Microsoft Resists Pressure to Shed Bing and Xbox
December 11, 2013
In an article that covers the argument against such a move, we learn that Microsoft is feeling pressure from some shareholders to sell off a couple prominent divisions. GeekWire reports, “In Final Shareholder Speech, Ballmer Defends Bing and Xbox as Key Parts of Microsoft.”
At the company’s recent shareholder meeting, outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer discussed those products:
“While he didn’t directly address calls for the company to spin off its Xbox and Bing businesses, he called out those divisions as key parts of Microsoft’s broader vision. Referring to the new Xbox One, he cited the integration of products including Bing and SkyDrive as examples of the unified strategy that is bringing together the company’s various devices and services. Microsoft this morning released new details about how Bing will integrate with Xbox One for natural language search in the new console. Xbox One is ‘a reflection of what is possible when a company, our company, is unified under a common vision,’ Ballmer said. He also noted that Bing is key to helping test and improve the company’s Windows Azure service.”
It is no surprise these days to hear a tech CEO sing the praises of product integration. It is also not surprising that Ballmer celebrates the recent deal to acquire Nokia‘s mobile division. Some shareholders expressed concern about making such a large investment, especially in the face of flat share prices. In response, Ballmer cited the need to occasionally take risks, focusing on long-term growth over short-term profits. Whether shareholders were moved by this delayed-gratification logic is not revealed in the article.
Cynthia Murrell, December 11, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Video App for SharePoint 2013
December 10, 2013
Add-ons for SharePoint are popping up left and right. SharePoint is a huge platform with lots of capabilities, but it does not offer every capability for every enterprise. Qumu adds their name to the long list of add-on providers with their Qumu video app. Advanced Television covers the story in their article, “Qumu launches Qumu Video App for SharePoint 2013.”
The article begins:
“Qumu provides SharePoint users with a superior video streaming experience, comprehensive video transcoding, advanced filtering, unrestricted scalability, live video webcasting and more. The Qumu integration focuses on leveraging native SharePoint services, such as SharePoint workflows and content retention policies, allowing SharePoint to treat video content as a unique content type, minimising IT complexity and cost.”
Stevphen E. Arnold of ArnoldIT, a long time leader in search, often covers SharePoint – its strengths as well as its shortcomings. And while SharePoint may not yet be all things to all people, Arnold has noted that customization does improve adoption and satisfaction. Add-ons may be the sustaining force for SharePoint 2013.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 10, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SkyDrive Pro with SharePoint 2013
December 9, 2013
SharePoint 2013 offers several usability improvements, and chief among them is SkyDrive Pro, although it is often misunderstood. Redmond Magazine helps clear up some of the confusion with their article, “How To Configure and Secure SkyDrive Pro in SharePoint 2013 and Office 365.”
The article begins:
“SkyDrive Pro is a critical addition to SharePoint 2013. It lets you synchronize specific document libraries in SharePoint to your desktop and interact with them locally or online. As the use of tablets, smartphones and multiple computers fueled by the ‘bring your own device’ movement, SkyDrive Pro promises to become an increasingly more important component of SharePoint and Office.”
Ultimately, SkyDrive Pro is a personal library useful for organizing and storing your work documents. Mobile functionality is definitely a feature that more and more organizations want to integrate into their existing enterprise platform, so SkyDrive Pro will be a draw. Stephen E. Arnold of ArnoldIT often covers SharePoint, and one of his frequently noted weaknesses is mobile capability. It seems Microsoft is making small steps in the right direction.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 9, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SharePoint 2013 Hybrid Governance Support
December 6, 2013
SharePoint grows in breadth and depth with every update. SharePoint 2013 offers more features than ever before. However, the time and expertise it takes to customize those features is becoming more and more demanding. For that reason, organizations are looking for add-ons and intuitive customization options without a lot of hassle. PRWeb gives another good option in its latest release, “Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Hybrid Support Highlights New Release of AvePoint DocAve Governance Automation Service Pack 4.”
The release begins:
“AvePoint, the leader in governance, compliance, and management solutions for social enterprise collaboration platforms, announced today the latest version of its flagship product for automated service and proactive governance enforcement, DocAve Governance Automation Service Pack (SP) 4, with support for Microsoft SharePoint 2013 hybrid deployments.”
Finding and analyzing all the latest add-ons and SharePoint supplemental services can be exhausting. Many would benefit from a news service that boils down the important stuff. That’s just what Stephen E. Arnold does with ArnoldIT. A long-time leader in enterprise search, his recent attention has turned to enterprise search, and his expertise is invaluable.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 6, 2013
Business Intelligence For The Excel User
December 6, 2013
Microsoft Office Suite might not the same heavy-lifting data discovery solutions as specially designed software, but Database Journal reports in the article “Getting Started With Microsoft Power Query For Excel” that an equivalent solution is available. Power Query is a Microsoft Power BI Excel add-in that provides data discovery, data reshaping, and data combination from multiple sources. Power Query’s user interface is both interactive and intuitive and can be used for a variety of basic yet powerful functions: search, discover, acquire, combine, refine, transform and enrich the data.
The article explains how to download Power Query and covers elementary procedures to program it to your specific needs:
“Power Query (code name for this feature was “Data Explorer”) is a free Excel add-in (supported both in Excel 2010 and Excel 2013) which can be installed from the ‘Download Microsoft Power Query for Excel page. To install the Power Query add-in, you require Microsoft Office 2013 Professional Plus, Office 365 ProPlus, Excel 2013 Standalone or Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus with Software Assurance. You can find more information on this under the Software Requirements section of Microsoft Power Query for Excel.”
In a way, Power Query is a mini-big data machine in Excel. Microsoft may want to trademark that idea. Excel is the basis for most data storage and collection in organizations. Viable business intelligence solutions usually do not come this cheap and it is worth investigating to make use of data sitting on a server.
Whitney Grace, December 06, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
LeadFerret Publishes SharePoint Directory
December 5, 2013
With the growing complexity of enterprise search, SharePoint is of course growing more and more complicated. Enterprises struggle to find the best implementation and the best means of customization. In order to meet that need, many are turning to enterprise experts. LeadFerret is hoping to connect organizations with appropriate experts. Their efforts are discussed in the NewsDay article, “LeadFerret Publishes Directory of SharePoint Professionals.”
The article begins:
“LeadFerret users already enjoy free access to over 15+ million business contacts with complete information, including email addresses, social media links, and a robust set of search tools. Today LeadFerret announced the release of a specialized directory of SharePoint Professionals which allows users to search and see full contact information for them.”
SharePoint experts are in demand because of the growing complexities of SharePoint, but also because of the growing options for SharePoint customization and add-on solutions. Stephen E. Arnold is a long-time leader in search. He offers world-class advice and expertise on ArnoldIT.com as well as a subscription service, Honk, for effortless industry news at your fingertips.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 5, 2013
Tips to Customize Your Bing Start Search on Windows 8.1
December 5, 2013
The story on LifeHacker titled How to Configure or Disable Bing Web Search in Windows 8.1 explains a step-by step process to shut down or adjust Bing Search. The article responds to some complaints about Windows 8.1 search being slow and frustrating. Windows latest version is set up so that any search from the Start screen will yield web results.
The article explains:
“You can either turn off Bing search completely, or simply tweak settings like whether to give personalized results using your location or turning off safe search. To do any of these things, here’s where to go: Open the charms menu (place your cursor in the top right or bottom right corner) and select “Settings.” Click “Change PC settings.” Click “Search and apps.” Click “Search” in the side bar if it’s not already selected. Disable or change any options you choose.”
Some may find the search option useful, and time-saving, but for others the web search option is unnecessary. Depending on the connection speed, this might be a very frustrating option. For a more thorough tutorial laying out all of the options for customizing your Start search read How to Customize or Disable Search with Bing in Windows 8.1.
Chelsea Kerwin, December 05, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SharePoint Planning with Office 365
December 3, 2013
SharePoint is perhaps the most expansive software that an organization will implement. At the same time, SharePoint touches almost every member of an organization. So when changes happen with SharePoint, anxiety is a given. CMS Wire covers the latest cause of concern, and gives a few reasons to relax, in their article, “‘Have it Your Way’ SharePoint: Two Paths, Many Options.”
The article begins:
“Many of the conversations I’ve had over the last year were filled with questions and concerns about the future of SharePoint and what the addition of Office 365 would bring to the mix. Microsoft answered some of these questions late last week and provided some insight into its plans going forward. With this information, organizations can breathe a little easier and plan a little better for the future.”
And planning is central to an enterprise search implementation, regardless of the software chosen. Stephen E. Arnold has made a longtime career out of critiquing the landscape of enterprise search. Follow him at ArnoldIT to keep up with the latest in the field and make your plans for the future of your enterprise.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 3, 2013
Vizit Announces SharePoint 2013 Enhancements
December 2, 2013
There is a growing landscape of SharePoint add-ons that provide increased functionality as well as ease of use. Vizit throws its name into the ring with their new release of Vizit Essential. PR Web offers the latest in their article, “Vizit Announces Essential SharePoint 2013 Enhancements.”
The article begins:
“Vizit a leading provider of solutions that enhance SharePoint usability, search, and document reviews announces improved PDF, Email, and SharePoint 2013 Document Library support for its leading SharePoint add-on solution, Vizit Essential™. Vizit continues to build on its legacy of making SharePoint more usable through efficient file previewing and viewing by adding PDF bookmarking support to Vizit Essential.”
There is a definite market for add-ons such as the one offered by Vizit. As SharePoint increases its scope and breadth, customers have to look elsewhere for customization and depth. It is an old rule that you cannot be all things to all people. But SharePoint serves as a good base and customers are increasingly comfortable looking elsewhere for special needs. Steven E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search and a SharePoint watcher. His Web service, Beyond Search, is a good way to track the latest in all things enterprise search, including new add-ons.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 2, 2013
Customization Increases SharePoint Adoption
November 29, 2013
SharePoint is known as a large unwieldy platform and research has now proven that customization options increase SharePoint satisfaction. CMS Wire reports the latest in their story, “Enabling Customization Increases SharePoint User Adoption.”
The article begins:
“Enabling business users to customize SharePoint is good for companies. If that seems unlikely, a Dimensional Research report commissioned by Dell supports this claim. According to the report, almost all of those surveyed (98 percent) said customization by business users is desirable. The report, The Impact of DIY SharePoint – How User Empowerment Drives Adoption, outlines the results of a survey of 203 people responsible for the administration, development, technical oversight or business ownership of Microsoft SharePoint in companies with more than 100 employees.”
But how to customize remains the question. SharePoint 2013 does support more customization options, but many organizations are choosing third party add-ons for more out-of-the-box functionality. Stephen E. Arnold, a longtime leader in search, follows SharePoint news with his information service, ArnoldIT.com. Stay tuned for the latest customization options, including in-house and third party.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 29, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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