To the SharePoint

NEW! Plan for Profile Synchronization

clake — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:10:00 GMT

If you’ve had a chance to play around with the new profile synchronization capabilities in SharePoint Server 2010, you’ve probably discovered that there are a few things it would be nice to know before you got started. Well, we’ve put together a document that will help you properly prepare for setting up Profile Synchronization in SharePoint Server 2010.

Plan for Profile Synchronization takes you step-by-step through the activities you need to perform in order to prepare for a successful roll-out of Profile Synchronization in your environment. These steps include the following:

Identifying directory services and business systems
Planning permissions
Determining which containers to synchronize
Defining Profile Synchronization connection filters
Mapping profile properties
Defining a synchronization schedule

This document contains both expert guidance and real-world experiences from some of you.

As always, we welcome your feedback. Let us know if we’ve missed anything, you have any questions, or, if you think we hit the mark, you can tell us that too!

- Claudia Lake
SharePoint IT Pro Documentation Team

SharePoint BI

SteveH — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:01:00 GMT

Greetings from the SharePoint 2010 Business Intelligence (BI) UA team! We will be posting on the To the SharePoint blog going forward and would like to introduce ourselves:

Joanne Hendrickson: Senior Writer -- PerformancePoint Services 2010, Access Services
Norm Warren: Writer -- PerformancePoint Services 2010, BI Search
Mike Plumley: Writer -- Visio Services 2010, Project Server 2010
Steve Hord: Writer -- Excel Services 2010

The services that we write about are all major features in SharePoint Products 2010 BI offering. We will be covering any and all issues, tasks, and BI scenarios that Microsoft customers and partners are interested in. Stay tuned for upcoming posts, and let us know if there's anything you're looking for.

New SharePoint 2010 content deployment poster

supotter — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:28:00 GMT

Check out our new content deployment poster, created by Cern McAtee:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=de010583-e5fe-4c4b-a633-e57312336aef&displaylang=en

Cern is a writer on the SharePoint Content Publishing Team, and he focusses on Web content and digital asset management for IT Professionals. Cern developed this poster in collaboration with customers and several internal groups at Microsoft. The poster provides an overview of content deployment and is intended to be read in conjunction with our in-depth technical articles. Find more Web Content Management links for 2010 here.

We’d love to hear your feedback – feel free to add comments to this blog post, or send mail to itspdocs@microsoft.com.

Very best regards,

Susan Potter

SharePoint Content Publishing

Add-in for Manipulating Points on Charts in Excel 2007 and Excel 2010

SteveH — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:36:00 GMT

The Microsoft Excel product team has listened to customer feedback and created the Manipulating Points on Charts (MPOC) add-in. MPOC provides Excel 2007 and Excel 2010 users the ability to resize or reposition points on charts. This feature was last present in Excel 2003 and later removed. Since then, customer feedback has shown this feature was used often and missed when it was removed. The Excel product team has responded with this add-in and they are assessing how to bring this back into a future Excel release.

See the announcement at the Microsoft Excel 2010 blog site along with complete documentation for using the MPOC add-in. Install the MPOC add-in here.

Profile Synchronization in SharePoint Server 2010 Beta 2

clake — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:36:00 GMT

In SharePoint Server 2010, you can use Profile Synchronization to synchronize user and group profile information that is stored in the SharePoint Server 2010 profile store with profile information that is stored in directory services across the enterprise. This profile information includes hierarchy and group information that can be used to drive functionality such as audiences or hierarchy-driven business processes.

For Beta 2, we published documentation that explains how to configure Profile Synchronization. We recently updated these documents with feedback from you.

This newly updated documentation includes the following tasks:

The updated Profile Synchronization documentation includes improved task requirements and permissions information that should give you all the information you need to get Profile Synchronization up and running in your test environment. We’ve also restructured the documents, separating the set-up tasks from the actual synchronization tasks.

Thanks for your feedback and let us know what you think of the new, improved version of the SharePoint 2010 Profile Synchronization document set!

Preparing to upgrade to SharePoint 2010 Products

samanro — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:38:00 GMT

The public beta releases of SharePoint Server 2010 and SharePoint Foundation 2010 are coming soon. Aside from the anticipation of wanting to see all of the new features and functionality, some of you with existing Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 environments may be feeling another kind of anticipation – upgrade anxiety. Well, the best way to handle anxiety is to get prepared. And the Upgrade and Migration Resource Centers are up and running with content to help you pick the right upgrade path and figure out how to test out the process to help cut down on surprises.

On these Resource Centers, you’ll find information to help you with questions like the following:

How do I plan for upgrade?
What’s new in upgrade?
How do I get to 64-bit bit hardware?
What upgrade approaches are available and what upgrade paths are supported?
What does the upgrade process look like? What steps are involved for in-place v. database attach upgrades?
How do I create test farms to test the upgrade process?
How do I find all of my customizations?
What happens with services during upgrade (SharePoint Server 2010 only)?

You can also view and download the upgrade models:

And check out the upgrade planning articles so you can tame that upgrade anxiety!

SharePoint Foundation 2010	SharePoint Server 2010
· What's new in upgrade	· What's new in upgrade
· Migrate an existing server farm to a 64-bit environment	· Migrate an existing server farm to a 64-bit environment
· Determine upgrade approach	· Determine upgrade approach
· Upgrade process overview	· Upgrade process overview
· Use a trial upgrade to find potential issues	· Use a trial upgrade to find potential issues

These are just the planning articles -- how-to articles from TechNet and MSDN are also available on the Upgrade and Migration Resource Centers. Keep checking back, as even more articles are coming soon.

As always, let us know if you have any comments or questions!

Samantha Robertson, Senior Writer, SharePoint Products (I’m all about the upgrade)

New SharePoint Server 2010 (Beta) Content

supotter — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:35:00 GMT

The SharePoint IT Pro content team is proud to announce the launching of our new SharePoint Server 2010 (Beta) Tech Center and our related set of Technical Articles. In addition, we have launched the SharePoint Foundation 2010 (Beta) Tech Center and its related Technical Articles. We will keep this content up to date with timely information to help you design, build, and deploy SharePoint sites and solutions. We have launched these sites with an initial set of Beta content and we will add lots of additional content throughout the Beta and on through the product release.

Although we are excited about this new content, there is too much to list it all. So here are some highlights, listed by SharePoint product areas:

Business Connectivity Services

· Business Connectivity Services overview (SharePoint Server 2010)

· Business Connectivity Services overview (SharePoint Foundation 2010)

· Manage the Business Data Connectivity service (SharePoint Server 2010)

· Manage the Business Data Connectivity service (SharePoint Foundation 2010)

· Business Connectivity Services model

· Business Connectivity Services Resource Center

Social Computing

· Plan for social computing and collaboration

· User Profile Service overview

· Plan polices for user profiles

· Plan for collaboration sites

Managed Metadata

· Managed metadata planning

· Managed metadata overview

· Managed metadata operations

Records Management

· Using a records archive versus managing records in place

Document Management

· About document management

· Identify users and analyze document usage

· Document library planning

· Content type and workflow planning

· Information management policy planning

Digital Asset Management

· Digital asset management overview

· Plan digital asset management

Web Content Management

· Themes overview (SharePoint Server 2010)

· Plan for using themes (SharePoint Server 2010)

· Plan for caching and performance

· Configure Document Conversions Load Balancer and Launcher Services

Workflows

· Plan for workflow security and user management (SharePoint Server 2010)

· Plan for approval and review processes in workflows (SharePoint Server 2010)

· Choose a workflow authoring tool (SharePoint Foundation)

· Workflow deployment processes (SharePoint Foundation 2010)

· Workflow deployment processes (SharePoint Server 2010)

· Configure global workflow settings (SharePoint Foundation 2010)

· Configure global workflow settings (SharePoint Server 2010)

· Manage workflows (SharePoint Foundation 2010)

· Manage workflows (SharePoint Server 2010)

· Monitor workflows (SharePoint Foundation 2010)

· Monitor workflows (SharePoint Server 2010)

Governance and Security

As you view this content, please use the ratings and feedback tools at the top of the page to give us feedback or to request additional content.

Thanks,

Susan Potter
SharePoint IT Pro content team

Support your DBA!

Margo Crandall — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:33:00 GMT

We’ve just finished creating a new downloadable book for SQL Server database administrators who support SharePoint environments. If you work with one of those lucky folks, you may want to point them to:

SharePoint guidance for SQL Server 2008 database administrators (Downloadable book)

We’ve also updated a number of our other articles to refer to features in SQL Server 2008 that you can take advantage of in a SharePoint environment.

As always, let us know if you have any comments or questions!

Margo Crandall, Prinicipal technical writer (Database, Backup/Recovery, Disaster recovery, and Availability)

The new Business Intelligence Resource Center for SharePoint Server 2010

normbi — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:18:09 GMT

The new Business Intelligence Resource Center for SharePoint Server 2010 is a TechNet site for information about business intelligence in SharePoint Server 2010. The following is some of what is is included in the TechNet resource center.

IT professionals

Developers

The site also links to the diagram, Getting started with business intelligence in SharePoint Server 2010, described here.

Thee are also links to Blogs, the Microsoft Business Intelligence center on TechNet, and more !

My impressions of the SharePoint Conference

normbi — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:02:00 GMT

I’m Norm Warren, IT Pro writer for SharePoint Server 2010 business intelligence. I also write for B.I. the way…and used to write for Norm's PerformancePoint Server Blog.

The following are some of my impressions of my first SharePoint Server 2010 conference.

I remember the first SharePoint Server 2007 book I picked up. Surprisingly, it had a chapter on change management –the first chapter. As I spent time with customers at the 2009 SharePoint conference last week, my mind kept going back to that chapter. We met customers from all over who were delighted about the new features in SharePoint Server 2010 and yet I could detect a hint of reality. The reality that these conference attendees would need to go back to their work place and try to convince co-workers, managers, and others of the wonders of SharePoint 2010. So what do you do to influence? I’m sure it depends on your situation and what you want to accomplish. But here are some ideas that I remember from that book.

Start out small and make sure that what you decide to implement (SharePoint Server 2007 or 2010) has great impact. I would ask around, maybe take a survey, to find out what features will affect the most people.
Once you’ve prioritized the features you will implement, locate the champions in your organization and empower them to sell it. Maybe a proof of concept with a presentation.
Lastly, never give up. Tenacity. Continue to promote the ideas or technology you know will help improve your organization.

One more tip, not from the book: Locate the SharePoint 2010 poster or posters that matches your interest. Go to get a print out and hang it up near your office. Or take screen captures of the areas of interest (cheaper) and post a company Blog on those items of interest or send an e-mail.

Here are some tips for using the posters (after navigating to the site, scroll toward the bottom for tips).

How do you use our posters?

Margo Crandall — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:06:00 GMT

We'd like to know how you use the posters we have up on TechNet:

SharePoint Server 2010: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263199(office.14).aspx
SharePoint Server 2007: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263199.aspx,
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc287835.aspx

Do you print them on a plotter, or in a smaller format?

Would you like them to be available to order in glossy format?

Is there any other way that you'd like us to present them?

Post a comment here, or send us an email.

Thanks!

- Margo

New business intelligence services in SharePoint Server 2010

normbi — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:59:59 GMT

The poster, Getting started with business intelligence in SharePoint Server 2010, is a review of all the business intelligence (BI) services in SharePoint Server 2010 (Beta) and can be downloaded in Visio, PDF, and XPS file formats. You will notice that PerformancePoint Server 2007 is integrated into SharePoint Server 2010 (Beta), to add business intelligence features such as dashboards, scorecards, KPIs, and more. The poster includes the following information.

An overview of each business intelligence service and when you might use each service to surface reports, scorecards, KPIs, Excel files, and other features of BI.
Architecture to show how the business intelligence services work together.
A list of possible data sources for each business intelligence service.

Note that the term "Insights" in the poster refers to business intelligence.

From the poster:

The BI tools you use depend on the specific problems you are trying to solve. Your daily business activities have associated information and insights that emerge in three main areas of business intelligence: personal (and self-service), team or community, and organizational.

There will be overlap across these areas as seen in the diagram below. For example, in SharePoint Server 2010, a company’s employees may use Excel Services and Visio Services to make relevant business decisions at the corporate level.

By design, all Microsoft BI products inter-operate so that teams and individuals within an organization can move across the continuum of personal, team, and organizational BI and have all products work together. For example, SQL Server Reporting Services reports, Excel Services reports, or Visio diagrams can be published in a PerformancePoint Dashboard.

The following is a sample of the poster. It is small and can be better viewed in the download (Visio, PDF, and XPS).

Content posters for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 !

normbi — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:09:58 GMT

The product team published an excellent Blog post, SharePoint 2010, which gives a comprehensive description of enhancements and features for the release of SharePoint Server 2010. Other "what's new" posts are covered on www.microsoft.com\sharepoint.

Our documentation team has published posters for many of the focus areas that are shown on the "SharePoint 2010 wheel".The posters provide a one-stop view of different aspects of SharePoint Server 2010 deployment, and decision points, and they include useful diagrams and content. Each of the posters can be downloaded in Visio, PDF, or XPS format. The following is a consolidated list of posters with descriptions and download links.

SharePoint 2010 Poster downloads

Poster and downloads	Description
Services Download: Visio, PDF, XPS	Services architecture, including and common ways to deploy services in your overall solution design.
Cross-farm Services Download: Visio, PDF, XPS	Illustrates how to deploy services across farms to provide centralized administration of services.
Topologies for SharePoint Server 2010 Download: Visio, PDF, XPS	Describes common ways to build and scale farm topologies, including planning which servers to start services on.
Hosting Environments in SharePoint Server 2010 Download: Visio, PDF, XPS	Summarizes the support for hosting environments and illustrates common hosting architectures.
Business Connectivity Services Model Download: Visio, PDF, XPS	This model poster describes the architecture of Microsoft Business Connectivity Services in SharePoint Server 2010 and provides information about how to create solutions that are based on the service. Use this model with the following article: Business Connectivity Services overview (SharePoint Server 2010)
SharePoint 2010 Upgrade Planning Download: Visio, PDF, XPS	This model covers planning for an upgrade from Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 to SharePoint Server 2010. It includes information about the following: Upgrade requirements: Hardware, operating system, and database Upgrade process: specific steps to follow before, during, and after the upgrade Use this model with the following article: Upgrading to SharePoint Server 2010
SharePoint Server 2010 Upgrade Approaches Download: Visio, PDF, XPS	This model helps you understand the in-place, database attach, and hybrid approaches to upgrading from Office SharePoint Server 2007 to SharePoint Server 2010. See the farm topologies before, during, and after upgrade Compare the advantages of each type of upgrade approach Use this model with the following articles: Determine upgrade approach (SharePoint Server 2010) Upgrade process overview (SharePoint Server 2010)
SharePoint Server 2010 — Test Your Upgrade Process Download: Visio, PDF, XPS	This model explains the methodology for testing the upgrade process before upgrading from Office SharePoint Server 2007 to SharePoint Server 2010. Understand the goals for testing your upgrade process: customizations, hardware, timing, planning See specific steps to follow for testing your upgrade process Use this model with the following article: Use a trial upgrade to find potential issues (SharePoint Server 2010)
SharePoint Server 2010 — Services Upgrade Download: Visio, PDF, XPS	This model covers upgrading services from Office SharePoint Server 2007 to SharePoint Server 2010. Considerations for specific services: Personalization, Search, InfoPath Forms, Excel, Business Data Catalog, Single Sign-on In-place upgrade with services Database attach upgrade with services
Choose a tool for business intelligence in SharePoint Server 2010 Download: Visio, PDF, XPS	This model covers an overview of business intelligence in SharePoint Server 2010 and provides you with the following information. An overview of each business intelligence service and when you might use the service. Architecture for application of the business intelligence services and how they work together in a topology. A list of possible data sources for each business intelligence service.

Meet us at the SharePoint Conference!

Margo Crandall — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:12:00 GMT

We wanted to let you know that lots of folks from the SharePoint IT Pro content publishing team will be at SPC in Las Vegas next week. We’d love to meet you, and get your feedback on the documentation (SharePoint 2007/WSS 3.0 as well as SharePoint 2010).

We’ll all be at Ask the Experts, Wednesday from 5:45-7:00 (look for the IT Pro Content for TechNet table).

We’ll also be running short (10 minute) usability interviews on Monday from 5-7 pm in Banyon E in the South Conference Center, and at Ask the Experts. If you swing by, you’ll have a chance to:

Review the design of our upcoming Solution Center sites—portals that will provide end-to-end support for common solutions, such as Content Publishing Portals and Internet Presence sites.
Give us feedback on our new Getting Started page for 2010.
Talk to us about partnering on SharePoint 2010 content, or tell us about your 2007 content that you're interested in having us help you publish or promoted.

You can also look for us in the following places:

Margo Crandall (me): Tweet me at @msmargoc or Margo.Crandall@microsoft.com. I’ll be at the Business Continuity session, SQL Server session, and general IT Pro sessions.

Rob Silver: Robert.Silver@microsoft.com Rob will be at as many Business Connectivity Services sessions as he can make.

Samantha Robertson: Samantha.Robertson@microsoft.com Samantha will be at most of the upgrade sessions.

Dan Evers: Danevers@microsoft.com Dan will be trying to get to Office Web Application and Workflow sessions.

Norm Warren: NormW@microsoft.com Norm will be at the business intelligence sessions.

David Longmuir: David.Longmuir@microsoft.com David will be at as many Enterprise Search sessions as he can make.

Nina Ruchirat: Tweet Nina at @msninar or NinaR@Microsoft.com. Nina will be attending IT Pro and social computing sessions. Contact Nina to discuss community engagement projects with content publishing.

We'll also be blogging throughout the week, so check back. If you have suggestions or just want to get in touch, you can always contact us at itspdocs@microsoft.com.

Patching a mirrored farm with minimal downtime

Margo Crandall — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:06:00 GMT

(Cross-posted from the Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog)

For administrators of large SharePoint server farms, a newly-published article describes how to update server farms that use database mirroring, while incurring minimal perceived downtime for users. This solution is for enterprise customers who have high-availability needs and infrastructure. This article describes a step-by-step process for Office SharePoint Server farms that incorporate SQL Server mirroring. You can achieve similar results on Office SharePoint Server farms that are set up in a clustered server environment.

In brief, the solution requires that you:

Disable mirroring and set the mirror databases to read-only.
Route network and database traffic to the read-only databases
Apply software updates to the offline servers.
Route network and database traffic to the updated servers.
Apply software updates to the secondary farm.
Re-enable mirroring and set the mirrored databases to read/write.

To read the full solution, see Configure a server farm for minimal downtime during software updates.