Microsoft Self-Service Business Intelligence (BI) Explained (and taught!)

by Jeff Cate

Last fall, my employees came to me and complained that they could not get the answers to their business questions from our data.  We have TONS of data.  We are a small company, but are highly automated and have data in ERP, CRM, Marketing Automation, Google Analytics, various Cloud services, Excel spreadsheets, etc.

Of course, all of our business systems have some degree of built-in tools for reporting and data analysis.  But, even so, there are still problems such as:

Live Online SharePoint Training – A New Class Attendance Option

by Randy Moody

Need SharePoint training, but can’t travel?  No problem!

Each week we hear from students across the country who would like to attend one of our SharePoint training classes, and have money in the training budget, but are not able to travel.

Maybe that’s your situation too. If it is, then I have some great news!

SharePoint Solutions is now offering a Live Online Remote Attendance option for our classroom-based classes.

New SharePoint 2010 Training Course: Designing SharePoint Document Management and Records Management Systems in SharePoint 2010

by Randy Moody

For many companies, SharePoint Document Management really amounts to little more than eliminating file shares and storing documents in SharePoint document libraries.  But that is only the beginning of what SharePoint 2010 is capable of when it comes to managing your organization’s documents and records.


SharePoint 2010 allows you to actually design and create Document Management systems.

Not Like Everybody Else

by Randy Moody

I’m not like everybody else.

Take restaurants for example. When I go into a restaurant, I want to sit at a table, not in a booth.   Recent studies show that everybody except me wants a booth. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that you can’t push booths together to make one REALLY BIG booth (“Eisenstein, party of 16.”), tables might disappear from restaurants altogether!

Microsoft’s Hosted Solutions Bring Big Company IT to Small Business

by Robert Schley 

At the SharePoint Conference 2012, I was blown away by the ideas that Microsoft is putting out. In the past I've seen them as wanting to slowly creep into controlling every aspect of what IT folks want to do. It could just be that I'm in a different place now and not as directly involved with IT platform work. I think that may only be part of it, though. I am farther outside of the server farm than I have ever been, but I see the IT infrastructure more from a business perspective now. It's not, "Wow, that's awesome. I want it." I now see IT as, "What can it do for me and is it worth the money I put into it?" 

What Will Be The Impact On Enterprise Cloud Computing (and SharePoint) If Salesforce.com Eventually Goes Belly Up?

by Jeff Cate

Are you thinking this headline is just written to be sensational?  I can assure you that couldn’t be further from the truth.

I am generally not a believer that Cloud Computing is always going to be in the best business interest of enterprises, even though many vendors and the media are full-steam ahead with the idea.  If you missed it, you can read why I think this in a recent two-part article I wrote for this blog.

Reflections on the Microsoft SharePoint 2012 Conference

by TL Ferrell

The 2012 Microsoft SharePoint Conference was held in Las Vegas the week of November 12. It was an enlightening, interesting, and at times exciting experience. 

Conferences such as this are usually two parts education, one part networking, one part dog-and-pony show, and one part pep rally; this gathering was no exception. It was a somewhat surreal experience to be one of 10,000 SharePoint evangelists, enthusiasts, and worker bees for four days of seminars and assorted activities. 

Does Dumping On-Premises Software Make Good Business Sense? - Part 2

by Jeff Cate

In my previous post, I listed some of the unique benefits of the Cloud that I particularly like. Now, here is my short list of unique benefits that on-premises software offers over Cloud software:

What's New in SharePoint 2013

With the release of SharePoint 2013, everyone is curious.  And many are wondering, “What’s new?”

Our newest SharePoint 2013 training course will answer that question and give you hands-on experience with the most significant new features.

Your Opinion Matters

by Randy Moody

At some point in the last couple of decades, your opinion about pretty much anything became REALLY IMPORTANT!

• Television networks decide which shows get to continue based on ratings.
• Politicians navigate and adjust the focus of their campaigns based on public opinion polls.
• EBay sellers live or die by customer feedback.
• And products, services, restaurants, hotels, and businesses of all kinds often sink or swim based on customer reviews.

One shift in the marketplace as a result of all this is:

• Companies had better be REALLY GOOD at what they do if they’re going to stay in business, because there are LOTS of other choices!