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Mike Pallot on the World of Technology and Microsoft Partners...less of the what and more on the impact on you! var sc_project=2367934; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_partition=22; var sc_security="a5e3d45f";

April, 2008

  • Sword SharePoint event on Financial Services Compliance

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    Cool new event - check it out:

    SharePoint Deployment in Financial Services - Alleviating the burden of compliance and TCF

    Friday 2nd May 2008, Microsoft Offices - Victoria, London

    SWORD's SharePoint Consultancy is chairing this forthcoming event in association with Contrast Training.

    This free morning event, hosted by Microsoft, will address how Microsoft's SharePoint enables organisations to create, distribute and manage policies, procedures, rules, regulations and the Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) infrastructure using SharePoint.

    Guest speakers include Roger Cotterill from Endsleigh Insurance and Gerry Morgan of City Capital Consulting.

    Delegates will learn how, with SharePoint, they are able to improve compliance procedures, reduce the burden of compliance on senior managers and assist with managing the TCF infrastructure.

    Great to see some of our new partners getting out there and making some noise!

  • 18 hours of Free Enterprise Search Training!

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    Oh Yes it doesn't get much better than this - 18 hours of free training on MOSS 2007 all online so you can peruse it at your pleasure courtesy of 'english-tiger' training!

    Technical Backgounder

    Before you learn from the online version of the deep three-day class (below), ensure you are up to speed by viewing the technical backgrounder on Enterprise Search Architecture.

    » Enterprise Search Architecture

    Full three-day training class!
    Module 1 - Introduction

    This module introduces the full three-day class.

    » Streaming @ 300K

    » Streaming @ 500K

    Module 2 - Enterprise Search Overview

    This module provides some astounding figures as to why organizations require Enterprise Search Solutions! We recommend that you do not skip this module.

    » Streaming @ 300K

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    Module 3 - SharePoint Search Walkthrough

    This module is more than an overview. It cuts through the marketing hype in an informed, intelligent manner! We recommend that you do not skip this module.

    » Streaming @ 300K

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    Module 4 - Search Architecture and Deployment

    This module provides essential insights, discussions, and very deep technical information on architecture and server layouts.

    » Streaming @ 300K

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    Module 5 - Crawl and Query Processes

    This module provides the 'under-the-hood' story about what happens at crawl and indexing time, and follows up with essential information about the query-time processes. This is how Search in SharePoint actually works, regardless of what you see in the user interfaces.

    » Streaming @ 300K

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    Module 6 - Relevance Ranking

    If relevance ranking is perceived to be inaccurate by your users, they will simply stop using your solutions. This module explains in detail how you can tune the relevance ranking subsystem.

    » Streaming @ 300K

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    Module 7 - Customizing the End-User Experience

    This module shows you ALL that can be achieved by customizing Search Center in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, without requiring additional development effort. It is the definitive guide to customizing Search Center.

    » Streaming @ 300K

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    Module 8 - Developing Search Solutions

    Where Search Center cannot be customized sufficiently to suit your needs, you might need to develop your own solutions. This module shows you how! Developer topics include the KeywordQuery syntax, the FullTextSQLQuery syntax, the Search object model, the Search Web service, and the Search Administration object module.

    » Streaming @ 300K

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    Module 9 - Business Data Catalog Search

    This module shows you how to set up BDC search from scratch. It also highlights some common pitfalls.

    » Streaming @ 300K

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    Module 10 - Extensibility and Integration for Search

    This module provides more information about the crawl and indexing process by focusing on iFilters and Protocol Handlers. It also discusses full and incremental crawls, as well as providing guidance around 32-bit/64-bit architecture.

    » Streaming @ 300K

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    Module 11 - Search Administration

    This module provides a comprehensive discussion of search administration.

    » Streaming @ 300K

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    Module 12 - Security for Search

    This module covers a variety of topics from search accounts, through Information Rights Management, to crawling Forms-based authenticated sites.

    » Streaming @ 300K

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    Module 13 - Performance, Scalability, and Capacity Planning

    This module provides invaluable discussions of indexer requirements, query server requirements, and other scalability approaches. Most importantly, it discusses how you can plan disk space requirements for indexing large corpuses.

    » Streaming @ 300K

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    Module 14 - Search Operations

    This module concludes the class by discussing operations and management tasks for enterprise search solutions.

    » Streaming @ 300K

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    Enjoy!

  • FAST Acquired - now running as a Microsoft Subsidiary

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    So those not accustomed to how Microsoft do acquisitions it kind of goes like this:

    1. Offer made

    2. Accounts and business reviewed in detail, final price agreed and purchase completed - regulatory approvals etc

    3. Business is run as a subsidiary of Microsoft

    4. Products go through the security development lifecycle so it is ensured they meet the standard Microsoft security policies and procedures

    5. The Microsoft brand is then given to the business and the product appears on our price lists so our usual channels can access the tools and sell the product in the usual fashion

    We are at step 3 with FAST. The customer FAQ is here, and there is a handy email address if you have any questions: fastq@microsoft.com

    Enjoy!

  • Monthly SharePoint LiveMeetings from the UK Channel Team

    Our very own marathon running Partner Technical Specialist Jeremy Palmer has kicked off some monthly LiveMeetings for everyone who wants a simple way to stay in touch with the UK SharePoint Team. Links for registering for the May and June ones are here:

    Title

    May 2008 - Microsoft Office SharePoint Server - Monthly Partner Live Meeting

    Description

    This Live Meeting aims to update Microsoft Certified and Gold Certified Partners holding the Information Worker competency with the latest news about Microsoft Office SharePoint Server

    Registration Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/microsoft1/Registration.aspx?pageName=c91ln9k48dsrkhj8

    June 2008 - Microsoft Office SharePoint Server - Monthly Partner Live Meeting

    Registration Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/microsoft1/Registration.aspx?pageName=q8rqwcq6fndmtq05

    Look forward to speaking to you!

  • It's not that I am competitive but...

    I really want a UK partner to win the Enterprise Search Partner of the Year Award!!!!

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    Come on make sure you get what you deserve and submit yourself for an award at out annual Partner Conference in Houston Texas - YeeHah!

    You only have two days to go - so get your creative writing hats on!