Microsoft Technologies - Today > Tomorrow > Futures Pt.4

James Akrigg — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 01:59:41 GMT

.: Presentation notes :.

SharePoint, SharePoint, SharePoint... That's all you would hear me talk about during my first six years at Microsoft. Now in it's third version it has become the fastest growth product in Microsoft's product history reaching $1bn faster than any other product. I put this down to several key attributes. First the capabilities of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS 2007) are now vast spanning collaboration, content management, portal, search, business intelligence and business process management and this makes SharePoint the ideal 'information platform' for business. Secondly I would say that the extensibility of this platform has enabled the solutions our partners have been creating to address a wide and varied set of business problems across business functions and company boundaries. Having a technology that can be used for Intranet, Extranet and Internet solutions is of great strategic value when considering skills needed to support and drive your information platform.

The slide is hard to see in the scaled down image, but it basically puts SharePoint in the centre and illustrates that it requires Windows Server 2008 (or Windows Server 2003) and stores data in SQL Server. To the right (as you look at the slide) it shows how you may protect your information platform using ForeFront for SharePoint and Data Protection Manager (part of System Centre) to help with disaster recovery. To the left we have SharePoint Designer. This is a design tool to make it easier to customize the look and feel of SharePoint sites and more easily create solutions based on SharePoint. Finally at the top of the slide we have 'user experience'. Tight integration with Office 2007 and Office Communication Server really brings the solution to life as users can use familiar tools to interact with SharePoint. (slide 1)

We have been using Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS 2007) at Microsoft for sometime now and it is transforming the way we do business. Using Office Communicator 2007 client application to see presence information for anybody in the organization I may wish to contact is fantastic but it becomes amazing when I add contacts in partners that I work with so that we can communicate and collaborate more effectively. Applications that contain contact information (e.g. Outlook, SharePoint etc) light up with presence information when signed into Office Communicator so that I can communicate in context. So that's my business strength presence and instant messaging taken care of and you would think that was good. Well in the tradition of going from good to great let's throw in PBX integration to voice enable Office Communications Server. In a recent trip to Los Angeles I was able to make calls from my Vista Laptop via the Wireless Internet connection in the hotel and conference centre and significantly reduce my mobile roaming charges. More recently I have been testing using a Netbook with a small bluetooth headset to make calls. Those that attended the event should remember the demo :)

Piloting unified communications using Office Communications Server 2007 and perhaps collaboration with SharePoint is a great way to see the immediate benefits you can get in using these technologies. Many partners are doing this today and sharing their real world experiences with customers looking at ways to reduce costs and improve communication and collaboration capabilities. If you are not seriously looking at SharePoint and Office Communications Server you should and with the release of Office Communications Server 2007 R2 in the first half of next year there will be even more solution possibilities. (slide 2)

.: Resources :.

SharePoint Server 2007 Homepage

Windows Server 2008

SharePoint Solution Templates

Office Communications Server 2007

Technical Resources for SharePoint Server 2007

Using the latest SQL Server 2008 features with SharePoint Server 2007

Using SharePoint Products and Technologies with Hyper-V

SharePoint Server 2007 Evaluation resources

Early information on Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and Launch Event Registration Link

It's a new day, it's a new Office!

James Akrigg — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 13:57:28 GMT

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

Hey! Great tips!!

James Akrigg — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 19:05:00 GMT

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

James Akrigg .:. Out of Office : Office 2007

Microsoft Technologies - Today > Tomorrow > Futures Pt.4

It's a new day, it's a new Office!

Hey! Great tips!!