Information at Work

There's Life Beyond SharePoint (I think)

Something's been bugging me for a while.

Periodically, I've been dinged for being pro-Microsoft because of the amount of coverage/attention SharePoint gets in Infonomics Weekly and the AIIM Webinar program (I provide the content for both). While this is absolutely NOT the case, I can understand how someone could get that impression. We do cover SharePoint, and the issues of compliance, MORE content silos, etc. SharePoint trails in its wake quite a bit. I will state unequivocably that I (nor is AIIM) am not in the business of promoting SharePoint.* We DO consider it an important editorial topic to cover though. I've bounced the kudzu** analogy off of people before, and no one has disagreed -- SharePoint is all over the place. As an editor, you've got to cover the issues confronting your readers. We have to cover it as a topic.

That said, I consider the "old" topics of capture and workflow and document management  and records management (the basic blocking and tackling topics in the ECM industry) as, or even more, important. Judging by reader feedback, I don't think I'm out of step.

Yet, I find myself in a conundrum. SharePoint titles generally are read at a higher rate than a more "boring" piece on scanning or records management or even ediscovery at times. Is SharePoint some sort of catnip for the IT crowd? So, to draw attention to the newsletter, and the "other" content in it, I often use SharePoint to suck folks in.

We'll continue covering SharePoint within the confines of the enterprise content management industry (a pretty big confine) and providing you with great information on the basic blocking and tackling building blocks of this industry too.

But, here's what I'm curious about -- if scanning/capture (which is still under-implemented and under used everywhere; see the AIIM INdustry Report on Capture); ediscovery, email management, etc. are just as important as SharePoint, why don't those articles get read more avidly? What are you looking for? What's going to draw you in? Maybe SharePoint, as the new issue on the block is more wide open so taht everything written about it is new. Maybe I'm covering too much of the same ground in other topics. Help an editor attempt to pin point what you need to know. Otherwise, I'm just going to name every webinar "Getting the Most from SharePoint" and every Infonomics Weekly subject line will read "SharePointpalooza" 

Just kidding about that last point. Sort of. :)

*Beyond using the topic "SharePoint" to draw eyeballs to the newsletter, of course.

**For you non-southerners out there, Kudzu is a vine that grows over EVERYTHING that doesn't move. used to be only in the deep south, but I saw it as far north as Virginia driving to Louisiana over Christmas break.

THanks for reading,

Bryant

SharePoint 2010 Roundup

Details of SharePoint 2010 were announced last week. Here's a roundup of (some) commentary of the latest from Microsoft.

The official SharePoint 2010 site from Microsoft. Requires Silverlight, which is a bit annoying, but good resource.

http://sharepoint2010.microsoft.com/Pages/default.aspx

SharePoint Conference 2009 -- Just concluded, but a number of resources available. You can listen to Steve Ballmer say some variation of "Cloud" 8 billion times.

http://www.mssharepointconference.com/Pages/default.aspx

Questions from a webinar on preparing for SharePoint 2010 by SharePoint Joel.

http://www.sharepointjoel.com/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=249

Mark Bower, official SharePoint 2010 blogs. Links to 10 of them, records management, etc.

http://markbower.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/official-sharepoint-2010-and-office-2010-blogs/

The Burton Group's Mike Gotta takes notes on the first day of the Conference (from Oct 19)

http://ccsblog.burtongroup.com/collaboration_and_content/2009/10/sharepoint-2009-conference-morning-keynotes.html

CMS Watch's Tony Byrne shares some thoughts on the SharePoint 2010 Conference (and kudos to Tony for best new word, "Sharegasm.")

http://www.cmswatch.com/Trends/1721-SharePoint-Conference-Wrap-Up

SharePoint and a Roadmap to Success

What did you think of Alan's column on SharePoint? If you haven't had a chance to read it,

Creating a Roadmap to SharePoint Success

Planning is the key to success in any endeavor. When it comes to the complexity of placing SharePoint in the context of a successful strategy for managing content; planning is absolutely crucial. Luck won’t help you.

Once you have, share your thoughts with us. What's your roadmap? Have you run into any roadblocks?

Bryant