Is SharePoint A Knowledge Management Tool
July 9, 2015
One of the biggest questions information experts are asked a lot is, “is SharePoint a knowledge management tool?” The answer, according to Lucidea, is: it depends. The answer is vague, but a blog post on Lucidea’s Web site explains why: “But Isn’t SharePoint A KM Application?”
SharePoint’s usefulness is explained in this one quote:
“SharePoint is a very powerful and flexible platform for building all sorts of applications. Many organizations have adopted SharePoint because of its promise to displace all sorts of big and little applications. With SharePoint, IT can learn one framework and build out applications on an as-needed basis, rather than buying and then maintaining 1001 different applications, all with various system requirements, etc. But the key thing is that you need someone to build out the SharePoint platform and actually turn it into a useful application.”
The post cannot stress enough the importance of customizing SharePoint to make it function as a knowledge management tool. If that was not enough, in order to keep SharePoint working well it needs to continuously be developed.
Lucidea does explain that SharePoint is not a good knowledge management application if you expect it to be implemented in a short time frame, focuses on a single problem, the users improve the system, and can meet immediate knowledge management needs.
The biggest thing to understand is that knowledge management is a process. There are applications that can take control of immediate knowledge management needs, but for long term the actual terms “knowledge” and “management” need to be defined to get what actually needs to be controlled.
Whitney Grace, July 9, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Long-term Plans for SharePoint
May 21, 2015
Through all the iterations of SharePoint, it seems that Microsoft has wised up and is finally giving customers more of what they want. The release of SharePoint Server 2016 shows a shift back toward on-premises installations, and yet there will still be functions supported through the cloud. This new hybrid emphasis provides a third pathway through which users are experiencing SharePoint. The CMS Wire article, “3 SharePoint Paths for the Next 10 Years,” covers all the details.
The article begins:
“Microsoft Office 365 has proven to be a major disruption of how companies use SharePoint to meet business requirements. Rumors, fear, uncertainty and doubt proliferate around Microsoft’s plans for SharePoint’s future releases, as well as the support of critical features and functionality companies rely on . . . So, taking into account Office 365, the question is: How will companies be using SharePoint over the next 10 years?”
Stephen E. Arnold of ArnoldIT.com is a leader in SharePoint, with a lifelong career in search. His SharePoint feed is a great resource for users and managers alike, or anyone who needs to keep on top of the latest developments. It may be that the hybrid solution is a way to keep on-premises users happy while they still benefit from the latest cloud functions like Delve and OneDrive.
Emily Rae Aldridge, May 21, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Eric Schmidt On Search Ambition and Attitude at the GOOG
May 20, 2015
The article on Business Insider titled Google’s Former CEO Reveals The Complicated Search Question He Wants Google To Be Able To Answer reports on Eric Schmidt’s speech in Berlin where he mentioned the hurdles Google is yet to overcome. Obviously, Google is an incredibly ambitious company, and should never be satisfied. He spelled out one particular question he would like the search engine to be able to answer,
“Try a query like ‘show me flights under €300 for places where it’s hot in December and I can snorkel,'” Schmidt says. “That’s kind of complicated: Google needs to know about flights under €300; hot destinations in winter; and what places are near the water, with cool fish to see. That’s basically three separate searches that have to be cross-referenced to get to the right answer. Sadly, we can’t solve that for you today. But we’re working on it.”
Schmidt also argued on behalf of Google in regards to the EU investigation into Google possibly favoring its own results rather than a fair spread of companies. Schmidt claimed that Google is most interested in simplifying search for users, rather than obliging users to click around. Since Google search is admittedly ad-oriented, Schmidt’s position seems to be at least semi-accurate.
Chelsea Kerwin, May 20 , 2014
Stephen E Arnold, Publisher of CyberOSINT at www.xenky.com
Open Source Conquers Proprietary Software, Really?
May 19, 2015
Open source is an attractive option for organizations wanting to design their own software as well as saving money of proprietary licenses. ZDNet reports that “It’s An Open Source World-78 Percent of Companies Run Open Source Software”, but the adopters do not manage their open source systems very well. Every year Black Duck Software, an open source software logistics and legal solutions provider, and North Bridge, a seed to growth venture capital firm, run the Future of Open Source Survey. Organizations love open source, but
“Lou Shipley, Black Duck’s CEO, said in a statement, ‘In the results this year, it has become more evident that companies need their management and governance of open source to catch up to their usage. This is critical to reducing potential security, legal, and operational risks while allowing companies to reap the full benefits OSS provides.’”
The widespread adoption is due to people thinking that open source software is easier to scale, has fewer security problems, and much faster to deploy. Organizations, however, do not have a plan to manage open source, an automated code approval process, or have an inventory of open source components. Even worse is that they are unaware of the security vulnerabilities.
It is great that open source is being recognized as a more viable enterprise solution, but nobody knows how to use it.
Whitney Grace, April 19, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
SharePoint Release Delayed and Criticized
April 28, 2015
SharePoint was lauded earlier in the year for committing to a new on-premises version of SharePoint Server 2016. However, since then the rollout has been beset by delays and criticism that on-site installations will continue to play the ugly stepsister to the cloud. The United Kingdom’s The Register provides a cynical assessment of the latest news in their article, “SharePoint’s Next Release Delayed Until Deep into 2016.”
The article begins:
“Exchange Server 2016 will be not much more than a rollup of features already deployed to cloud Exchange . . . Redmond’s also revealed that SharePoint server won’t get another refresh until the second quarter of 2016. There won’t even be a beta – or technical preview as Microsoft likes to call them these days – to play with until 2015’s fourth quarter . . . But all those cloudy bits may not be so welcome for the many smaller organisations that run SharePoint, or for organisations waiting for an upgrade. SharePoint 2013 was released in October 2012, so such users are looking at nearly four years between drinks.”
Every SharePoint rollout seems to be plagued by trouble of some variety, so the delay comes as little surprise. The test will be whether tried and true on-premises customers will settle for what increasingly seems to be little support. We will withhold ultimate judgment until the release is made available. In the meantime, head over to ArnoldIT.com to keep up with the latest news. Stephen E. Arnold has made a career out of following all things search, and his dedicated SharePoint feed keeps you informed at a glance.
Emily Rae Aldridge, April 28, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
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