SharePoint Daily for February 4, 2009

Top News Stories
Four Steps to Creating Practical SharePoint Governance Standards (SearchWinIT)
SharePoint has taken off like wildfire in the enterprise, and this success is partly attributable to SharePoint's easy-to-use interface, integration with Microsoft Office and its self-service-centric model. Unfortunately, many of the qualities that make SharePoint so accessible to enterprises can also cause trouble for the IT groups charged with governing the environment. Because users can control so many elements of SharePoint – from provisioning new sites to new document libraries to security – IT shops are often overwhelmed with site-creation volume, storage consumption, service interruptions (mostly of implementations they didn't know about) and managing the growth.

Ballmer: Tech is Economy's Eventual Savior (CNET)
The tech industry may not stop the economy from slowing, but it will be a big part of the eventual recovery, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said on Tuesday. "Nothing is going to stop deleveraging; the economy has to reset," Ballmer said, as part of a joint interview with EMC CEO Joe Tucci. "At the same time you've got to say where do you get economic growth. The truth is, you only get economic growth from the following things. Population growth, inflation, productivity increases...and financial leverage."

Test-drive Microsoft Office 2007 (ZDNet)
This is an online test drive of Microsoft® Office 2007 programs. This real-time test drive is the fastest way to try out Microsoft Office 2007 and does not require product installation or download. In just minutes you can start exploring Microsoft Office through your web browser on your own, or follow the step-by-step tutorials to experience all of its useful features.

Gartner Says Cloud Computing Needs to Mature (ITPro)
Hold off on heading to the cloud, Gartner has warned, saying the technology backing it up needs as long as seven years to mature. Despite the recent hype around cloud computing, Gartner believes that the underlying application infrastructure technologies needed to make it mainstream need seven years to mature.

Microsoft Will Halt Service-Pack Blockers for Vista, XP (CIO Today)
Microsoft is disabling service-pack blocker tools that allow companies to automatically reject service-pack upgrades. Specifically, Microsoft announced expiration dates for the service-pack blocker tool for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3. Microsoft's removal of the service-pack blockers will pave the way for Windows 7 adoption.

Microsoft Denies Windows 7 UAC Vulnerability (PC World)
Microsoft is denying that there is a security hole in the User Account Control (UAC) feature of Windows 7 after a blogger reported it last week and posted what he said was a fix for it. "I can tell you that this is not a vulnerability," a spokesman for Microsoft through its public relations team said in an e-mail.

Microsoft Semblio Makes Its Debut; It Won’t Take Off (ZDNet)
For around a year now, Microsoft has been turning over a beta program, codename “Grava”, which has formally been announced today with a new name. Microsoft Semblio is a set of software applications and design tools which will make learning content easier to make, and have better applications for students.

Live Search Instant Answers in IE8 Search Box (LiveSide)
The search box in IE just keeps getting more useful.  First auto suggest, then embedded images, then auto suggest for Firefox, and now, in IE8 in the US  (using Live Search in the search box), Instant Answers! From a blog post on the Live Search blog:

Around the Blogosphere
Announcing the SharePoint Conference 2009! (Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog)
We’re delighted to announce the details for the SharePoint Conference 2009!  This year we’ll be at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada between October 19-22, 2009.  Don’t miss your chance to attend the premier worldwide conference dedicated to SharePoint and related technologies! SharePoint Conference 2009 will be the conference to learn about SharePoint “14”.  Be the first to learn about the improvements we’ve made to the platform and how many of those investments can be quickly implemented to add value to your organization and businesses.

Using Access 2007 To Update SharePoint Lists (WorkerThreadBlog)
Someone asked a question on the UK SharePoint User Group Forums about moving Access data to SharePoint lists, so I thought I would illustrate some of the Access 2007 features you can use with SharePoint.  Before starting, please note – SharePoint is not a relational database system, so don’t try to use it for full-blown relational database applications!!!  Having said that, it does work well for many smaller list-management applications for which you might have used Access or Excel, and I guess it’s possible (pure speculation here) that by the time we start hearing more about SharePoint 14 and Office 14, SharePoint and Access may be getting even closer together.

Discussion Board vs. Blog (EndUserSharePoint)
While consulting with clients new to SharePoint and how the robust functionality can empower their organization’s collaboration efforts, I’m typically asked this question:  “What’s the difference between a discussion board and a blog?” Well, that’s a very good question to ask and sometimes a little difficult to explain.  Why?  It’s mainly due to the fact that the technical functionality between a discussion board and a blog are essentially the same.  Both provide a platform for a user or users to post a message that other users can respond to.   However, there are three core differences in my opinion that separate the two within SharePoint.

SharePoint Best Practices A Cult Following (SharePoint Joel)
Wow, the SharePoint Best Practices Conference has been abuzz.  Just like I expected there has been an great jelling among the attendees and speakers.  My first big Keynote was Monday morning.  Very exciting, but high expectations from attendees as well.  One of the first things I mentioned was the conference itself was getting a tag of #SPBPC (shortened from SharePoint Best Practices Conference) on twitter.  My AT&T service has been lacking, here at Hilton Torrey Pines in the buildings, but connect to honors and use the promo of SANTPS38866 and I’m were good.  I’ve gotten a few tweets out myself.  It does help to supplement any blogging I’m unable to do.

Around Bamboo Nation
BPSPC: Redecorate, Remodel, or Tear-Down your SharePoint Site? (The Bamboo Team Blog)
I wrapped up my Tuesday afternoon sessions at the Best Practices SharePoint Conference (BPSPC) with a selection from the Project Managers track.  A sequel of sorts to yesterday's First Do No Harm - A SharePoint Customization Hippocratic Oath session presented by Woodrow (Woody) Windischman, the customization topic of the day was, "Redecorate, Remodel, or Tear-Down?"  Woody made it clear up front that this was "not a development session, but a decision-making process session."

BPSPC: Making the Most of the Out-of-the-Box Web Parts (The Bamboo Team Blog)
Laura Rogers (MCSE, MCTS) and Brett Lonsdale (of Lightning Tools) presented a session at the Best Practices SharePoint Conference (BPSPC) this afternoon to preach the virtues of the out of the box Web Parts.  Brett, who is himself a developer, noted in the introduction that "a lot of people –even a lot of developers– aren't aware of what you can do with out of the box Web Parts," and Laura added that it should be considered a best practice for developers to be fully aware and well versed in what's available out of the box.

BPSPC: 'Using the Right Methods to Collect Information Requirements' with Amanda Murphy (The Bamboo Team Blog)
Amanda Murphy, co-author of Beginning SharePoint 2007: Building Team Solutions with MOSS 2007, presented a session this morning on "Using the Right Methods to Collect Information Requirements" at the Best Practices SharePoint Conference (BPSPC).  The primary focus of her session, which was geared toward Information Workers, was to establish criteria by which one could decide which out of the box tool would best accomplish certain sets of information requirement needs.  Amanda's demonstrated that the underlying key to arriving at the correct decision in such circumstances is to "always consider What, Who, and Where before deciding Which" tool is best suited to the task at hand.

BPSPC: Exhibit Hall Report, Day 1 (The Bamboo Team Blog)
Hello again – after a good time in relatively warm San Francisco for the SharePoint Tech Conference, I couldn’t bear the thought of coming home quite yet, so I headed south to San Diego and am here at the Mindsharp Best Practices Show.  As John earlier reported, it’s even more gorgeous here – sunny and warm so far each day!  The Buick Open is also this week, so besides SharePoint celebrities we’ve also had pro golfer sightings as well!  Monday was the first day of the show and what’s great about this conference is that it has sessions for everyone.  There are five separate tracks: Developer, IT, CIO, Project Manager, and Information Worker.  This is great for us because we get to hear from a variety of different users.  The feedback so far is that the session have been great – and how could they not be with the variety of excellent speakers they have?  One of the best things about coming to these shows is hearing ideas for new products (trust me, we do actually pass them on to our Product Team) and also recommendations for enhancements for our current products.

SPTechCon - Day 3 Wrap-up (The Bamboo Team Blog)
Thanks to a cold I caught on Wednesday, I was only able to catch a couple of sessions before heading out on Day 3. I stopped by the Bamboo booth in the Exhibitors' Hall first to catch the "Prize Patrol" giveaways. While I didn't win anything, there was Clinton Kounk, who picked up a $500 gift certificate from Bamboo, although I'm not sure which of our web parts would be best suited for missile defense. Alert Plus? Virtual Map View?

Microsoft Updates
Error Message When You Complete the Upgrade From an Earlier Version of GroupBoard Workspace to GroupBoard Workspace 2007: "Upgrade completed with errors" (KBAlertz - Microsoft Knowledge Base Article)
You perform an in-place or gradual upgrade from an earlier version of GroupBoard Workspace to GroupBoard Workspace 2007. However, when the upgrade is complete, you receive the following error message: Upgrade completed with errors. Review the upgrade.log file located in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\Logs\Upgrade.log. The number of errors and warnings is listed at the end of the upgrade log file.

Watch This: Automate Business Process With Workflows (MOSS)
In this demo, I show how to use the Three-state workflow in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. By default, the Three-state workflow uses the statuses of Active, Resolved, and Closed. This workflow can be used to manage business processes that require organizations to track a high volume of issues or items. The scenario described is based on the Marketing team at Adventure Works which needs to track equipment and facilities issues for upcoming conventions.

Use a Three-state Workflow (MOSS)
The Three-state workflow is designed to track the status of a list item through three states (phases). It can be used to manage business processes that require organizations to track a high volume of issues or items, such as customer support issues, sales leads, or project tasks.

SharePoint Events
February 2-4, San Diego, California, SharePoint Best Practices Conference
February 4, New York, New York, Case Studies in SharePoint Dashboards
February 4, Online, SharePoint Project Management Webinar
February 4, Online, SharePoint Administration Webinar
February 4, Online, Live, Online SharePoint Study Group
February 6, Online, Become Your Company's SharePoint SuperStar!
February 7, Kansas City, Kansas, SharePoint Saturday
February 11, Online, SharePoint Project Management Webinar
February 11, Online, SharePoint Administration Webinar
February 12, Online, What's New from Bamboo
February 17, Milan, Italy, SharePoint Administrators Summit
February 19, Falls Church, Virginia, PMI Washington DC - Skyline Luncheon
February 21, New York, New York, SharePoint Saturday
February 26, Online, What's New from Bamboo

March 23, Baltimore, Maryland, SharePoint .Org Conference

April 6-8, London, England, SharePoint Best Practices Conference
April 6-8 Montreal, Quebec, SharePoint Summit 2009

* Please contact Chris Dooley (chris.dooley@bamboosolutions.com) to include your event in our listing.

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