SharePoint Engine

Pros and Cons of the Access App

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 11:01:00 +0000

Pros and Cons of the Access App for SharePoint 2013

Why are Access 2013 Apps Great? Here are a few reasons…

They have a SQL Server backend
You can use SQL Server Reporting Services, Excel or any other tools that support SQL Azure or SQL Server over ODBC to generate reports on the Access App data
Views and navigation are created for you when you use App Templates or Tables
There are some new Related Item controls that make building views easy and they have a consistent look and feel
One Click Launch!
The Search functionality is built in and is intuitive

What are SharePoint 2013 Apps?

Before diving into the details on this new Access App, we should do a quick overview on SharePoint 2013 Apps in general. Included in this most recent version of SharePoint is the App Model. It enables developers to create custom apps that can be published to the Office Store for public download or to the Corporate Catalog which is an organization's internal App Catalog Site then users can download them to their SharePoint sites. Each app, whether custom or out-of-box, targets a specific set of features and are lightweight and easy to use. Included in the out-of-box apps is an Access App that enables Access 2013 databases to be added to SharePoint 2013 sites.

What is the Access App?

This out-of-box, no-code app enables us to put Access databases into SharePoint and includes some really great features (listed above) that I will get into a bit more detail in the following sections. The purpose of the app is to provide a more reliable, faster and robust solution for putting relational data into SharePoint without the hassle of designing and developing something from scratch. Microsoft Office Access 2013 includes a few templates for Access Web Apps and tables that will get you started.

The Best Access App Feature

The favorite is that its backend is SQL Server, or SQL Azure if you're using Office 365. This design allows data to display faster, is more reliable and robust plus long-term it's more manageable. It's a great alternative to creating a list in SharePoint when you know it will grow to be a "large list". Not only does it help manage large lists and provide quick access to the data, it also allows outside SQL Server and SQL Azure supported tools to gain access to the data.

Want to know how it works?

When you create the app in Microsoft Office Access 2013, you choose the site where it will live.
In the process launching the app to SharePoint, a SQL database is provisioned that will house all the objects and data that the app requires.
The database that is created is specific to your app and by default not shared with other apps.
When you create a table in your app, a table is created in the database.
When you create a query in your app, a SQL Server View is created or if your query takes a parameter, a table-valued function is created.
When you create a Standalone Macro in your app, a Stored Procedure is created in SQL Server.
Views in Access are the parts of your app that display the data in the browser. These are also stored in the database but as text since they are HTML and JavaScript rather than SQL objects.

Other Really Great Features that are Worth Mentioning

When creating the Access App, you can select from one of the quick and easy templates or start from scratch with a custom app. When using one of the templates, Access automatically creates tables and related views around those tables. Also, the navigation is created for you so your database is ready to use. You would only need to add your customizations if you require any then click Launch App. That's it, in just a few clicks you have a working SharePoint App. Even if you're going with the Custom option, you still get a lot of automatic features like table templates that include multiple tables with relationships, related views and navigation. Either way, once you've designed your database, click Launch App and you have a no-code app in SharePoint that includes a search tool.

Wondering about Workflows?

The data in the Access App is stored in a SQL database and SharePoint doesn't have a mechanism that can get notified when items change in the external data source so the workflow couldn't be directly associated with one of the tables in your app. Using the linked table feature in Access to connect to a SharePoint list isn't going to help because that creates a read only connection. A possible solution would be to consume the external data in a workflow. You could create a site workflow or a list workflow and have it read or update from an external list. Basically it can be done but isn't going happen without some difficulty.

Wrap it up…

With this app, you can create web-based applications that use the power of SQL Server on-premise or in the cloud. You don't have to worry about deployment challenges, software installation issues or operating system compatibilities. You just build your app and share it across the web with SQL Server or SQL Azure. This new architecture increases performance and scalability and opens up new opportunities for SQL Developers to extend and work with the data. It has potential of being a really great app. Add built-in features like full read/write when connecting to SharePoint lists and workflows and you've got a truly awesome out-of-box solution.

A Note on SharePoint 2010 vs. SharePoint 2013 Access Services

SharePoint 2010 also has Access Services but the process around how the Access databases are put into SharePoint is very different. The tables in the 2010 database are converted into SharePoint lists so you don't get the SQL backend. These Web Databases are compatible with SharePoint 2013 and Access 2013 but you cannot create new Web Databases in Access 2013, you are only able to manage existing ones and publish them to either SharePoint 2010 or 2013. Also, there is no way to automatically convert the Web Database into an Access App. You will have to do this manually which consists of importing the data from the Web Database into the new Access App then recreate the interface and business logic.

SharePoint Migration

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 10:27:00 +0000

Planning for a SharePoint Migration

1. Document Existing SharePoint Server's Topology (preferably in Visio format, use Visio diagrams to represent the existing SharePoint Farm topology),Roles, Hardware/Software Specifications, Installed Updates, Software installed, Language Packs, etc.

2. Prepare a List of SharePoint Web Applications, Site collections, Managed paths, Host headers, Content /Service Application Databases, service application proxies & service application groups.

3. Document Central Administration Settings like User Policies, Quota Templates, Data connections, Zones, AAM, Quota Templates, Blocked File Types, Log file paths, etc.

4. Document All Third-party Software installed on top of SharePoint (Like Nintex workflows, Axceler ,Metalogix Control Point

5. Document Inventories & customizations like Solutions( wsp files), Workflows, Event Handlers, Web Parts, Features, Assemblies, Site Templates, Site Definitions, Custom Timer jobs, etc. (stsadm -o enumallwebs -includewebparts -includefeatures)

6. Document Active directory Domains/Forest details. This will help in configuring User Profile Import connection sources, People Picker configurations.

7. Document Current environment Out of the box Features enabled (Such as Publishing), Enterprise feature Enabled (such as InfoPath Farm Services)

8. Document Outgoing, Incoming E-mail settings of the SharePoint server

9. Document all IIS customizations made manually, like Web.config modifications, Add-ons installed in IIS (like Compression, URL Rewrite, HTTPHandlers etc)

10. Document SQL Server configurations, Content DB sizes, Mirroring, Clustering configuration details

11. Document any custom solutions deployed in Layout's folder or BIN folder.

12. Prepare a report on User base with Total no. of users, avg concurrent users, etc

13. Document custom scripts, automation tools you are running from SharePoint servers (like Monthly storage report generation script, scheduled with windows task scheduler)

14. Make a Note of current environment's Information Architecture, including Managed Paths, Top navigation, etc.

15. Document existing Farm's service accounts. Authentication method for all web application .Kerberos applied?

16. Document Search Settings, including content sources, schedules, Keywords, Best-bets.

17. Document Email Enabled Lists and Libraries

18. What is the current Disaster recovery plan? How often backups are taken? Third party software integrated with SharePoint (Like AvePoint, DPM, etc)

19. Document Infrastructure details such as Load balancer, DNS, IPs, SSL Certificates, Publishing configurations (Like F5, TMG, ISA Server, etc)

20. Document 12/14 hive Layout folder customizations, File system changes if any

21. Make a note of all InfoPath Form libraries. You have to update the Form Template URL and You may have to Change the data connections, etc.

22. Existing Branding Artifacts like Master pages, Themes, CSS Files, Logos, etc.

23. Document the custom authentication providers (Forms, LDAP, etc) if any

24. Document the current Monitoring setups like SCOM.

25. Last but not least - Make sure you have the version control system (like CVS, SVN, TFS, etc) which has all the artifacts including source code, installers, deployment guides.

Office Web apps server

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 08:35:00 +0000

What is Office Web apps server and why do you need to care?

Office Web apps is an online office suite offered by Microsoft that can allow users to create and edit Office files using lightweight , web browser-based versions of Microsoft Office applications : Word ,Excel ,PowerPoint and One Note.

So as mentioned above Office Web apps ( currently knows as Office Online) is a product that was developed by Microsoft to interact with SharePoint Server 2013 ,Exchange Server 2013 and Lync Server 2013 which can help the users in viewing/editing and sharing office files.

Let’s take a look at how Office Web apps work with each of this product separately:

Office Web apps with SharePoint Server 2010:

So until SharePoint Server 2010, Office Web apps used to be a component of SharePoint and it was not a standalone product as it is currently. Deploying Office web apps for SharePoint 2010 includes the below mentioned steps.

1. Installing Office Web apps setup.exe
2. Activating the Office web apps services –>Starting the required service in CA , creating the service application and service application proxies
3. Activating the Office Web apps feature in the site collection.

Also in SharePoint Server 2010 there was no need to patch Office web apps separately as the SharePoint patches also included the Office Web apps patches. So any issue that happens to SharePoint as a product will have an impact on Office web apps as well.

Office Web apps with SharePoint Server 2013:

So with SharePoint Server 2013, Microsoft took a big step ahead and removed Office web apps from SharePoint .What this means is, the bits and binaries that install SharePoint Server 2013 will not have Office web apps as part of it. Its standalone product now and needs to handled and taken care separately.

Note: I’ve noticed a lot of customers who think that Office web apps can support Visio files as well. That’s never ever the case and SharePoint Server 2013 uses Visio service to do that .Please refer to my post on Visio Service to know more about it.

So in a nutshell, SharePoint Server 2013 when integrated with Office Web apps provides updated versions of Word Web App, Excel Web App, PowerPoint Web App, and OneNote Web App. Users can view and, in some cases, edit Office documents in SharePoint libraries by using a supported web browser on computers and on many mobile devices, such as Windows Phones, iPhones, iPads, Windows 8 tablets, and Android devices.

Later in this article I’ll be discussing more on Office webs apps and SharePoint Server 2013 ….

Office Web apps with Exchange Server 2013:

With Exchange 2007 and 2010, Outlook Web Access/App [OWA] users can preview documents attached to e-mails directly from their browser. This feature, known as “Web Ready Document Viewing” which converts supported documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint or PDF) to HTML and displays them in the web browser, allowing users to read Word documents, for example, without the need to have Word installed or first downloading the file.

Whenever a user receives an e-mail with a supported attachment, an “Open as Web Page” link appears next to the attachment:

All the user needs to do to preview the attachment is click on the link and the WebReady Viewing version of the document will open.

With Exchange Server 2013, there is another method of viewing Office docs. Here you can integrate your Exchange server 2013 with Office web apps .Once that’s done the attached Office document makes a WOPI [Web App Open Platform Interface] call to the Office webs app server to render the document.

Note: Office Web apps cannot open Office files which are IRM [Information Rights Management] enabled.

Office Web apps with Lync Server 2013:

In Lync Server 2010, PowerPoint presentations are viewed in one of two ways. For users who run Lync 2010, PowerPoint presentations are displayed by using the PowerPoint 97-2003 format and they are viewed by using an embedded copy of the PowerPoint viewer. For users who run Lync Web App, PowerPoint presentations are converted to dynamic HTML files then viewed by using a combination of the customized DHTML files and Silverlight. Although generally effective, this approach did have some limitations:

1. The embedded PowerPoint Viewer (which provided a more optimal viewing experience) is available only on the Windows platform.
2. Many mobile devices (including some of the more popular mobile telephones) do not support Silverlight.
3. Neither the PowerPoint Viewer nor the DHTML/Silverlight approach supports all the features (including slide transitions and embedded video) found in the more recent editions of PowerPoint.

To help address these issues, and to improve the overall experience of anyone who presents or views PowerPoint presentations, Lync Server 2013 uses Office Web Apps Server to handle PowerPoint presentations. Among other advantages, this new approach allows the following capabilities:

1. Higher-resolution displays and better support for PowerPoint capabilities such as animations, slide transitions, and embedded video.
2. Additional mobile devices can access these presentations. That’s because Lync Server 2013 uses standard DHTML and JavaScript to broadcast PowerPoint presentations instead of customized DHTML and Silverlight.
3. Users who have appropriate privileges can scroll through a PowerPoint presentation independent of the presentation itself. For example, while User A is presenting his slide show, User B can scroll through and view any slide she wishes, all without affecting User A’s presentation.

So with that being said, let’s take a look at the supported Office file formats for Office Web Apps

Supported file formats:

Word documents (doc, docx, dotx, dot, dotm extensions)

Excel documents (xls, xlsx, xlsm, xlm, xlsb extensions)

PowerPoint documents (ppt, pptx, pps, ppsx, potx, pot, pptm, potm, ppsm extensions)

*Also once again, please do remember that Office web apps doesn’t support IRM protected files.

More on Office web apps with SharePoint Server 2013 ……

Listed below are the features you get when you use Office web apps with SharePoint Server 2013:

The viewing and editing capabilities of Office webs apps on different devices is given below:

Now, being a SharePoint Farm Admin/Site collection admin you get to decide how your users can view office files in the document library. There are two ways to change the default behavior so that files open in the client applications (or the default PDF reader) instead:

For the entire SharePoint 2013 farm : You ( The Farm admin) can adjust the default open behavior on a per-file-type basis for the SharePoint 2013 farm by using the New-SPWOPIBinding and Set-SPWOPIBinding Windows PowerShell cmdlets. These cmdlets can also be used to adjust the behavior of PDF documents.

In site collections or document libraries : Site collection administrators and users can use the OpenInClient feature in SharePoint 2013 to specify whether Office files will be opened in the client application or in the browser. Users can change this setting in the document library properties, and site collection administrators can change it in Site Collection Administration or by using the “Enable-SPFeature” cmdlet to enable the OpenInClient feature.

Now there are certain things which you might need to pay attention to being an IT Pro, you can configure Office web apps for your SharePoint server 2013 farm so that the Office files in the document library make a WOPI call to Office web apps server (a single machine/farm processing the request for all type of Office file i.e. word,excel,powerpoint and One note) to render the document or you can configure an Office web apps farm so that each machine in that farm can take care of processing the request for each file types.

PowerPoint–>A single Office web apps machine to process the request for PowerPoint files alone

Word –>A single Office web apps machine to process the request for Word files alone

Excel–>A single Office web apps machine to process the request for Excel files alone

One Note–>A single Office web apps machine to process the request for One Note files alone.

This option can give you better scalability, however it’s going to cost you a lot.

How to know whether I’m using Excel online, Excel services or Excel Web app while I’m opening an Excel file? If the URL resembles “http://[servername]_layouts/15/xlviewer.aspx?id=/Documents/…” then Excel Services is used to render the workbook.

If the URL resembles “http://[servername]/_layouts/15/WopiFrame2.aspx?sourcedoc=/Documents/…” then Excel Web App is used to render the workbook.

Difference between Excel Web App and Excel Services in SharePoint:

Excel Web App and Excel Services in SharePoint have a lot in common, but they are not the same. Excel Services is available only in the Enterprise edition of SharePoint Server 2013. Excel Web App is available in SharePoint Server 2013 and SharePoint Foundation 2013. Both applications enable you to view workbooks in a browser window, and both enable you to interact with and explore data.

But there are certain differences between Excel Web App and Excel Services in SharePoint. For example, Excel Services supports external data connections, data models, and the ability to interact with items that use data models (such as PivotChart reports, PivotTable reports and timeline controls). Excel Services provides more business intelligence functionality than Excel Web App, but Excel Services does not enable users to create or edit workbooks in a browser window.

If your organization decides to use Excel Services instead of Excel Web App to view workbooks in the browser, you can use the Windows PowerShell New-SPWOPISuppressionSettings cmdlet to turn off Excel Web App for Excel workbooks.

Office Online File Support:

Here are file types and formats supported in each of the four Office Online applications.

Word Online:

Supported for viewing and editing	Supported only for viewing	Cannot be opened
Word Document (.docx)	Word 97-2003 Document (.doc)**	Rich text format (RTF)
Word Macro-Enabled Document (.docm)*	Word 97-2003 Template (.dot)	Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
OpenDocument Text (.odt)	Word Template (.dotx)	Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions HTML (MHTML)
	Word Macro-Enabled Template (.dotm)*	IRM-protected documents
	Portable Document Format (PDF)**	Password-protected documents
		Documents with digital signatures

*The document can be opened, but macros do not run.

**For editing, Word Online saves a new copy of the document in .docx or .dotx format. Word Online can’t save documents in the .doc or .dot formats.

Excel Online:

Supported for viewing and editing	Supported only for viewing	Cannot be opened
Excel workbook (.xlsx)	Portable Document Format (PDF)	Excel 97- Excel 2003 Workbook (.xls) **
Excel binary workbook file (xlsb)		Excel 97- Excel 2003 Template (.xlt)
Excel macro-enabled workbook (.xlsm)*		Excel Template (.xltx)
OpenDocument Spreadsheet file (.ods)		Comma separated values (CSV)
		IRM-protected documents Password-protected documents Documents with digital signatures

*The workbook can be opened, but macros do not run.

**On OneDrive.com this format can be viewed. To edit, Excel Online saves a new copy of the document in .xslx format. Excel Online can’t save documents in the .xls format.

PowerPoint Online:

Supported for viewing and editing	Supported only for viewing	Cannot be opened
PowerPoint Presentation (.pptx)	PowerPoint Template (.potx)	PowerPoint Add-in (.ppam)
PowerPoint Show (.ppsx)	PowerPoint 97-2003 Template (.pot)	Rich Text Format (RTF)
OpenDocument Presentation (.odp)	(.odp) PowerPoint 97-2003 .ppt and .pps*	Portable Document Format (PDF)
	PowerPoint Macro-Enabled .pptm, .potm, and .ppsm**	PowerPoint 97-2003 Add-in (.ppa)
	Portable Document Format (PDF)	IRM files Password files Files with digital signatures

* The presentation can be opened, but macros do not run.

** For editing, PowerPoint Online saves a new copy of the document in .pptx format. PowerPoint Online can’t save documents in the .ppt or .pot formats.

OneNote Online:

Supported for viewing and editing	Cannot be opened
OneNote 2010 and later notebooks (.one)	OneNote 2003 or OneNote 2007 notebooks (.one) OneNote Package (.onepkg) Portable Document Format (PDF)

I guess this pretty much sums up everything you need to know about Office Web apps. Thanks for reading this post. Happy Share Pointing!!!!

Office Web Apps 2013 Server Install and Configuration

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 06:43:00 +0000

Installing Office Web Apps

Office Web Apps 2013 is a stand-alone server web application that provides capabilities to open and render a Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote document as a web page. Microsoft SharePoint 2013, Exchange 2013, and Lync 2013 can share the rendering service to display Office documents in those applications as a web page. Additionally, when accessed from within a SharePoint 2013 farm, Office Web Apps also enables rich editing features for those documents.

Note: You cannot install Office Web Apps on the same server as SharePoint 2013

Please follow the server preparation process in the following sections for the appropriate server, either Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Preparation

Start by installing the following prerequisite software for Windows Server 2008 R2:

Open a PowerShell command running as an Administrator and execute the following commands to install the required roles and services for Office Web Apps.

Import-Module ServerManager
## Run the following command as a single line
Add-WindowsFeature Web-Server,Web-WebServer,Web-Common-Http,Web-Static-Content,Web-App-Dev,Web-Asp-Net,Web-Net-Ext,Web-ISAPI-Ext,Web-ISAPI-Filter,Web-Includes,Web-Security,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-Filtering,Web-Stat-Compression,Web-Dyn-Compression,Web-Mgmt-Console,Ink-Handwriting,IH-Ink-Support

Please continue with the “Office Web Apps Installation” section below.

Windows Server 2012 Preparation

To begin, open a PowerShell command running as an Administrator and execute the following commands to install the required roles and services for Office Web Apps.

Add-WindowsFeature Web-Server,Web-Mgmt-Tools,Web-Mgmt-Console,Web-WebServer,Web-Common-Http,Web-Default-Doc,Web-Static-Content,Web-Performance,Web-Stat-Compression,Web-Dyn-Compression,Web-Security,Web-Filtering,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-App-Dev,Web-Net-Ext45,Web-Asp-Net45,Web-ISAPI-Ext,Web-ISAPI-Filter,Web-Includes,InkandHandwritingServices

Please continue with the “Office Web Apps Installation” section below.

Office Web Apps Installation

Open and run the Office Web Apps setup.exe media to launch the setup wizard.

1. In the Office Web Apps Server 2013 Wizard, on the Read the Microsoft Software License Terms page, select I accept the terms of this agreement and then select Continue.

2. On the Choose a file location page, select the folder where you want the Office Web Apps Server files to be installed (for example, C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Web Apps), and then select Install Now. Note that, if this folder does not exist, Setup will create it for you.

The Choose a file location screen on the Office Web Apps install wizard.

3. When Setup finishes installing Office Web Apps Server, choose Close.

After installing the Office Web Apps 2013 server software, you are ready to install any additional add-ins and updates. You can also install any language packs your farm requires. To install the language packs, run the setup media for each of the language packs you desire.

If applicable, install the latest service pack Microsoft has released for Office Web Apps 2013 and then apply the latest service packs Microsoft has released for Office Web Apps 2013 language packs.

Finally, check for updates on Microsoft Update in the server’s control panel.

Configuring Office Web Apps

This section describes how to configure an Office Web Apps farm and join servers to it.

Important: Low memory conditions can cause Office document previews to fail in Office Web Apps. Verify that any servers that run Office Web Apps have sufficient memory.

On the first server for the Office Web Apps farm, execute the following PowerShell command to provision the farm:

New-OfficeWebAppsFarm -InternalUrl "https://office1.contoso.com" -ExternalUrl "https://office.contoso.com" -SSLOffloaded –EditingEnabled

The SSLOffloaded command switch configures Office Web Apps for hardware load-balancing, where the load-balancing device manages the SSL certificate and then relays the request to an Office Web Apps server over HTTP unencrypted traffic. This improves the overall performance but does require a secure network between the load-balancer and the Office Web Apps servers.

The following image provides an example of the expected output from the PowerShell command.

PowerShell results from configuring an Office Web Apps farm

Critical: Before you can use the Office Web Apps farm, you must add your domain to the list of allowed hosts.

Run the following PowerShell command to add your domain to the list of allowed hosts, substituting your domain for “contoso.com.”

New-OfficeWebAppsHost -Domain contoso.com

Once you have provisioned an Office Web Apps farm and allowed your domain, you can join additional Office Web Apps servers to the farm. To join additional servers, install the Office Web Apps software by following the steps in the previous section and then execute the following PowerShell command.

New-OfficeWebAppsMachine –MachineToJoin “office1.contoso.com”

You can test the Office Web Apps configuration by navigating to this URL and verifying it displays a Web app Open Platform Interface (WOPI)-discovery XML file:

https://office.contoso.com/hosting/discovery

(replacing office.contoso.com with your OWA external domain)

Note: For more information on deploying and configuring Office Web Apps, please see this TechNet article: http://technet.microsoft.com/jj219455

Configuring the Windows Firewall for Office Web Apps Traffic

On each Office Web Apps 2013 Server, you will need to set a firewall rule to allow Office Web Apps inter-farm traffic and HTTP/HTTPS traffic. Alternatively, you can disable the Windows Firewall if you choose and if you have another firewall solution.

You can set the Windows Firewall rules by navigating to the Control Panel, then click System and Security, then click Windows Firewall, and finally click Advanced settings. In the Inbound Rules area, ensure that the server allows connections on port 80 (HTTP) and port 443 (HTTPS). Add the port for the Office Web Apps inter-farm communication by following these steps:

1. In the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security window, click Inbound Rules.
2. In the Actions panel, click New rule…
3. In the New Inbound Rule Wizard window, select Ports as the Rule Type and click Next.
4. Select TCP and enter “809” for the Specific local ports. Click Next.

Windows Firewall Port Rule for Office Web Apps communication

5. Click Next. On the Profile screen, uncheck Public and click Next.
6. On the Name screen, enter “Office Web Apps Inter-Farm Communication” and click Finish.

Configuring a SharePoint 2013 Farm for Office Web Apps

Logon to the SharePoint application server that hosts Central Administration and open the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell (PowerShell), running it as an administrator. Next, enter the following PowerShell command:

New-SPWOPIBinding -ServerName “office1.contoso.com”

Run the following PowerShell command to enabled OAuth over HTTP.

$config = (get-spsecuritytokenserviceconfig)
$config.allowoauthoverhttp = $true
$config.update()

Run the following PowerShell command to change the WOPI zone to external-https.

Set-SPWOPIZone –zone “external-https”

Finally, verify that Office Web Apps is working by navigating to a SharePoint 2013 document library and verify that you can open a document as a web page.

Note: For more information on how to configure a SharePoint 2013 farm to use Office Web Apps and for troubleshooting information, please see this TechNet article: http://technet.microsoft.com/ff431687

Apps for SharePoint hosting options

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 11:12:00 +0000

The SharePoint 2013 app model provides two broad approaches to hosting your apps for SharePoint:

SharePoint-hosted
Cloud-hosted

Within the cloud-hosted approach there are two important subcategories:

Provider-hosted
Auto-hosted

These are not exclusive categories: An app for SharePoint can have both SharePoint-hosted and remotely hosted components. Each approach has key features you should consider when deciding how to host your apps.

SharePoint Hosted App

Figure 1: SharePoint-hosted apps

SharePoint hosted app runs within the context of SharePoint, but there is no server side code. Any kind of logic is going to run in the client side using JavaScript. You can leverage some of the SharePoint artefacts like lists, document libraries, pages without code behind and out of the box web parts. SharePoint-hosted apps for SharePoint are installed on a SharePoint 2013 website, called the host web, and that have their resources hosted on an isolated subsite of a host web, called the app web.

Cloud-hosted apps

Figure 2: Cloud-hosted apps

In cloud hosted apps, the logic resides outside of SharePoint. The logic can reside either on IIS server OR Windows Azure OR some other cloud solution and it is going to talk to SharePoint using client side object model (CSOM) or REST services and have to be granted permission to SharePoint using OAuth.

Within this category there are two types of apps:

Provider hosted

Auto-hosted

Note: Cloud-hosted app is the most preferred hosting model for almost all apps. You can get full power of the web, you can choose your infrastructure and technology, you can run in IIS or in Windows Azure or even on other non-Microsoft infrastructure. Whereas SharePoint hosted apps is good for smaller apps with limited resource storage.

App Shape and Branding

When you build SharePoint apps, one of the design decision is how apps are going to look like and be presented to the user. To design the user experience of the app, you need to understand the following:

App Shape
Branding

Apps for SharePoint fit seamlessly into the SharePoint website where they are installed.

Figure 3: App Shapes option

As shown in figure above, the apps can have three possible type of shapes:

Immersive: An app for SharePoint provides a fully immersive experience and optionally can extend some of the existing UI, such as in menus, or by providing embeddable parts for other pages. Immersive apps will take entire browser experience.

App Part: App parts surface an IFrame element that contains content from your app. Imagine these apps as the ones which add something like a web part to the SharePoint site e.g. weather monitor app. An App Part is nothing but a type of Web Part that is represented by the ClientWebPart class. This kind of Web Part is essentially a wrapper for an IFrame that would host a page of the app.

Extension App: You need to use extension app when you create new actions for documents or list items. Ribbon or context menu extensions make your app available on list items, documents, or anywhere else a ribbon is shown. An app can add links like ribbon, custom actions or ECB menu to the host web. When user will click on the link, user will be redirected to the app web.

All apps have a default page which might take the full page. Apps show custom action or app part in the host web. The app might take the full page by redirecting user from host web url to app web. For example, the host web url is http://www.hostweb.com and an app is installed in the host web which adds a custom action. When user clicks the custom action, the user will be navigated to a new url (say, http://www.appweb.com). So the app takes the full page (so it’s called Immersive Full page). However user will not notice the url changes as the new app site will have the same UI look and feel. The idea of having the app web to have similar look and feel like host web is achieve thorough a new concept in SharePoint 2013 – called Chrome Control. This is a javaScript based object that allows custom app to consume and import the css and stying of the hosting parent appweb. Also the chrome control create a SharePoint 2013 ribbon bar in the app site, so that user can navigate back to the hot web.

Figure 4: Chrome control in a web page

Apps Branding

Microsoft has recommended design process as well as basic guidelines for developing quality user experiences for apps. Refer to this link UX design for apps in SharePoint 2013 to understand the recommended UX design process for apps for SharePoint.

Developers are going to primarily use three different types of branding:

App Template: The app template is the default branding option in Visual Studio when you create an app web and pages within that web. The app template can be used only for SharePoint-hosted ASPX pages. The template includes the app.master master page.

Chrome Control: This is a JavaScript based object that allows custom app to consume and import the css and stying of the hosting parent appweb. If you’re not building SharePoint-hosted ASPX pages, but you still want your app to fit in naturally with the host site that it is used from, the chrome control is the right choice.

Custom Branding: If, instead of aligning to the host site’s theme and fitting into the SharePoint site where your app is installed, you want to use your own brand inside your app, you will have to build your chrome from scratch. However, you should still have a “back to site” link in the upper-left corner of the page that redirects the user back to the site where the app is installed.

SharePoint Designer: A Beginner's Guide

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Mon, 07 Apr 2014 07:02:00 +0000

SharePoint Desiger is the best tool for user-experience customization of SharePoint sites, at least for those who aren't fluent in code. This software is available for free on the Microsoft website and comes pre-packed with most SharePoint deployments. This article walks you through the basics of using that software.

Installation

During the installation process of SharePoint Designer, the default settings (for the installation, maintenance, Microsoft updates, and so on) are typically preferable. Do not choose non-default options unless you're confident about what those changes will mean. If you have any problems with locating, downloading, or installing SharePoint Designer, the best way to troubleshoot is to refer to the Microsft site. Once you have Designer installed, you're ready to move forward with this article.

Setting Up a Base Template

To ready a template for your SharePoint sites, you will go to File → New → Web Site. While there are multiple options available here, the best path is to choose "SharePoint Templates" and select one of the blank basic sites you see on this page. While they lack dynamic content and web parts, those pieces can be added later without difficulty as the templates are pre-built in the ASP.NET framework that allows for such dynamic elements. Unless you have strong reasons for doing so, importing a site at this stage is not recommended.

Connecting to Your Hosted SharePoint

To synchronize with your hosted SharePoint, simply enter the URL of your SharePoint into the "site location" box and click "OK." From here, you will be asked to input your SharePoint credentials (i.e., username and password). Once you have done so, Designer will automatically make the necessary synchronizations.

Using the Interface

The SharePoint Designer interface is designed to be intuitive for users, especially those familiar with the Microsoft Office suite. While a great deal of good comes from simple experimentation, there are dedicated guides to navigating Designer, with the most prominent coming from Microsoft itself.

Talking Points for Establishing Effective SharePoint Governance

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Mon, 07 Apr 2014 06:57:00 +0000

Setting up an effective SharePoint governance plan is challenging, but it becomes impossible without appropriate communication. After all, without a real understanding of what drives those who live within the framework of that governance, it's entirely possible that your approach will do more harm than good. This entry gives tips on what conversations to have as you work to establish the right governance plan for your company.

What Are Your Core Company Goals?

Your governance plan must always be centered around your crucial business outcomes, but it's easy to assume that everyone is starting on the same page when it comes to what those goals are. In reality, employees at different levels of the company, and even different company leaders, may have distinct visions of where the company is headed.

Establishing and communicating about goals is an effective business strategy in any context, but it serves as a foundation for any governance plans. If that foundation is cracked, everything else is bound to crumble.

What Roles and Responsibilities Do Employees Have?

Job responsibilities for various projects should be considered in setting up the framework of SharePoint, but it must also be accounted for when thinking about governance.

While having these conversations is crucial, it's important to understand that strictly defined roles aren't necessary for every company. Some companies prefer to keep a fluid set of roles, with each mutli-skilled employee blurring the lines between traditional roles as they move the project forward. It's entirely acceptable to define roles in this way. For governance, what matters isn't the exact roles but the boundaries and permissions they require.

On-Premise and Off-Premise Enforcement

While the policies of your governance plan will be highly tuned to your business goals, company culture, and the industry you work in, those policies will need an enforcement plan to have any weight.

Most companies have a policy in place for on-premise work, which is the first step to take. In today's mobile world, however, it's also important to have a policy for off-premise access of sensitive files, emails, and client details. Once these policies are in place, the most important step must still be completed: You must ensure that the enforcement policy is communicated effectively and non-threateningly to your staff.

Your company may have specific needs or objectives that require other conversations before you can effectively make a SharePoint governance policy. In any industry, however, the conversation topics listed above should provide a solid start.

Bill Clinton's Keynote at SharePoint Conference 2014

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 06:38:00 +0000

One of the surprising, and surprisingly last-minute, updates ot the SharePoint Conference 2014 roster was the announcement of Bill Clinton's keynote address. As a former president with a strong track record on economic policies, Clinton's address spoke to the value of enterprise content management in a troubled job market. His address didn't stop there, however.

Clinton was speaking on behalf of the Clinton Foundation, a charitable organization that works to support economic growth, environmental sustainability, and other business ethics pursuits around the world. The value of economic growth was a major point of his keynote, and he noted that one fifth of the economic growth during his administration was due to technological advances. He also went beyond pure economics, however, emphasizing that technology had a vital role to play in making a better world—so long as we use that technology appropriately.

"Technology is liberating people, empowering them, but how they use it, and how you use it, depends in no small measure on identity," said Clinton. "And whether what we have in common is more important than our interesting differences."

Clinton then went on to discuss ways that technology like SharePoint could make the world better. Among other examples Clinton provided was the earthquake in Haiti (2010), and the ways that technology allowed for more rapid and effective disaster response.

Clinton asked some hard questions. "As we look at the 21st century world," he asked, "what do you think is wrong with it, and how do you want it to come out? How do you think about what you'd like the world to look like when you have children your age?" He warned of the risk of trying to push past the cutting edge, and the ways that technology can be used blindly and without regard for its more unsettling consequences.

He further discussed how technology like SharePoint could help move the 21st century toward the sort of world he values. "Not one in which we erase our interesting differences, but one in which we recognize that our community humanity matters more," he stated. "And unless we act as if it matters more, we will never be able to preserve many of those differences."

Major Takeaways from SharePoint Conference 2014

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 06:35:00 +0000

SharePoint Conference 2014 has come to a close, and the event was full of new announcements, high-powered workshops, and a set of minor shifts that indicated major trends. If you didn't manage to make it to the conference, there are always future meet-ups to look forward to—and we'll help you get up to speed by covering the major points from the 2014 conference in this article.

A Focus on Social with Yammer

SharePoint social has been growing exponentially with each new release of the platform. Now, as SharePoint Online takes center stage, Microsft's partnership with Yammer is bearing fruit. Yammer is replacing, upgrading, or streamlining many of the core offerings of SharePoint Social.

Multiple keynote addresses and panel sessions focused on the use of Yammer and its potential utility within the platform. Of note, Yammer will also be branded as Yammer rather than being folded into SharePoint Social, which sets a precedent for future Microsoft acquisitions and integrations. This may also serve as a way to bring loyal Yammer users into the SharePoint fold.

Using Azure for Security and Testing

Windows Azure was a major focus of presentations and workshops. Lessons of note were based on the ability to use Azure to create test deployments of SharePoint farms, to enhance customization, and to troubleshoot issues.

Storage Limit Increases

Microsoft project lead Jeff Teper made an exciting announcement for those using SharePoint Online for secure cloud storage. The previous storage limit is being multiplied, with the new cap on storage being set to 1TB of site data stored on OneDrive. Even better, the tenant storage is having all limits removed, leading to an infinite tenant storage scale.

Messages Written in the Cloud

With the focus on virtual, cloud-based systems like Windows Azure, an expansion of cloud storage space, and a focus on the social features of SharePoint Online, it's clear that Microsoft is bringing all its forces to bear on the battle of cloud-based enterprise services.

While that shift seems to be the predominant battle plan for the company, it's important to note that there has already been an official response to concerns about Microsoft abandoning on-site deployments of SharePoint. Microsoft has promised to keep on-site services up to snuff, and have indicated that at least one more on-site release is in the works.

Tips for Writing an Abstract for SharePoint Conference

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 07:18:00 +0000

Are you a SharePoint expert? Do you have some other area of business expertise worth sharing with enterprise-scale companies? If so, you may have already realized that presenting your own session at SharePoint Conference 2014 would be a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your field while networking with those who share your interests and ambitions. Unfortunately, the time to submit to the 2014 conference is already past.

The good news is that this will not be the last major SharePoint Conference, and you're in a prime position to start working on ideas for future conventions n this field. The process for doing so usually begins with an abstract of the paper, workshopping topic, or panel discussion you would like to have at the center of your session. This article walks you through how you can effectively write an abstract for future SharePoint conferences.

Keep It Brief

The requirements for an abstract will vary depending on the conference, year, and sometimes even the topic. Typically, abstracts will be anywhere from 200 to 500 words in length. Additionally, a summary of the abstract will also be required. These summaries will typically be 50 words or fewer.

If you have a topic that's too broad or complex to present on, the abstract and summary will help you realize that fact. Within the summary, you should be able to communicate the subject matter and benefit of your presentation.

Submit Early and Often

Many conferences have multiple rounds of submissions. By submitting during the first round, you give yourself an opportunity to refine and revise your abstract for re-submission during future rounds.

Additionally, you can always submit to other SharePoint conferences using the same materials. Do note, however, that different groups have more or less restrictive policies when it comes to re-using papers or materials that have already been published elsewhere.

Be Active and Direct

Don't just talk about what you're going to talk about in a nebulous way (e.g., "This paper will discuss the importance of business intelligence and ways that business intelligence can benefit companies"). Rather, talk about what will be said about the topic (e.g., "Embedded business intelligence web parts can improve efficiency, performance, and profitability of the workforce").

Here's one thing to remember that may help you shape your abstract's structure. The abstract is often used word-for-word in the conference program. In other words, your description should make people understand your point and want to hear more about it.

Alongside the need for direct discussion of your major ideas, be sure you use an "active voice" in the abstract. Don't know what an active voice is? A sentence written in passive voice has a subject indirectly enacting a verb (e.g., "He was starting to run") while a sentence written in active voice has a subject directly enacting a verb (e.g., "She ran"). The active sentence structure makes your words more lively and, more importantly, helps conserve valuable space in the abstract itself.

Past SharePoint conference programs and abstracts are available for your perusal, so here's one final tip: Take a look at the abstracts that have gone before you! After all, any abstract that made it to the program also successfully made it through the submission process.

5 Ways to Get More Out of SharePoint

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 07:14:00 +0000

SharePoint is a valuable and versatile tool used by the majority of Fortune 500 companies, along with other successful companies worldwide. However, powerful tools must be used correctly to be effective. Here are five ways your company can get more out of SharePoint.

1: Dive into Social

If you're a veteran of SharePoint usage, you may not be accustomed to the new social features. It's time that changed. The release of powerful social features in SharePoint 2013, along with Microsoft's acquisition of Yammer (the largest "enterprise social" company on the web), opened countless doors.

2: Dig into Customization

While SharePoint 2010 and earlier versions had a great many customization options, the newest release gives users an added incentive to create effective web parts and customizations. Just as important, users are more empowered than ever to create such custom components. Many of these HTML 5–based web parts are available for a low cost (or even free), and a savvy user on your team can complete highly tuned customization for your company's needs.

3: Launch into Integration

The ability to synchronize and even directly integrate SharePoint with other platforms has been a priority for Microsoft for several years. As a result, there are dozens of enterprise solutions that connect directly with SharePoint. This includes Office 365, along with many non-Microsoft products.

4: Training

Even if your SharePoint deployment is set up perfectly, your employees may not be aware of or familiar with all of the resources available to them. When other projects are underway, it's easy to set training aside. However, a simply weekly session to empower your staff will have a significant impact on y our bottom line.

5: Bringing in Experts

While there's a great deal you can do on your own, there are some opportunities and shortcomings you may be unable to see for yourself. Having an outside party help you evaluate the big picture issues, and connect you with solutions for concrete solutions, can accelerate your company in a small window of time. To get a free consultation from SharePoint Engine on how we can help your company thrive, visit our contact page today.

Using SharePoint to Short-Circuit the Bystander Effect

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 07:10:00 +0000

The unconscious mind is a fascinating thing, and while it's needed for healthy functioning, it also comes with risks. The business environment makes workers prone to several well-known biases and unconsciously selected behaviors, including the infamous "bystander effect." This article examines the bystander effect in the workplace and shows how you can manage effectively and take advantage of SharePoint features to prevent the bystander effect from damaging your business.

What is the bystander effect?

The most famous instances of the bystander effect revolve around violent crime. In these cases, brutally violent acts were committed in front of a large crowd, but no one in that crowd intervened—or even called the police. The most famous of these examples is the Belle Isle Bridge, where dozens of onlookers did nothing to intervene as a woman was beaten to death.

Why did this happen? The larger the group of people who are present to witness an act, the more each individual assumes that someone else has already done something to help, that someone else is better equipped to help, or that there is a good reason—that the individual is not aware of—for not intervening. After all, if there are dozens of other people behaving in a specific way, it is easy to unconsciously assume that this behavior is correct.

Hopefully violent crime is never something your workplace or its denizens have to worry about—but there are lesser forms of the bystander effect that influence your team. One workplace experiment took place in an elevator. Actors were hired to drop pencils or coins in an elevator after the door had closed. The goal was to see how many people responded, how quickly, and what factors seemed to play into the likelihood that they would help.

When only one person was present in the elevator besides the actor, it was 40% likely that they would help pick up the dropped objects. As more people were present in the elevator, however, it was less likely that anyone would help. With seven people in the elevator, there was only a 14% likelihood that anyone would help the clumsy stranger.

Large Group Work and Avoiding Bystanders

With large groups and task teams, it's easy to fall prey to the bystander effect without even realizing it. When something goes wrong or a client is concerned, there's a general sense that it's probably someone else's responsibility—or problem.

How can you avoid this? The first and most important thing to do is ensure that each employee has specifically designated domains. This will give them a greater sense of autonomy and responsibility in facing tasks. Further, by using SharePoint's social features to list the responsibilities of various team members, you are both validating the individual's role and making it clear who other team members can talk to about the type of issue in question.

SharePoint's communication systems are excellent for many purposes, but be sure that you avoid triggering the bystander effect with large-group missives. When you send group messages, make sure each individual knows how they are expected to respond and who they are to report to.

Making use of SharePoint document and page creation tools will help even further, as it helps individual employees feel empowered to help create the learning resources for your company. As knowledge, expertise, and low-level authority spread out in your company, the likelihood of rapid and effective response also increases.

And last, be aware that the bystander effect is broken as soon as one individual is seen breaking through the inaction. When individuals act in ways you want all employees to act, use SharePoint's communication tools to draw attention to that behavior—not just to reward the employee in question but to help establish a "new normal" for the rest of your workforce.

Top Reasons You Should Go to SharePoint Conference 2014

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 07:04:00 +0000

We've given no shortage of attention to SharePoint Conference 2014—and with good reason! The conference is a hub of learning for those who use Microsoft products to improve their business, but that's just the start. Here are the best reasons why you should attend SharePoint Conference 2014.

Sessions Galore

There are more than 200 sessions at the conference designed specifically for people in your line of work. We don't simply mean "people who work with SharePoint," either. Microsoft has multiple conference tracks, with sessions designed for developers, professionals, and executives.

The Biggest Event of Its Kind

There has never been a convention in this field that rivals the size of SharePoint Conference 2014. With the combination of SharePoint, Office 365, and the newly acquired Yammer, the event is set to be the most significant networking event for SharePoint professionals. Microsoft has also promised that those who haven't integrated Office 365 solutions will be given "best practices and practical guidance on how to set up, manage and support your Office 365 environment."

The Most Prominent Experts in the Field

You're not just hearing from the usual suspects (as outstanding as those suspects may be). This conference puts you in touch with the minds and talent behind all the major enterprise-focused Microsoft offerings. These great minds will be giving you their insights on how you can make the most out of SharePoint.

The Launch-Point

While Microsoft hasn't made (and never does make) any promises of this nature, the conference is likely to be the launching point for the next generation of enterprise solutions. Exactly what that will look like, and how it will shape SharePoint and other Microsoft offerings, has yet to be seen. To be one of the first people to see that future emerge, and to give your company a competitive edge, participation in the conference is a must.

As you prepare for this major event, be sure to take a look at our articles on networking, planning, and otherwise making the most out of your conference experience (found in the archives of this blog). We hope to see you at SharePoint Conference 2014!

Evaluating the Skills of SharePoint Developers

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 12:30:00 +0000

One of the challenges of hiring experts in a field outside your own is that you can rarely be certain that the potential employee has the abilities they claim to have. As such, hiring a SharePoint developer can be a daunting task. The role of a developer is as complex and vast as SharePoint itself, and failing to ask the proper questions can put your company in a tricky situation.

Here are some specific ways you can evaluate SharePoint developers:

Go Through a Skills Checklist

Even if you don't have the level of expertise that your ideal candidate would have, you can develop a checklist of desired skills—and at least a rudimentary understanding of what each skill entails. While the exact needs will vary dependent on your anticipated projects, you should include web parts, SharePoint site development, and use of SharePoint designer in your list.

Other skills that are highly useful but not necessary for every project type include SharePoint deployment, updating, use of the .Net framework, HTML, Jquery, JavaScript, Windows Server administration, and SQL server administration.

Focus on the Portfolio

While you may not be able to understand everything that went into past projects, asking to see a developer's previously completed work is a wise idea. While many "project tours" will be limited due to confidentiality agreements, letting your applicant know in advanced will—at a minimum—give them the chance to take screen captures and provide descriptions of previous projects.

Restrict Your Search to Microsoft Certified Applicants

Those familiar with SharePoint will also be familiar with Microsoft certification. The certification process will assure at least a moderate level of competency across the board. You will also want to pay attention to the certification date so you're aware of whether certification happened before or after the release of your version of SharePoint.

Talk to Them About Process

Provide an outline of some of the upcoming projects that the SharePoint developer will be expected to tackle. Ask them to describe what project milestones and anticipated completion dates they would provide, with an understanding that such an estimate would require further project specifications to be truly accurate. If you're still skeptical about the candidate, provide those further details and build the first few project timelines into their contract.

Talk to a Consultant

SharePoint Engine is a Microsoft Certified Partner who can help you better understand your needs, evaluate current candidates, and find new candidates for contract or long-term work. Contact us for more information.

There are many ways to ensure that your SharePoint developer will meet your needs. The crucial thing is to do more than assuming that your potential team member's use of technical lingo means they must be the sort of expert you're looking for.

6 Tips for Familiarizing Users with SharePoint

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 12:17:00 +0000

Anything unfamiliar can intimidate your team. Even when facing a straightforward, five-step process, an employee with no sense of how the system works will struggle with the unknown. After all, they have no knowledge of just how many steps a new task is likely to involve.

This is one of the great advantages of SharePoint: This Microsoft enterprise content management system is the most popular ECM available today, and so avoids the sense of unfamiliar for many employees. Further, SharePoint's interface has an intuitive design that allows people to feel at ease simply because they are accustomed to navigating websites and using similar productivity resources.

But what about users who have never used SharePoint before and have no past experience with page-based productivity systems? For these users, rapid familiarization is the goal. Here are six tips for making that familiarization process as simple and effective as possible.

1) Talk about SharePoint as a tool, not a task.

Given that many procedures will be a mandatory part of everyday work, it's easy to think of SharePoint as a task to complete rather than a tool to help you complete those tasks. You can defuse stress by emphasizing that SharePoint is a system used to make life a bit easier for everyone—not a place for busywork.

2) Explain the system to them in the simplest possible terms.

While it's tempting to discuss the broad objectives, intricate workings, and customization options of SharePoint, it is far more effective to keep all discussion to the mandatory information. Once users are up to speed, you can elaborate on all the other details.

3) Give users maximum flexibility.

Your company needs to have tasks completed in a predictable, consistent manner. With that requirement being a given, give users the highest sustainable degree of flexibility in choosing how to complete their work.

4) Compare SharePoint to other familiar systems.

Check with new employees to see what they've used in the past for both work-based and personal productivity. When you can, compare specific features, goals, or processes in SharePoint to these familiar systems.

5) Assign a "SharePoint buddy."

If you're in a management position, your time isn't best spent answering the minute details of your ECM. Instead, assign a staff-member who's familiar with SharePoint to answer questions for the new employee. The accessibility of a fellow employee will help your new staff member feel more comfortable asking questions, and the sense of camaraderie can help strengthen your team overall.

6) Give them time!

Getting familiar with a system can take a while, and telling someone, "Hurry up and feel comfortable!" is bound to be counter-productive. While facilitating familiarization, give new staff the chance to relax into the system on their own time.

4 Pointers for Building Large Sites via SharePoint

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 12:16:00 +0000

SharePoint provides impressive tools for developing company-facing or client-facing websites. However, the ease of use sometimes allows websites to expand to a tremendous size without ever seeing the sort of user interface and design modifications required to support such a site. This article gives four simple pointers for handling large sites built via SharePoint.

1: Navigation, Navigation, Navigation

When working in digital spaces, the "location, location, location" mantra becomes moot: Everything is located everywhere, and the question becomes how that information is accessed. This should be your top priority moving into large-site design.

There's a challenging balance to strike in making an effective navigation system for a large website. On the one hand, not including important navigational links makes it easy for users to get lost. On the other, including too many links will overwhelm visitors. The best way to strike a balance is to allow a variety of "sub-sites" that each have a context-specific navigation to help users find applicable forms, pages, and gateways inside the category.

2: Unified Design

When working with hundreds or thousands of pages, it's easy for users to lose track of who your company even is. Whether you're trying to keep up professionalism by branding your website for your team or trying to remind your clients which name they should trust, keeping a unified design is a smart move in creating your website.

Bear in mind, however, that this design doesn't have to be identical on each sub-site. Using your company logo alongside category-specific design markers is a great way to give people trail-markers without sacrificing design cohesion.

3: Trim the Fat

It should come as no surprise that a "Spring Cleaning" should be a part of your design upgrades. The tricky part is knowing what elements can be moved off-website. Here are two pieces of advice on that front. First, ask the users! Whether it's your staff or clients, you can get a better sense of how the website can and should change by talking to the users about the user experience. Second, relegate what you can of the staff-facing website to SharePoint's searchable infrastructure. By moving files into this system, you get all the benefits of a well-tested UI without the hassle of making it yourself.

4: Plan for the Future

It's understandable that the site has bloated to its current size, but there's no reason to make this a recurring issue. Take this time to decide what will go on the website, what categories can be used to organize the site, and what can be done in the long-term to improve the user experience and aesthetics of the website.

SharePoint is an amazingly versatile and valuable tool, and the speed and ease with which it allows you to create web pages is just one of its advantages. However, as with all tools, the real impact lies in the hand of the person who uses it.

The Microsoft Mindset: Why the Enterprise Experience Isn't Going Anywhere

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 11:41:00 +0000

In the infamous (and sadly fictional) "Epic Rap Battle" between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, a stinging exchange of jabs reads:

Steve Jobs: The people with the power to create use an Apple
Bill Gates: And people with jobs use a PC.

And while advertisement pitching Apple to the "young, hip" demographics were certainly unkind to Microsoft overall, even these condemning ads made it clear that Microsoft products are designed for people who have an enterprise mindset—however unappealing that may be to most twenty-somethings.

Why is it that Microsoft focuses on enterprise solutions? And just as important, why is it that major competitors leave the enterprise territory uncontested?

If we're being honest, much of the answer boils down to money. A twenty-something student may be able to afford a few thousand dollars for a new device that doubles as a status symbol, but a company buying hundreds of devices will question the benefit of every dollar spent. Ultimately, any wise company will buy the most affordable tool that gets the job done.

Microsoft has become the trusted name for precisely those tools. Even though a variety of companies manufacture PCs, the unifying factor between the various devices is the Windows operating system. The extended interaction of Microsoft and enterprise groups gave Microsoft both the connections and the insights that would allow them to develop an effective content management system.

SharePoint has held the market for long enough that few other ECMs are even mentioned, let alone discussed as serious competitors. And while no one is arguing that SharePoint is flawless, it remains the most reliable and well-trusted content management system available. The established foothold in the enterprise marketplace can in turn increase trust: Companies have a vested interest in the continued success of SharePoint (they would have to spend a large amount to re-train employees on a new system and transition all their old SharePoint farms), which means that Microsoft's preset is stable.

Perhaps most importantly, Microsoft is by no means ignorant of the support, loyalty, and implicit investment from these enterprise groups. Even as competition increases in other sectors and Microsoft abandons other long-term projects, enterprise solutions will remain a central focus for the foreseeable future.

Why Migrate to SharePoint 2013?

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Tue, 24 Dec 2013 14:35:00 +0000

What changes and enhancements in SharePoint 2013 make it worth migrating from SharePoint 2010? Speaking from a purely business perspective, there are a number of features in SharePoint 2013 that are probably worth making the investment to upgrade. There are also some features that might not be worth the effort, at least for the majority of SharePoint users.

In this blog post we will summarize a few of the new features in SharePoint 2013 that might justify upgrading from SharePoint 2010. The features we’ll overview are: Design Manager, Device Channels, HTML5, Community Sites and Community Portal, the new Search experience, Content Search Web Part, and Web Content Management. These features can be configured by a trained in-house SharePoint developer or a professional SharePoint consulting firm can be contracted to do the work.

Design Manager

This tool will help make your website look as if it was custom designed, and ensure that your brand is presented how you choose rather than looking like SharePoint. Design Manager makes it much easier to create customized, pixel-perfect design while using the design tools most designers are familiar with. With Design Manager you can also optimize your site’s design for a certain class of smart phones or tablets. Depending on what device channels you define, you may want several designs.
Design Manager lets you create your design, implement the design and manage the website design.

Device Channels

With Device Channels, you can render a single publishing site in multiple ways by mapping different designs to different devices. Each channel can has its own master page that links to a style sheet that is optimized for a specific device. Each channel specifies the user agent substrings for one or more devices, such as Windows Phone OS. There are rules that determine what devices are included in each channel. When visitors browse your site, each channel captures the traffic for its specified device or class of devices. Visitors see your site in a design optimized window customized for their particular device.

HTML5 and CSS3

HTML5 has several new features such as: the < video > and < audio> elements for media playback in the bowser’s default player; support for local storage which gives the user the ability to use web apps or read content while offline; and new content-specific elements like < article>, < footer>, < header>, < nav>, and < section>. These tags allow for better SEO content indexing, organization and standardizations for all designs. HTML5 lets developers target the most number of devices with the least amount of development effort.

In addition to HTML5, CSS3 opens up even more branding opportunities. CSS3 includes: the @font-face property to render font file references in a live environment; the border-radius enables the ability to make rounded corners on boxes and other objects; box shadow generates a shadow on elements; and dynamic widths for proportional sizing on multiple screen sizes. CSS3 also gives designs that need dynamic widths the ability to re-size proportionally based on the screen resolution or the size of the device.

Community Sites and Community Portal

There is a new site template called Community Site, which is a site that promotes discussion between members based on site specific topics. It also allows for the use of common social media techniques like ‘@’ to mention and ‘#’ hashtags to tag with categories.

The Community Portal Site Collection template automatically aggregates community sites for easy viewing and access. This is very similar to the Linkedin-groups concept. Community Sites can be created to support different subject matter and then a Portal can be created to access sites individually.

New Search Capabilities

Search in 2013 enables users to find relevant information quickly and easily and makes it easy for Search administrators to customize the search experience. It also provides several API sets for advanced customizations and solutions. There have been a wide variety of improvements in the Search capabilities of SharePoint 2013 from SharePoint 2010. With the newest version, Search has been re-architected to a single enterprise search platform. The search architecture consists of the following areas: crawl and content processing, indexing, query processing, search administration, and analytics.

Content Search Web Part

The Content Search Web Part (CSWP) is a Web Part introduced in SharePoint 2013 that uses various styling options to display dynamic content on SharePoint pages. The CSWP displays search results in a way that they can easily be formatted. Each CSWP is associated with a search query and shows the results from that search query. Display templates can be used to change how search results appear on the page. CSWP can return content that is as fresh as the latest crawl of your content.

Web Content Management

SharePoint 2013 includes new and improved features to manage web content and simplify how you design publishing sites and enhance the publishing process. Content authors can copy content from Word, paste it directly into a Rich Text Editor Web Part or an HTML field control on a page, and have the resulting semantically correct HTML markup display in the styles that were defined by the designer.

In SharePoint 2013 the variations feature is used exclusively for multilingual sites. The variation feature makes content available to specific audiences on different sites by copying content from a source variation site to one or more target variation sites, and tracking relationships between sources and target content.

Cross-site publishing lets you store and maintain content in one or more authoring site collections, and display this content in one or more publishing site collections. When the content is changed in an authorizing site collection, those changes are then displayed on all site collections that are reusing this content.

The overall experience of WCM combining Apps, Search, Devices, Design Manager significantly enhances our ability to manage the publishing of pages and the environment to make that happen.

Wrap up

If you are thinking of switching to SharePoint 2013, there are a number relevant, business-oriented, features to consider. We presented a few of the features in the blog, but to get an complete picture of all the features that might be relevant for you, it is advisable to speak to a SharePoint Consulting professional.

SharePoint Engine

If SharePoint experience is one of the keys to end user satisfaction, then SharePoint Engine will get a gold star. As a SharePoint Consulting company in business for the past 7 years, they have successfully completed more than 100 projects. Many of the SharePoint Engine developers have been working with the platform since it was launched in 2001. The depth of their knowledge is substantial and can be used to design and build an exceptional SharePoint solution.

If you would like to talk to a premier SharePoint Consulting firm with the experience and vision to design your ideas and business objectives into SharePoint, please send us an email at Info@SharePointEngine.com or call 678-956-1780.

Where have all the Hater’s Gone?

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Tue, 24 Dec 2013 14:28:00 +0000

SharePoint haters seem to be disappearing. Possibly they aren’t as vocal as before, or perhaps they don’t complain as much. Whatever the reason, ‘hater’ rhetoric is quieting down…and that is a wonderful thing.

In this blog post, I want to look at why users didn’t or don’t like SharePoint; why a design flaw here or coding problem there would be so magnified by unhappy end-users that they felt compelled to write about their pain. I’d also like to propose the idea that end-users are becoming happier with each passing day as SharePoint evolves and SharePoint developers evolve with it.

Let me say right up front, the reason most users didn’t like SharePoint was because the developers that designed and built the user applications were untrained, inexperienced, or lacked vision…or all three. I’m laying the whole SharePoint ‘hater’ thing at the doorstep of developers…sorry.

Microsoft Got the Ball Rolling

So, why did so many end users decide to blame SharePoint rather than the developer or his lack of SharePoint knowledge? The whole thing started with problems with Microsoft and the vast array of products that people everywhere were exposed to and learned to hate. We might consider some discontinued products like Microsoft Bob, OneCare, Microsoft Chart and Picture Manager…to name just a few of their flops. These products were all discontinued because they weren’t any good. Microsoft marketing hyped them up, people purchased them, and people hated them. At the very least, you have to give Microsoft credit for trying new things. It just would have worked out better if those new things would have worked.

If a software product is not stable, secure, or capable of performing as expected, then that the product is destined for the trash bin along with the company that built it. Given that so many of their products failed, the amazing thing about Microsoft is the brand is still incredibly strong. Microsoft certainly had its share of unstable, insecure and clunky products, but it also had a few magnificent triumphs. That said, the Microsoft brand has been stained enough times that people are skeptical of their products and quick to tell the world when something goes ‘bump in the night.’

SharePoint and the inaugural version called Microsoft SharePoint Services or MOSS, was misunderstood from the very beginning. Here is how Microsoft described SharePoint Services back in 2006 with Version 1.0:

Windows SharePoint Services is a versatile technology that organizations and business units of all sizes can use to increase the efficiency of business processes and improve team productivity. With tools for collaboration that help people stay connected across organizational and geographic boundaries, Windows SharePoint Services gives people access to the information they need.

Built on Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Windows SharePoint Services also provides a foundation platform for building Web-based business applications that can flex and scale easily to meet the changing and growing needs of your business

Most people read the marketing description above and said: “It does what?” In those three simple words, they were asking – what in the world is a foundation platform? They also were saying – SharePoint Services sounds too complicated and expensive. Obviously, SharePoint got off to a rocky start in life.

Things are Changing

That was then, this is now. SharePoint 2010 and the recently released Version 2013 have evolved as a solid ‘foundation platform.’ People now have a better understanding of what SharePoint can do, and people are a bit more tolerant of Microsoft since that the company regained the confidence of the masses. SharePoint earned a new lease on life, and Microsoft intends to take full advantage of the opportunity. However, developers still do the design and coding of SharePoint, which keeps the end user tethered to the skills of the developer. Will SharePoint ever meet the users’ needs? The answer to that question depends on the designer and developer.

The SharePoint haters are still out there. As I’ve tried to illustrate in this blog post, their discontent should be with the developer more so than with the product. By way of example, what if Honda automobile company put a lawn mower engine in their new Civics? If you bought one and found the car was a wee bit underpowered, whose fault is it? Should you blame the motor, the car body, the gasoline, or the builder? Obviously, the builder. The same holds true for SharePoint.

SharePoint haters are disappearing because a big part of the reason for the hater’s discontent has been resolved; the product itself is stable and it is much better understood by end users. This still leaves room for improvement, and that will come as the developers get more experience and are able to help the end users perform their jobs better.

SharePoint Engine

Guide to Developing an Intelligent SharePoint Strategy

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 12:45:00 +0000

Having a thought-out SharePoint strategy in place improves company output and simplifies project management. This article provides a guide on how you can implement an intelligent strategy for your company.

Identifying the Areas for Your SharePoint Strategy

The areas of importance will vary from company to company, but as a general matter of principle there are eight core and four secondary areas for developing a strategy. The core areas are project management, testing, policies/permissions, deployment/initial training, code management, site architecture, maintenance, and security. The secondary areas are branding, social, operational concerns, and post-deployment training.

There may be additional sectors where you company needs increased focus. Likewise, some secondary categories may be core for your company while some core features may be resolved by other means (for example, hiring out maintenance and testing can simplify the strategy for select companies).

Build a Strategy Committee

The reason it's important to build a SharePoint committee isn't that the creation of a strategy is a large project requiring a great number of labor hours. Rather, it is a complex project that will have different implications for individuals in different roles. Having representatives from different parts of your company will help you foresee problems and discuss potential resolutions.

Having a committee will also help each group or department feel invested in and committed to the strategy. Numerous studies have found that strategies developed and implemented by multiple groups within the company are far more effective than edicts that come from the upper echelons of the corporate ladder.

Define Roles, Scope, and Outcomes

Once you have brought together your committee, the next step is to define the important terms. In this case, the important items to define are 1) the roles of each member of the committee, 2) the scope of the strategy (and the projects the strategy may imply), and 3) the goals that the company hopes to achieve by implementing these strategies.

While the exact roles will vary from company to company, it's suggested that you assign a "champion" who will pitch the value of this strategy to the various departments and, if needed, to the executive level of the company.

It is also important that, within the roles being established, there is a clearly defined pathway for communication. Who will be communicating with whom? When will news and updates be given to each group or department? And so on.

Set Time-Lines

For those developing a strategy during the initial deployment of SharePoint, the need for a time-line should already be evident. However, setting a specific, workable time-line is no less important for companies that have been using SharePoint for years. Without setting specific dates, the project—including the development and implementation of the official strategy—can linger in the ether for months or even years.

The specific time-line will vary dependent on the size of your company and the scope of your SharePoint projects. As a general guideline, however, it's advisable to select a time somewhere between two weeks to three months as your target completion date.

Creating a strategy for your company may seem like an arduous and, at times, even an unimportant task. However, its central element is an exercise in communication, group-thinking, and inter-departmental cooperation that will set a precedent for many projects yet to come.

For more information about Sharepoint implementation and customization contact our sharepoint consulting firms experts here.

5 Great Tools for SharePoint Administration

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 12:41:00 +0000

One of the major benefits of SharePoint is that it remains compatible with dozens of other professional tools, including both free and premium options. Many of these tools make the lives of SharePoint administrators far easier. You can only take advantage of the tools you are aware of, however. As such, this article will walk you through some of the best SharePoint-compatible tools that are especially helpful for administrators.

1. CardioLog Analytics [Free Edition]

IntLock is an analytics company that has developed some powerful tools for SharePoint. The best news is that, as long as your pages have fewer than 250,000 views each month, the free edition will be able to meet all of your needs. Full-featured releases of CardioLog are available for SharePoint 2010 and 2013.

2. Microsoft Administration Toolkit

This tool is especially important if you're using a version earlier than SharePoint 2013; as of the 2013 release, many of the features of this toolkit are built directly into the interface. The toolkit includes features like adjustable test loads for deployment testing; an advanced security configuration wizard; an improve diagnostics and statistics utility; and improved reporting.

3. McAfee's Network Discovery for Microsoft SharePoint

While Microsoft has done a good job with its built-in security (especially if you keep your version up to date), there are elements of network security that are better handled by an outside service. The best part of this McAfee utility is that it has an inventory and tool-set built specifically for SharePoint. You will be able to easily find SharePoint environments and get detailed reports on the network.

4. Microsoft's SharePoint Designer

For those looking to improve the aesthetics and functionality of their SharePoint pages, there's no better tool than Microsoft SharePoint Designer. Simple WYSIWYG ("What You See Is What You Get") modifications combine with workflow integration and other administrative features. If you're working with SharePoint, it's vital that you get comfortable with this tool.

5. SharePoint SUSHI

For fans of open source projects, the most impressive offering is SharePoint SUSHI. This "Swiss army knife for SharePoint" combines intelligent, customizable automation and reporting for a variety of common SharePoint tasks. Permision management, profile management, group management, and backup/restoration are all simplified by this tool.

Are you looking to magnify your productivity in SharePoint? These tools, and many others, are well worth looking into.

If you have any questions about sharepoint, feel free to contact sharepoint consulting firm experts here.

Is SharePoint On-Premise Becoming Zombie Software?

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 12:37:00 +0000

Microsoft has made it clear that its cloud offerings are a high priority. The release of SharePoint Online and Office 365 have been accompanied by major promotional pushes and, overall, a positive reception. But the rise of these cloud offerings has also raised questions about the future of SharePoint on-premise. Is SharePoint on-premise likely to stay alive and well in the coming years? Or is 2013 the final non-cloud release? Should we expect diminishing support for on-premise releases as anything outside the cloud gradually approaches the status of "zombie software"?

The question of the "death of SharePoint" has been circling the community since SharePoint Online was originally released. The motive for Microsoft focusing on the cloud is, after all, largely financial; on-premise installations are less profitable and have higher per-capita maintenance costs. The cancellation of the "Microsoft Certified Masters" programs, which took place near the time of the SharePoint Online roll-out, seemed to be a confirmation of the death of on-premise releases.

The good news? At a minimum, it has been clear that Microsoft is still on board for supporting on-premise releases, at least for the time being. Bill Baer stated, "We remain committed to delivering support and solutions for our customers whether in the cloud or on-premises." He further outlined the various expected modes of support, including cumulative updates, service packs, and new content releases.

Baer's response did little to allay fears about the inevitable demise of on-premise releases, however. As the discussion continued to make the rounds in the professional SharePoint community, Jeff Taper (a project lead for SharePoint) confirmed that new off-cloud versions will be released for SharePoint. Whether or not this will include the sort of "next version" we've come to expect (a SP 2016 similar to SP 2013, for example) is not entirely clear. However, Taper has been specific about plans to release new versions of Windows Server, SharePoint, and Exchange. He further indicated that these releases would happen with "a comparable cadence to past server releases."

So is SharePoint turning into a zombie? The best answer at this point is "not yet." While there are still signs that Microsoft is shifting its focus toward cloud-based offerings, 2013 is unlikely to be the last on-premise version of SharePoint available. At a minimum, we can expect a future release that would officially bridge the gap between those dwelling inside and outside of the cloud.

Feel free to contact our Sharepoint Development team here.

Building Your Game-Plan for SharePoint Conference 2014

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 12:32:00 +0000

Whether you're new to using SharePoint or you've been a high-level administrator for years, SharePoint Conference 2014 will be a powerful learning experience. While it will be a few months until the conference itself, there's a lot you can do right to ensure you get even more out of the experience. Here are some tips for developing your plan of attack.

Plan Your Timetables

As we've discussed in earlier entries, there are more than 200 sessions currently planned for the conference. This includes keynote speakers on each day of the conference, but a number of additional presentations are also on the docket. While some of the workshop experiences will be available more than once throughout the conference, the presentations and panels are one-off opportunities that will serve as the staples in your schedule.

What about the rest of your opportunities? How can you plan in ways the ensure you don't miss out on any of the events you're most excited for? There's good news on this front: Microsoft has uploaded its full lineup of speakers and currently scheduled opportunities for SPC14.

Use the Advanced Search Features

You can now use an advanced search and filter setup (powered by SharePoint Search) to find the sessions that you want to attend. You can filter by track type (which audience the session is designed for), the track level (how advanced users are expected to be to understand the materials presented at the session), the time of the session, whether the session is cross-technology or cross-audience, and much more.

Check for New or Revised Sessions

Even though more than 200 sessions have been uploaded to the Microsoft site and integrated with advanced search filters, bear in mind that more sessions are being approved all the time and some sessions may be revised prior to the conference. As such, re-checking your schedule from time to time in the coming months is advisable.

With tracks designed for four major audiences (Developer, IT Professional, Power User, and Executive), there are sure to be sessions that suit your professional role. If you're looking to empower yourself and your company in years to come, SharePoint Conference 2014 is the penultimate resource. Be sure you don't miss this opportunity.

Looking for Sharepoint Consultant. We are here ready to help you!

Evolution of SharePoint – 2007 to 2013

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 07:05:00 +0000

SharePoint has evolved dramatically over the last decade. This entry looks at ways the platform and our approaches to it have developed over time. Perhaps more pressing than any other question, however, is whether or not you have fully evolved in your own approach to SharePoint.

An Incredibly Brief History of SharePoint

While other Microsoft offerings foreshadowed the eventual destiny of SharePoint, it was when Office SharePoint Server 2007 was originally released that the platform really took shape. With the option to create team sites, navigation, and advanced workflows, the 2007 iteration gave us a fully functional enterprise content management system.

When SharePoint 2010 was released, it did more than improve the design. It enabled and empowered employees at all levels by providing business connectivity services, improve business intelligence, and improved automation throughout the workflow process.

Then, with SharePoint 2013, we saw dramatic improvement in the social offerings. The ability to collectively store, source, and share information resources within the content management system allows SharePoint to work as the spine of your enterprise social efforts.

Where Did You Get Stuck?

You may have noticed that we moved beyond simply being an enterprise content management (ECM) system in 2010. Yet many users—including, or perhaps even especially, long-time users—settle into preconceived notions about SharePoint that interfere with really taking advantage of what the system now offers.

SharePoint expert Marc Anderson, in a November presentation at the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) conference, showed some of his research into how users were adopting the various functionalities of the platform. Even amongst users who were fully upgraded to SharePoint 2013 or SharePoint Online, there were notable omissions in the types of tasks completed.

Veteran users were more comfortable customizing the interface, training users on the platform, improving the infrastructure, and gaining improved insights on their business operations. However, these same veterans were less likely than new users to take advantage of internal applications and search features.

The research didn't merely point to a group of "dinosaurs" who failed to adopt the new bells and whistles. In all groups, limited use of new collaborative options, social features, and advanced integrations shows a saddening trend. Many stop their evolutionary journey short of its maximum potential when it comes to the use of SharePoint.

Anderson jokingly talked about the stages of SharePoint acceptance, likening them to the stages of grief. For many, there are stages of denial and frustration as it becomes more clear that the out-of-the-gate version of SharePoint will not magically do everything for you. This eventually becomes an acceptance of the effort required to take advantage of the tool. Indeed, such effort is vital for a full SharePoint evolution.

So where are you stuck? How expansively do you use the various resources that SharePoint has to offer? And how can we at SharePoint Engine help?

Looking for Sharepoint Consultant. We are here ready to help you!

Why Use SharePoint Consultants, Anyway?

noreply@blogger.com ( Parth Patel) — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 07:01:00 +0000

So you've launched your own deployment of SharePoint, figured out how to set up basic pages and site architecture, fine-tuned some basic settings, added a couple web parts, and gotten yourself into business. Well done! For you, and many others like you, it can seem like the process is finished and you have no need of any further work—let alone expenses.
Well, let's not beat around the issue: Hiring SharePoint consultants comes with a cost. Yes, companies like SharePoint Engine do provide a free consultation that can be of significant value on its own. However, most initial consultations can do little more than review your current strategy and point you in the general direction of improvement.
Why bother with a SharePoint consultant? In many ways, working with a certified expert in the field of enterprise content management is the same as working with a personal trainer as you try to improve your overall health. While it's true that consultants won't be "working out for you," they have three other major purposes: First, to educate you on the best areas and strategies for improvement; second, to make sure you don't injure yourself unintentionally while trying to improve matters; and third, to keep you on target.
Your content management system, workflows, business intelligence, and system security are vital—but they're not urgent. It's easy to be swept into new tasks while dismissing any potential work on SharePoint as a less crucial task. Eventually, you reach a point where you've left the system unattended for months or even years. This opens potential security gaps and, when given an honest analysis, drains a great deal of potential earnings by decreasing your operating efficiency.
There's a lot you can do to educate yourself on SharePoint, complete tasks independently, or even make sweeping customizations with no educational background outside of your access to free informational resources. This isn't just acceptable: It's a great idea! However, being able to educate yourself doesn't give you the same vantage point as a SharePoint experts.
Years of practice and education give consultants a big-picture view of the situation, allowing them to help you understand your options, evaluate potential improvements, and prioritize effectively. The amount of time saved by working with a consultant often amounts to a higher value than the cost of the SharePoint consultant's services.
If you're still feeling hesitant, we encourage you to try out a free consultation from SharePoint Engine today. We'd love to discuss ways in which a partnership between our companies can benefit all parties involved.

For more information about Sharepoint implementation and customization contact our sharepoint consulting firms experts here.