“Default Time Zone” is the “Flux capacitor” of SharePoint!

“Back to the future” 1985

Back in the mid-80s we were all taken back in time with Doc and Marty McFly. We still idolize the DeLorean and remember that it was all possible because of the “Flux Capacitor.”

In SharePoint, things aren’t quite as exciting, but it is possible to accidentally create a little time travel within the SharePoint settings. Here is how it could happen.

ExCM Extranet On-Prem New Release

We’ve been working on some significant enhancements to Extranet Collaboration Manager (ExCM) Extranet On-Premises and have just issued a new release that is available today!

Here is list of enhancements and fixes in the new release (Release 4.0.3223.1 for ExCM 2016, Release 3.0.8023.1 for ExCM 2013 R2):

• New “responsive” forms-based authentication (FBA) sign in page and extranet user registration page
• Added ability to provide a SQL server name or alias in the Extranet Setup Wizard to support non-default SQL Server for the Extranet Directory database.
• Enhanced the Extranet Directory Web Part to return up to 50 results of extranet sites that a logged-in user has permissions to access
• Invitation emails now have the option to be sent from a Trusted Identity Provider (TIP) user account, such as ADFS or Azure AD, as well as from a Windows Active Directory user account
• Fixed a problem where extranet user invitations initiated by ChangeBot could not be successfully registered

Here are a few screenshots that give a glimpse at some of the new features:

Responsive FBA Sign In page

Recorded Webinar: ExCM Extranet Online, Overview & Demo

Introducing ExCM Online, the Azure-hosted counterpart to our award-winning on-premises Extranet Collaboration Manager platform.

Presented by Jeff Cate, Founder and CEO of PremierPoint Solutions:

Webinar: ExCM Extranet Online

Join us on Wednesday, August 8, 12:00 PM - 1 PM Eastern U.S. time zone for:

Register here:

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1263144639262281730

ExCM Extranet Online Beta Available Now!

Our customers have been asking for quite a while when would have a SaaS version of Extranet Collaboration Manager (ExCM) available.  Good news for those that have been waiting – we’ve just launched the beta and are hoping to go into production by early Fall!

The on-premises version of ExCM has been in use around the world since 2007 and has been our most popular product here at PremierPoint Solutions.  Organizations have loved its combination of features that provide for a highly-secure, highly-private, and easy-to-use B2B extranet platform.  We’ve worked hard to bring all of these same features into a Software as a Service version that offers all of the benefits of the cloud.

Microsoft KB4340558 (July 10, 2018) Breaks ExCM’s SharePoint 2013 FBA SignIn.aspx page

Customers of Extranet Collaboration Manager for SharePoint 2013 need to be aware that the July 10, 2018 patches discussed in Microsoft KB4340588 will cause ExCM’s forms-based authentication SignIn.aspx page to break.  The result will be that users experience a 403 Forbidden error message when attempting to sign in to an extranet site:

SharePoint On-Premises is Still Loved by Customers – Maybe to Microsoft’s Chagrin?

To me, at least, it is no secret that Microsoft has been trying very hard for several years to get as many SharePoint customers as possible to migrate off SharePoint on-premises and to SharePoint Online (a.k.a Office 365).


Of course, I don’t have any hard numbers that show that this has been what Microsoft has been doing.  I just have my own impressions from their marketing pushes, product investments and anecdotes from people I know around the SharePoint world.

One anecdote came from a former colleague that works in IT on the SharePoint team for one of the major auto makers in the U.S.  He told me within the last year that every time the Microsoft team shows up at the company’s headquarters, that all the MS team wants to the talk about is SharePoint Online and when the company will migrate to it.

Restrict the People Picker - SharePoint Extranet Security

In today's webinar, we answer the question:

How can the SharePoint People Picker feature be restricted to enhance privacy in extranet scenarios?

Configuring Forms Based Authentication in SharePoint 2016

Configuring Forms Based Authentication in SharePoint 2016

In this article, I will give a step-by-step walk through of the process for configuring SharePoint 2016 Forms Based Authentication “out of the box” without an add-on such as Extranet Collaboration Manager (ExCM). Doing this will also allow us to highlight the limitations of a “basic” SharePoint FBA web application that can be overcome with a professional-grade add-on like ExCM.

Note: For configuring forms based authentication in SharePoint 2013 go here.

In the screenshots below, you can see the changes we need to make to begin configuring FBA:

Password Policies SharePoint Extranet Security

In this short webinar we answer the question:



"How can we enforce password policies for external (non-AD) users?"