number of initiatives and environmental demands over recent months, and it has been less than forthcoming about its plans for Office/SharePoint 2010. It's been holding its cards close to its vest. But nevertheless it's clear to me that Microsoft has done a lot to incorporate the feedback it receives from customers, analysts and the community. I know we're all looking forward to a first peek at the next versions of Office and SharePoint. For most of the market, SharePoint 2007 was really their first experience with SharePoint, and all of us learned to love (ahem!) the Ribbon in Office 2007. We will all benefit from the incorporation of collective "lessons learned" into the next version of these applications! Microsoft will never do everything right--it's not possible when "everything" is defined differently for so many parts of a market--but it is doing a lot right. Its progress in this regard is marked, and a big difference from 5-10 years ago! Kudos.
Dan goes on SharePoint Tour
I head to Orlando later this week for Windows Connections, where I'll be delivering a pre-conference full-day workshop, and several sessions covering SharePoint. If you're there, please be sure to say "hi!"
We also just announced two stops on my 2009 "Tour de SharePoint" (my own label :-) )... Lisbon and London and Los Angeles. I'll move on to "M" cities later. If you're wanting to pick up some great, independent scoop on SharePoint technologies, check out these opportunities!
• Lisbon: Seminário Sharepoint Solutions (my sessions will be in English)
• London: SharePoint Summit: Administration, Governance & Solutions
• Los Angeles: TechEd 2009
Dan Holme
|
From the Community
IT in the Cloud: A chat with Microsoft’s Brett Hill, industry expert Curt Spanburgh, and Windows IT Pro editors
Read last week’s lively online chat about Microsoft Online Services and computing in the cloud—what are the benefits? What are the pitfalls? Check it out!
SharePoint news announcements require Windows authentication?
Paul asks in the Forum: When a news announcement is sent to Outlook 2003 from Microsoft Office SharePoint 2007, by opening the email you are required to put in the Windows authentication user name and password and log in to SharePoint. This is not a requirement in Outlook 2007. Is there a fix for this? To see what solution Paul found: http://community.officesharepointpro.com/forums/30625/ShowThread.aspx#30625
Calling all SharePoint Admins
Are you looking to connect with SharePoint experts and SharePoint colleagues in a great learning environment? How about taking a getaway to Orlando to attend the SharePoint Connections conference, March 22-25. Each year at this conference, SharePoint gurus gather to present a rich set of sessions for IT pros who support SharePoint. One such presenter is SharePoint MVP Robert Bogue. With a broad set of credentials and experience, Bogue will bring you up to speed on getting the most from workflows, deploying a SharePoint extranet, and steps to make sure your SharePoint implementation is successful.
"First, I'm doing a whole day on bringing data to life with workflows," says Bogue. "Most companies have developed terabytes of data, but it's static and doesn't really do much. In my pre-conference session, I'll be covering what you need to know to bring your documents to life with workflows. It's a complex topic with many facets, but we're going to make sure that you know how to take advantage of the electronic, but unstructured data that you have."
Bogue will also show you what you need to do in order to get an extranet scenario operational--or to deal with authentication in your Intranet environment where you don't use Active Directory (AD).
To read more: http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/101537/calling-all-sharepoint-admins.html
|
Events and Resources
WinConnections, March 15-18, 2009, Orlando, Florida
The first 500 paid attendees receive SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition with one CAL. Windows Connections will be co-located with Microsoft Exchange Connections. Register for one event and attend sessions of the concurrent event FREE.
Hit the Ground Running with SQL Server for Non-DB Specialists!
Join SQL MVP Allan Hirt on March 26 and April 30, 2009, for 6 fundamental SQL Server lessons tailored to pros new to SQL Server, plus live Q&A sessions—all on your own computer! For only $99 each day, you'll learn how to plan, deploy, and administer SQL Server. The discussion includes aspects of SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, and SQL Server 2008. Seats are limited to allow for lots of live Q&A at the end. Register today!
Virtualizing Servers
Live Web Seminar: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 (12:00 PM EDT)--Join us for an introduction to Hewlett-Packard (HP) solutions using industry-standard Intel(R) Xeon(R) processor-based ProLiant servers with Intel Virtualization technology designed for Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V virtualization technology. Discover the benefits of deploying virtual machines on HP ProLiant servers with Intel Xeon processors, one of the best managed platforms in the industry. During the webcast, we provide server scenarios to help you determine which HP servers with Intel Virtualization Technology are right for your business virtualization needs. Register for this live resource today!
Featured White Paper: Endpoint Security: Learn How to Unify Essential Components in a Single Agent
Endpoints are the new Achilles heel of network and information security. How do you respond to the challenges and make sure your organization is set up to unify endpoint security? This white paper will help you better understand the risks you face and discusses a new strategy that organizations are turning to--using a broad set of technologies for endpoint security unified into a single agent with central control. Read this white paper to avoid stolen data, disruptions of business operations, and potential penalties for noncompliance.
Secure and Simplify Windows Server Migration with a Cost-effective Solution
There’s more to server migration than just taking files and folders and putting them on another server; administrators have to reestablish and restore groups and settings on the new server too. Secure Copy transfers not only files and folders, but also file shares, file share permissions, local users, local groups, NTFS permissions, and more! Security is maintained throughout the entire transfer, so you can ensure that your data arrives at its new server uncompromised and uncorrupted. Try this awesome software free for 30 days!
Overcome 3 Major BI Optimization Barriers
Learn the most important factors to consider when optimizing your business intelligence (BI) with this Essential Guide from IT powerhouses Microsoft and Intel. You’ll find out how to move forward with BI optimization when your data is dispersed across multiple source systems, the data quality in the source systems is poor, and the relational databases are unsuccessful in running your analytical queries. Download this must-have guide today!
|
|
|
|
Report from the MVP Global Summit: No Serious Injuries
