#SharePoint Document Libraries are getting a new look!

The SharePoint Online Document Libraries are getting a new look! If you are on First Release you may notice a new look for document libraries. You can see an example below. They look more like OneDrive for Business.

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Nintex InspireX – Nintex Workflow Platform Jumpstart

It was 8am in Las Vegas and instead of feeding the slot machines in the Aria hotel I was in the Nintex Workflow Platform Jumpstart pre-conferee workshop being run by TekDogs Jason Keller.

The workshop was a great way for me to kick of the conference. For me it reinforced what I already know about Nintex Workflow and Forms but also gave me a few tips and tricks that I could take back to the office to share with my team.

If you want to learn more about Nintex through training, there are various options listed below:

• Combined Knowledge – http://www.combined-knowledge.com/nintex/
• Nintex Learning – https://learning.nintex.com
• TekDogs – http://tekdoginc.com/nintex-training/

I have used all of these and are all very good.

The material covered in the training was copyrighted so I cannot share all of it however the following tip (with my own additions) and others that I already do, I’ll share over the coming months.

Tip – Use a Service Account

Create one or more service accounts for workflows. I like to use a dedicated workflow service account for each departments workflows and sometimes for specific workflows. Your IT department will have a naming convention for service accounts but here are some examples I would use:

• WF-HR-LeaveRequest
• WF-IT-NewHardware

Some will make sure that the service account password does not expired. I prefer to have a process to change the password periodically but have it expire once a year.
If you set the service accounts as “Constants” you can then limit access by using security groups.

#SUGUK August / September 2015 Events

So far there are three #SUGUK events lined up in August and September:

• 3 August
  SharePoint User Group UK  -North West
• 16 September
  SharePoint User Group UK – Annual Golf Day
• 23 September
  SharePoint User Group UK – West Midlands

Don’t forget if you want to present a session on SharePoint then feel free to contact the regional organisers.

#Tuxedo at #SPSLondon 2015 for @ukmastocytosis

I wore a Tuxedo at SharePoint Saturday London 2015 to raise money for http://www.ukmasto.org/, you most probably have not heard of them as they are a charity for a rare condition called Systemic Mastocytosis (definitions: Wiki, NHS). If you would like to make a donation go to:

Here I am at SharePoint Saturday London 2015. Thanks to Jason Himmelstein (@sharepointlhorn) for taking the picture.

The volunteers at #spslondon went above & beyond. This one TUXed up! …and won a 500q bet w/ @sebmatthews pic.twitter.com/xhJs4X2len

— Jason Himmelstein (@sharepointlhorn) July 11, 2015

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What should I wear next year?

#SUGUK June 2015 Events

There are four #SUGUK events lined up in June so far:

• 2 June
  SharePoint User Group UK (North West)
• 9 June
  SharePoint User Group UK (Southampton)
• 11 June
  SharePoint User Group UK Meeting Coventry
• 24 June
  SharePoint User Group (West Midlands)

Don’t forget if you want to present a session on SharePoint then feel free to contact the regional organisers.

#SharePoint @EvoConf Offer + Win a #Drone

Did you know that the SharePoint Evolution Conference 2015 is set to be the largest SharePoint conference this year?

This will be the 7th consecutive year, Combined Knowledge has run a SharePoint Conference. They are now recognised globally as being The SharePoint Conferences to attend. In fact based on other conferences I have attended both as an attendee and as a speaker they are one of the best organised and run as well.

SharePoint User Group UK attendees can get a discount when they book just give them a call. If you register before 31st March 2015 you could win a Drone!

If you do attend please come to my session Migrating your Intranet and Managing your Documents in SharePoint.

Goodbye SharePoint Online Public Website (#KB3027254)

From January 2015, yes that is less than two weeks away, Office 365 customers who currently use SharePoint Online Public Website will be able to do so for about two years. New customers to Office 365 after January 2015 will have to look else where.

So for new customers I’d suggest looking at other vendor offerings such as Sitecore (http://www.sitecore.net/) or see what you can do on Azure Web Sites (http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/websites/)

See http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/3027254 for more details.

 

My SharePoint Saturday UK 2014 Slides (#spsuk)

SharePoint Saturday Events

SharePoint Saturday UK 2014 was great. A big thank you to the organisers. My slides are below and on SlideShare (http://www.slideshare.net/sharepointrandy/information-and-records-management-in-sharepoint-sharepoint-saturday-2014)

My session slides from last year can be found here: http://raps.cc/spsuk13.

SharePoint Saturday UK 2014 (#spsuk)

SharePoint Saturday Events

I am glad to say I will be speaking at SharePoint Saturday UK 2014.

It is at Hinckley Island Hotel again, which is a great venue. Details including registration info can be found here: http://raps.cc/spsuk14.

My session slides from last year can be found here: http://raps.cc/spsuk13.

Why @Office365 Matter Center for @SharePoint Matters

Created for Office 365, in keeping with Microsoft’s mantra:

“mobile-first and cloud–first“

Matter Center for Office 365 is aimed at Legal professionals.  Basically it enhances and adds to the features in Office 365. 

Don’t get me wrong Matter Center is not basic and I am surprised the announcements (Microsoft Matter Center for Office 365 boosts law firm productivity and Boost law firm productivity with Matter Center for Office 365) didn’t get more attention. This is one of the biggest DMS/EDRM moves by Microsoft since the release of SharePoint itself.

What it allows law firms and legal departments to do is work in a way they are use to now but in the Cloud. Users can collaborate easier as files are organised  by client and matter. What is key is they can do this from within Microsoft Word or Outlook.

Since Matter Center is based on existing Microsoft technology it still gives:

“legal professionals secure access to the information they need – anywhere, any time, and from any device”

 Automatic version control is included. This may or may not be liked depending on how lawyers like to version docs.

Using metadata allows users to perform matter and document search queries that result in more accurate results.

Microsoft states that users can “Track or pin frequently used or recent matters” how this is done is yet to be seen, but likely similar to how you bookmark web pages or pin docs in Microsoft Word.

The ability to “Drag, drop, and save emails and attachments from Outlook into the right matter (likely a form of Site Collection) is something we have seen from the likes of harmon.ie and Colligo. What is nice though and what will save lawyers time is the fact metadata, permissions, and version control is handled automatically.

We all know that in SharePoint you cant say, don’t give access, in Matter Center you can! This is a big chance and helps with ethical walls. Historically tools like IntApp WallBuilder dealt with this, I still see a gap for these tools as well as for the likes of ControlPoint by Metalogix.

Lets face it building, supporting, running as well as upgrading any DMS Is not cheap. But compared with on-prem version I see Matter Center reducing the cost by 70%. That means lawyers can earn even more money and/or invest the savings back into improving other parts of IT.

Microsoft say:

“Matter Center can be deployed in the cloud, in a hybrid scenario, or as part of an on-premises SharePoint environment based upon a firm’s needs and existing infrastructure”

Which to me means there will be no on-prem version but they are happy to help move you to the cloud.

Summary

Assuming you can get over any legal issue not to go to the cloud and the functionality meets your requirements then Matter Center is likely right for your firm 

However I personally see this initially being adopted by large firms ready to take the leap of faith to the cloud or smaller firms, perhaps legal departments  who are agile enough to move over. Everyone else will wait to see what others have done, in other words learn from others.

If you are interested to learn more keep an eye out for more posts or contact my company Perkins-Smart Consulting.