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I have had a technical focus for sometime on Microsoft Search technologies going back in time starting with Index Server, then onto Site Server and now working with the 3rd release of our SharePoint Search technologies.
The basic principle of being able to find information and not be 'left out in the cold' of what's going on in your business has been of great interest to me and with the impact the Internet Search Engines have had on people I can only see this area of technology increase in importance.
Consider the next wave of company employees who have grown up knowing only that the Internet exists. It is an everyday thing for these people to first go to their favorite Internet Search Engine (mine is Live Search, but you probably guessed that) when ever they want to find some information. Now these people enter the workplace and expect the same type of tools to be available for business information. Well in most companies they just don't exist. This can all change with Microsoft partners providing solutions to deliver 'Enterprise Search'.
Later today I will be presenting at the UK Search Partner Community Event in London. It's great to see so many partners already committed to delivering search solutions using Microsoft technology today and this can only grow as Search becomes even more high profile in business.
The key topic for my presentation is about 'Technical Resources for Search' so instead of boring everyone to death with 400 PowerPoint slides I have listed my Favorite Resources here:
Search Information
Evaluation Guide for SharePoint for Search
Mike Pallot blog
Technet Virtual Labs
Search Planning
Indexing Different Types of Content
iFilter Resources
Business Data Catalog Resources
Get the Software
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 trial download
Microsoft Windows Desktop Search for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 (Not for Vista)
Live Search
Well I hope this helps...
James Akrigg
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First see the Jeff Raikes Business Intelligence keynote then get key information from the following resources.
1) Read the Press Release
2) Get the Data Sheet
3) Head over the SQL Futures site
Data will never be the same again....
James Akrigg
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The number one rule in Vegas 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas' will never be the same again. The irony of blogger's from around the world getting together to talk about life as a blogger and early impressions of all that is MIX07 was very interesting. You just know that these men and women live to post information as quickly as possible during live events and all this from Vegas. No announcement was left un-blogged!
Now blogging is fine and with the odd picture thrown in it can be very engaging, but wait there's more... Discussions, Keynotes, Breakouts and Panel Sessions are now available for every one to view here http://sessions.visitmix.com/
Perhaps we will see new t-shirts next year!
There has been lots to take in at Mix07 so it's going to take me a few days to simplify and post more details.
James Akrigg
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If you have yet to look at Microsoft Office 2007 then now is the time. My team and I have been busy up and down the country meeting partners of Microsoft and customers listening to what they like most about Office 2007 and let me tell you there is a lot to like.
I personally believe this is the most significant release of Office since Office 95. The user experience with the new user interface is amazing.
Take a look at this new site which provides a great overview and links to test drive or trial Office 2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/office/newday/default.mspx
James Akrigg
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A new generation of Microsoft Certifications covering Technology, Professional and Architect roles are now published from the UK Learning site.
The Technology Specialist certifications enable professionals to target specific technologies and to distinguish themselves by demonstrating in-depth knowledge and expertise in their specialised technologies. Microsoft Technology Specialists are consistently capable of implementing, building, troubleshooting and debugging a particular Microsoft technology such as SQL, Active Directory, and the new versions of Exchange, Windows Vista and Office.
Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) credentials provide IT professionals with a simpler and more targeted framework to showcase their technical skills in addition to the skills that are required for specific job roles. The MCITP certifications demonstrate comprehensive skills in planning, deploying, supporting, maintaining, and optimizing IT infrastructures such as Business Intelligence and Security.
Are you developing .NET Framework 2.0 applications that use Microsoft Visual Studio 2005? If so, the new Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) and Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD) credentials provide a simpler and more targeted framework to showcase your technical skills in addition to the skills that are required for specific job roles.
The Microsoft Certified Architect Program will validate top industry experts in Information Technology Architecture. These professionals will likely have 10 or more years of experience in Information Technology with at least three years of experience as a practicing architect, and will possess strong technical and leadership skills and form a distinguished community. Unlike other Information Technology certifications, this credential will be granted by industry architects, as candidates will be required to present to and be approved through a rigorous review board process overseen by previously certified architects.
James Akrigg
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It's great to see we continue to listen and improve our benefits to Microsoft Partners. I often hear from partners that business is busy and they are growing at great speed, but finding skilled resource is very challenging. Well this may help at peak times when working on projects, take a look at 'Skills Finder'.
James Akrigg
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I've just read the post on Steve's blog about the whole Open XML debate and the issue about choice. I have always been a firm believer that having choice in our industry drives innovation in companies and keeps them honest and open to there customers/users. I look back at how things have changed with most technology solutions now having public APIs to enable integration and extensibility. Now in the Internet Era and the world embracing XML we see open standards for document formats that will enable the next wave of innovation.
Having worked in organizations before Microsoft that had to produce high volumes of data driven documentation the move to Open XML is something that is really going to make a difference. Life before Open XML often meant having solutions that had banks of PCs running automated Word applications almost acting as document creation servers. I'll be honest this had two problems 1) It was never supported and 2) It was not very good and very slow.
Now you can create this same type of solution using Open XML to produce high volumes of data driven documents in record time.
Oh I forgot to mention. As this is an 'Open' standard you are not restricted to developing using Microsoft tools or running it on Microsoft platforms. (Clearly this is another choice and I would hope you would be considering Microsoft in that decision). Take a look at http://openxmldeveloper.org/posts.aspx for articles on using Java, Linux and Microsoft tools.
Help Microsoft help you by supporting us in making Ecma Open XML an ISO international Standard. Show your support by signing the digital petition today. [click here]
James Akrigg
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I have been catching up on my blog reading and came across this post "Million dollar laptop coming from UK Luxury firm Luvaglio?" on the engadget site.
The specification looks like the ultimate in bling, but no mention of it running the ideal operating system 'Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate' :)
Luvaglio, If you are reading my blog or if anyone who reads this blog has one of these laptops then please let me know which version of Windows Vista you get and leave me a comment and let me know.
James Akrigg
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I had the pleasure of presenting at a couple of events last week that covered Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. One of the most common questions was from customers who had installed SharePoint to evaluate it, but were not sure if it was setup correctly or if they were managing it correctly.
I was asked to recommend any books that could help. Well you are in luck you can go to your traditional book shop or your favorite online reseller and get 'Office SharePoint Server 2007 - Administrator's Companion' TODAY.
Yes I know it's a Microsoft Press book and yes I work for Microsoft, but believe me I did look for other titles and this is currently the best available to buy today. If you are having problems finding it then I have included a link to it on Amazon UK.
Regards
James Akrigg
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Are you getting the most from your recent upgrade to the 2007 Microsoft Office System? It's a good question to ask. Are you using this latest release in exactly the same way you have used previous version of Office? Would you like to change and get more from your software?
Well now you can with 'Tips & Tricks 2007'.
Microsoft Office Online delivers a huge selection of inspiration through Webcasts covering all aspects of your favorite product within the Office System.
Get more from Microsoft Office and do more today!
James Akrigg
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I have had a few conversations recently about developers not looking at .NET Framework 3.0 as they believe it is a completely new version of the .NET Framework. Well that is not strictly true and perhaps the version of the framework has confused a few people.
The .NET Framework 3.0 combines the power of the .NET Framework 2.0 with four new technologies (2.0 + 4 technologies): Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), and Windows CardSpace (WCS, formerly "InfoCard").
It should be noted that Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 uses the Windows Workflow Foundation as part of .NET Framework 3.0 to drive the workflow capabilities used in Document Management and Web Content Management. MOSS provides a great example of what can be achieved using .NET 3.0 WF.
James Akrigg
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I ask all Microsoft Partners this one question. "Are you running Windows Vista?".
Why do I ask this question?
I ask this question to better understand why our leading advisors to UK business on IT are not themselves gaining all the benefits from our latest release of Windows. I try to understand why they are not improving information security and increased productivity for there employees and why they are not their number one case study when talking with customers. If there are real challenges in deploying Windows Vista for our partners then it stands to reason that our customers will have similar challenges and if this is the case we would like to know about it. We want to help. Only by using Windows Vista will you fully appreciate all it has to offer.
on10.net and Channel 9 have been running Vista and Office week and this short clip (Installing Windows Vista!) helps anyone upgrade to Windows Vista.
James Akrigg
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Today Microsoft announced that it has agreed to acquire Medstory who provides search services for health information. The first thing to note about this approach to search is that it has a very clear context (health information) which aids in much greater relevance to search results.
I can see this being a trend going forward as the volume of information continues to grow and throwing a couple of random words to the worlds Internet becomes too challenging even for the best search engines.
There is a lot you can do to try and increase the probability of search results having relevance, but nothing beats having a context from which to build a conceptual information model that can infer related content.
Medstory looks to have come up with a great way to visually display related content based from an initial search. In the example below I searched for the word 'stress' and this is how the related content is displayed which creates an easy way to navigate to more specific content without having prior domain knowledge. When you select any of these suggested topics I'm provided with options to search just on the topic or to combine my original search with the selected topic. It's just so simple to use.
I think this is so obvious now that I have seen it and I can't wait to see it being used in more areas. I can only hope that this capability makes it into future versions of our desktop and server search technologies and is implemented for other industries.
James Akrigg
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I've just been catching up with the 'Geek in Disguise' blog over at Clayton Central and I was interested to read the post on Hugh MacLeod wanting to be hired by Microsoft. The fact that the cartoon is generating so much interest and so many varied views is clear indication of the influence this image is having on the way people think.
When visiting art galleries I often listen to the comments being made on a piece and although there is some agreement there is often different interpretations that are shared and discussed. The 'blue monster' is generating that same behavior.
I myself have given copies of the cartoon to customers and partners that attend events we run that talk about change. I also ask the recipients of the cartoon if they would display it in a place of prominence and send me a picture and guess what, they do. They like the idea of embracing the thinking around change.
So the reality check: The days of Microsoft creating instant millionaires has long since passed yet we still hire and retain some of the smartest people in the industry. These people (and I include my team in this generalization) have a passion for what software can do and how it effects people and business. Our software is only an enabler for change, but in my time at Microsoft I've seen many innovative solutions created by our partners and customer that have helped 'change the world!'.
James Akrigg
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All forty SharePoint Services 3.0 Appliaction templates can now be downloaded.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5807b5ef-57a1-47cb-8666-78c1363f127d&DisplayLang=en
These are great to help show how SharePoint can be used to solve real business problems and provide a good starting point for customisation to meet specific customer needs.
If you develop templates for SharePoint solutions then please leave a comment on my blog as I'm always interested to see how are technology is being used.
James Akrigg
