Supporting the Community

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Commentary

Supporting the Community

Last week, at the SharePoint Best Practices Conference in San Diego, Joel Oleson of Quest Software announced that the software firm would begin supporting select tools from CodePlex. CodePlex is Microsoft's nod to "open source," a site where developers can post solutions and source code for the benefit of the broader community. There are a number of extremely useful SharePoint tools on CodePlex--some of which would make my list of "can't live without"--and the developers of those tools deserve the accolades and the MVP status that have been showered upon them.

One problem exists, however, and that is there are a number of organizations that will not implement "open source" solutions, particularly those that are not supported by a vendor with a documented service level agreement (SLA). So even when a solution is important and one-of-a-kind, there's a barrier to adoption that cannot be overcome. That's where Quest's plan could help, by providing support for these tools.

Following the announcement, there was an uproar in the development community from folks who are concerned about a company like Quest making money from community contributions. There are also justifiable concerns about whether the author of a tool will continue to be recognized as such, or whether the attribution of the tool will get lost as the tool becomes some sort of Quest offering; whether there is any compensation to authors; and whether any bugs found in solutions and solved through revisions of the code will be funneled back to the community via CodePlex.

My sources at Quest assured me that it will only support tools after thorough discussions with the authors of those tools, that the attribution for the tool will remain the author's, and that revisions will be made in conjunction with the author and released to the broader community. I didn't get any word on compensation, but most of the developers I spoke with were less concerned about compensation than about the opportunity to broaden the adoption of their excellent solutions.

Here's my take on it: this is an interesting and potentially beneficial move on the part of Quest. Creative it is, if not a completely unique idea to provide support to open-source projects--it happens elsewhere in IT to be sure. But to bring the model to the "Microsoft" space, and to CodePlex in particular, is not something most would have anticipated. I also think it's very important that we all do what we can to raise the stature, quality, and adoption of community solutions like those in CodePlex. Removing the "no support, no deployment" objection is huge. I do think, however, that Quest didn't do a good job... in fact, I'm not sure they did any job at all... of evangelizing this concept within the developer community before taking it public. The relationship management piece of this was bungled.

The good news is that success is the best way to smooth over bumps and bruises, and if Quest is now able to come back around to developers, clarify their plans, and assuage the concerns of the SharePoint development community, they could very well use this new approach to quickly raise their stature as a provider of SharePoint solutions to their existing and prospective customers. The proof will be in the pudding, and we'll all have to wait for specifics about which CodePlex tools will be supported, when, and at what price. We'll also look forward to seeing if and how a company as large as Quest can learn to approach markets with attuned levels of finesse, to avoid trampling on seedlings of opportunity.

Banish Memory Leaks with SPDisposeCheck

In late January, Microsoft released the newest version of SPDisposeCheck, a very valuable tool for SharePoint developers. SPDisposeCheck can analyze assemblies to identify potential memory leaks due to forgotten Dispose calls--typically for SPSite and SPWeb instances. While a tool never substitutes for a thorough code review, SPDisposeCheck can certainly facilitate and expedite the process! Paul Andrew, Microsoft Technical Product Manager for the SharePoint Developer Platform, summarized the tool on his blog: SPDisposeCheck is a tool to help SharePoint Developers follow memory management best practices when using the SharePoint API with IDisposable objects including SPSite and SPWeb. The tool can be downloaded from the MSDN site.

SharePoint Events for SharePoint 2007 & Beyond

On the heels of the Best Practices Conference, many of us turn our sights toward Windows Connections which includes a SharePoint Track for IT Pros; SharePoint Connections (for Devs & IT Pros), and TechEd 2009. I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be presenting at least one SharePoint session covering governance and design at TechEd in May in Los Angeles. Microsoft also announced the 2009 SharePoint Conference in October in Las Vegas. This will be the premium event for SharePoint 2010 (or whatever they end up calling SharePoint vNext). My own guess is that the code will go "gold" in conjunction with the event--Microsoft does like to throw a big party for such things--but given the delays in getting betas to release, perhaps we'll only be looking at a beta or release candidate by then. Regardless, you can be sure we'll all have a much better feeling for what is coming in vNext by the time that event is through.

From the Community

Featured webcast: Windows 7 Preview: Notable Features for IT Admins
This series of screencasts gives you a firsthand look at various parts of the upcoming Windows 7 from J. Peter Bruzzese and ClipTraining. Windows 7 includes a new version of PowerShell with the OS--you don't have to install it, and you can use PowerShell to remotely administer user machines. The new OS also has some new features that will come into play when used with Windows Server 2008 R2.

View it free!

New and Improved

Idera announced Security Reporter, a powerful tool providing detailed "who can access what" analysis of SharePoint content. Security Reporter is the newest addition to Idera's Point admin toolset, which provides 11 tools for SharePoint management, administration and security. Security Reporter gives SharePoint administrators and IT professionals a granular view into which users can access specified sites, libraries or items. With Security Reporter, SharePoint administrators can create complete security group membership analysis reports and powerful security analysis reports. You can find out more and see the complete list of tools available in the Point admin toolset visit http://www.idera.com/Products/sharepointtoolset/default.aspx.

Events and Resources

Last Chance to Register for the PowerShell 201 eLearning series!
Join MVP Paul Robichaux on February 26, 2009, at 11:00 AM Eastern time as he equips you with PowerShell how-tos in 3 informative lessons—all on your own computer! For only $99, you'll learn how to
* execute commands a set number of times or until a preset condition changes
* master tools for formatting and displaying data
* import and export data in CSV and XML formats and much more!
Seats are limited to allow for lots of live Q&A at the end. Hurry; registration closes soon!

Alleviate the Anxiety of Administering Highly Evolved Messaging Environments
Are you having trouble integrating and maintaining the latest messaging technologies while meeting your users’ demands for continuous email availability and impenetrable mailbox security? This webcast explains why the evolution of business email, messaging, and collaboration has many companies evaluating the benefits of a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution for their messaging needs. The webcast includes a case study of MTM Luxury Lodging, a hotel management company that utilizes integrated messaging services.

Register for this webcast now to find out what SaaS can do for you!

Instill Trust and Confidence in the Web
Turn visitors to your e-commerce site into customers by quickly making them feel safe and secure. In this web seminar, you’lll earn how you can use new authentication technology, called Extended Validation SSL, to deploy an SSL certificate that’s designed to increase visitor confidence in the legitimacy of your site.

Make your site secure and put your customers at ease with tips from this web seminar. Register today!

Ease SharePoint Migration and Ongoing Site Maintenance
Learn about the various migration options you have and a valuable tool that can help with both migration and the ongoing site maintenance often required by content owners and SharePoint site admins—all in this white paper written by independent SharePoint expert Michael Noel.

Simplify your migration task—download this white paper today!

Achieve Total Desktop Control with Desktop Authority
Desktop Authority is the one-stop solution for users who want control over their desktop without the hassle of logon scripting, Group Policy, user profiles, and multiple security solutions. The software lets you manage, monitor, and secure your system from a centralized location. You can access your desktop from any Java-enabled browser, allowing you to respond immediately to user problems and emergencies no matter where you are.

Try Desktop Authority free for 30 days!

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 (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!