Transitioning with Office 365 and SharePoint

The last couple of years as I learned more about BPOS and SharePoint, I began encouraging small businesses to test and experiment with SharePoint as a document management/collaboration system. To this effort, I’ve posted several notes and “How to videos” illustrating simple uses of SharePoint.

As a collaboration tool, SharePoint has many facets which were illustrated by a real estate company I visited recently. They are an Office 365 business using SharePoint to automate many of the paper shuffling aspects of their business; including maintaining an up to date MLS listing of the current market, their current sales listings, pending sales; plus a reservoir of standard forms/documents needed in the sales process. Further, they are using mobile devices (phones and tablets) to be fully interactive their SharePoint site. I was quite impressed by their ambition and understanding of the potential of the SharePoint tool.

I’m well aware that new technology requires increased understanding and training (me included) but how long did it take you to learn to saw in a straight line, bake you first “perfect” cake or knit a pair of socks.  This point is again stressed in a recent a blog posting from Robert Crane (SharePoint) evangelist, http://supportweb.ciaops.net.au/blog/archive/2011/11/02/it%e2%80%99s-more-than-that.aspx. The defense rests!

Let’s recap:

Office 365 for professionals and small businesses (P-1) is designed for organizations with one to 25 employees and there are a number of assumptions that come with this option. Like with all cloud applications the fundamental selling point is that a business reduces its overhead by eliminating or reducing dependence on an in house server. Originally, the primary reasons behind the marketing of Microsoft Small Business server was giving the staff a company branded email with shared calendars and easy access to shared document. This still is the first assumption of the O-365 (P-1) option. Not only do we reduce the need for an on premises server but the mail server maintenance and spam/malware issues are handled by Microsoft and SharePoint becomes the location for shared documents. The next significant Office 365 selling point is Web Applications; i.e. Word, Excel, Power Point, and One Note, giving users access anywhere to standard Microsoft productivity applications whether they have Office 2010 installed or not. Documents, spreadsheets, or presentations are saved to SharePoint 2010 allowing all collaborators anywhere access.

I like the simplicity of this approach but I’m aware that many small businesses are not that simple. Productivity tools are designed for tasks as needed not just “bells, whistles or hype”. More directly, beyond email and simple document storage, to truly gain the full potential of this technology a little planning is necessary.

  • Download Microsoft Office 365 for professionals and small businesses (Plan P1): Service Description and really read the document. It is easy to get snowed by the technical aspects of SharePoint but stay focused on the potentials for your business needs.
  • I suggest beginning with a full review of your business processes and outline those steps: What happens when you meet a new contact? Who approves what documents? Who needs to access your inventory? Etc.
  • Literally, graphically display site pages with stake holder descriptions, processes and workflows. If you’ve organized your current website this is primarily the same process but you are looking from an interactive perspective; i.e., feel, touch, open, view, and contribute.
  • What technology features will you need to automate you process or who will need to have access to your information and how will they access it? At this point things can get difficult and it may be time to call a SharePoint professional but take note:
    • What security needs will you have?
    • Who will be accessing your site?
    • Why?
    • Will you need to create a sub site for each set of users?

Always keep in mind that the vision is yours and the structure must meet your demands; also note that those “demands” will change over time and as you, your staff, and clients become more familiar with SharePoint as it relates to your business.

Learning curve:

  1.  Become aware of the limitations for Office 365 P1. Brett Hill of Office 365 has posted a listing of major limitations which you should be aware, http://www.office365answers.com/AllArticles/ID/2344/Office-365s-P-Plan-What-you-must-know.aspx. Note: Brett states that O-365 P1, user account passwords are set not to expire (default 90 days) but that has not been my experience.
  2. This option has no Microsoft phone or ticket support thus you need to become familiar with the Office 365 Community.
  3. The biggest boon for businesses is the capacity to share with external clients and vendors; this presents a couple of issues.
    1. Who can access your site? You may invite external users to share your site or documents but they must have a Windows Live ID or Hotmail account to be able to authenticate for accessing any content. See, http://community.office365.com/en-us/f/154/p/12697/57469.aspx#57469. My understanding is that this will evolve in time but I want you to be aware of this issue.
    2. How to share. See. http://community.office365.com/en-us/b/the_grid/archive/2011/08/11/how-to-share-sharepoint-online-sites-with-external-users-office-365-grid-user-post.aspx. Also see and view video, http://community.office365.com/en-us/f/152/p/8008/33039.aspx#33039.
    3. Site security. Unlike on premises SharePoint that offers a secured socket layer (SSL) for external access, that is not currently available with O-365 P1 SharePoint. Please review the following community posting for how to secure specific site information, http://community.office365.com/en-us/b/the_grid/archive/2011/09/12/office-365-sharepoint-online-sharer-beware.aspx.

I encourage small businesses who are contemplating purchasing or upgrading their server to add Office 365 to their evaluation process; try it for 30 days it’s free!

 

 

Getting started with SharePoint: Creating a vacation calendar

Imagine my surprise when I visited one of my clients this past week to discover that they had created a staff vacation calendar. They have been using Small Business Server 2003 and now 2008 for about five years and had resisted any suggestion that they look at SharePoint. I had envisioned them using SP as a document repository, or “library” to house a number of business related books and document in PDF format that are currently accessed via CDs. Needless to say this fell on deaf ears; but the calendar is a hit. Well maybe you don’t need a document library or business knowledge base but how about trying calendar? The following two videos demonstrate how to set up a calendar in SharePoint. Keep in mind that SharePoint items can be set to integrate with your desktop Outlook.

MS Company Web 2010 video

Recently I had a conversation with my brother who was lamenting that with his company’s mail server upgrade he is no longer able to access his public folder calendars from his smart phone. Given his dismay I was not able to console him regarding his loss. Not to mention that my statements regarding Microsoft’s desire to replace public folders with SharePoint brought no solace. In my final desperation I forwarded the following link which I thought would explain Microsoft’s position better than I could, http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-GB/exchangesvrclients/thread/5549b57c-175e-47c4-991b-8b38117335fb.

From a more healthy position than sibling discourse, is Robert Crane, an Australian SharePoint guru who provides advanced technical information to small business technology consultants such as me. Although I understand Microsoft’s position, the whole cloud computing buzz is about placing everything in your web browser and solving the years old issue of cross platform computing. The primary problem with SharePoint is only a select group of people see its value as a tool. As I’ve mentioned before, my initial attraction to Robert was the fact that he produces good training SharePoint videos which I think help to bridge the learning gap for those interested or starting to explore SharePoint. Let me repeat, “Those starting to explore SharePoint”; as with any technology it is essential that we first understand that we have a need and take the time to learn the new technology. Robert has published an updated video, “Getting started with CompanyWeb 2010”. CompanyWeb is the SharePoint offering included with Small Business Server. Take time and see if you can find a use for SharePoint in your business.

SharePointHosting.com’s – SharePoint Demystified

When I  first started this site I added a number of “How to…” videos  from Robert Crane which now make up the core of our SharePoint section.  It’s has been awhile since I’ve added anything new to this section.  Too often I find that SharePoint sites have more to do with the technical/administration side of managing the software or touting the latest version rather than how to work with SharePoint as a tool.  We believe that browser based applications are the future of productive technology.

With that in mind, I direct you to a site that I just discovered that I think will help you understand how to use SharePoint in your business, SharePointHosing.com’s-SharePoint Demystified.  Whether it’s SharePoint, Dream Weaver, Excel or any new program, to become proficient with software requires training.  What I like most about the site is the included numerous videos for the visual learner, which give a clearer understanding of the user interface and functions of the application.  Interested in SharePoint? Take a look at this site:

http://blog.sharepointhosting.com/Downloads/SharePoint-Tutorials.aspx

Robert Crane: Basics of SharePoint Video

Collaboration is the key to effective business use of the Internet. There are numerous tools both general and specific for business; Microsoft SharePoint is one such business tool.  We believe that SharePoint is a good tool for small business owners but recognize that before it is widely accepted more business owners need to understand how to use this tool.  Thus we present Robert Crane, a noted SharePoint expert who focuses on the Small Business market; recently he released a full version on his presentation on the basics of using SharePoint.  We are adding it to our library of SharePoint presentations. This video and other videos in our library will give you a good orientation on how to use SharePoint.

Sharepoint – Document Libraries

This video will give you some of the basics of document libraries in Sharepoint 2007. You will see how to upload documents, view documents, edit their properties, add information columns and sort the entries.

Sharepoint – Document Management

Document Management for Sharepoint is discussed and explained.

Sharepoint – Lesson 2 – Creating Announcements

How to create and edit the “announcements” feature on sharepoint websites

Sharepoint – Lesson 1

How to create a new sharepoint site.

Understanding Sharepoint Concepts.

SharePoint instructor talks about SharePoint basics on Sites, Lists, Navigation and Permissions.