SharePoint - A Precious Business Tool

One of the most successful platforms for any business enterprise in today's time is SharePoint. It is creative by nature as it provides enhanced productivity with long lasting collaboration to business owners across varied needs. The latest versions’ launch of shareware has proved Why SharePoint is considered as precious business tool, since it is very appealing and user friendly, say experts.

Icing on the cake using this platform is that the service deliverables it brings along would be excellent as well as highly efficient. It helps with collaboration that makes businesses run smooth along with functioning ethics that are fabulous to say so. Share-point with its latest version has gained more happy users than ever before. This is because; clients now can use the platform to send large reports along with data across in a jiffy, which is so important for business needs or business expansion these days.

The wait is over
Gone are the days when other platforms took a century almost to transfer large files as well as data. The suite SharePoint now does it all in no time. The anticipation and wait is over, SharePoint now is being looked at as manna from the heavenly technological world, or should we say an answer to all large data transfer needs. The updates have excited users, and customers are exploring the major changes in the platform like never before. Unlike its predecessor, the SharePoint version launched this year has features and functions that offer the best, plus more support for options such as;

a. BI
b. Search
c. Mobile support
d. Public Website Support
e. Mobile as well as social sharing

Business wise intelligent
Companies need to be smart and for that SharePoint is used to the rescue, or else perishing in the deep business oceans would be the fate. Analysis or insights given by the latest version of SharePoint are unmatched and of high quality. Excel as well as SharePoint are tightly integrated, performance wise, say sources.

Businesses run not only through browsers on the computer but also through the phone as well, hence SharePoint allows such features which would help users use desktop apps on any smart device as well, irrespective of the size of the screen. Mobile browsing options come in;

a. Contemporary view
b. Classic view
c. Full screen (UI)
In addition to that, customers now also have efficiency with geo-location in the form of push notification services, which can be used on tablets and smart devices like never before.

Socialising made easy and plenty more reasons to be happy
There are newer features for socialising offered by the latest version of SharePoint. Newsfeed, community sites, sharing, collaborating as well as knowledge transfer and more, all of which the latest version of the platform has brought for everyone to use, and businesses are making the most using them all.

Even the search options have been optimised so well that the results are relevant and to the point, hence no more scourging around for an answer. Laymen and IT users are the happiest with such new features, especially when they can customise appearances based on the type of content than the history that was being looked for.

Another feature which has caught the eye and fancy of users with the latest version of SharePoint is the eDiscovery function; it has a range of new tools that manages discovering like never before. This in fact is wonderful for business owners; since it helps them stay protected while the centre searches across SharePoint, Lync or Exchange for content that has been preserved or exported.

Finally, with the latest version of SharePoint in place, companies now can have public facing sites or even internal intranet sites using pixel perfect schemes for branding. It used to be a complicated task achieving the same in the past, but with the latest in SharePoint and its tools, things are now done in a jiffy. One doesn’t need a lot of internal support for the same, expenses too would be the least and the designs are a wide variety to choose from, say experts.

Make your dreams come true by expanding your businesses like never before. Let the large files or data not worry you anymore! Hire developers from top SharePoint development companies after due diligence and they would help you develop SharePoint applications within allocated budget and time schedules.

We provide custom SharePoint development services. If you would like to know more about the expertise of our expert SharePoint developers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

The Problem with Leveraging SharePoint Records Management Services in Office365

The big question is, considering Office 365, where is Records Management fitting in? The old news is that SharePoint 2010 RM is not registering good performance within the e-discovery space. However, this is not considered a hindrance by most organizations.

It is a fact that IT is capable of pulling the objects which are essential to cater to the counsels’ expectations with respect to its own SOP or standard operating procedure, which generally incorporates a third party software. E-discovery has been performed by information technology more regularly and far longer than implementation of electronic retention by RM.

Automation is great
SharePoint 2010 RM services are capable of beautifully automating records declaration. They can be deployed successfully through mapping the records retention schedule across SharePoint 2010 RM.

The content types pertaining to the series can be holistically leveraged across site collections, followed by attachment of information policies. Then the indexing services to be run at particular intervals are recalculated.

The future hazards
Off-the-shelf SharePoint 2010 RM services are being trusted by corporate records programs. In an age where Records programs are entirely suspended or drastically squeezed, this is a quite inexpensive option for automated records declaration.

Since Office 365 lacks a related Records Center template, it is possible for the program to be vulnerable. The absence of automation can damage the program’s reputation. In case automated records declaration is leveraged in SharePoint also, the same might as well be in trouble.

What are the choices?
The necessities of the information architecture going beyond records policy amount to a textbook dilemma. Considering the case of information professionals, the design choice comes up with potentially long-term as well as negative connotations. In case an organization has automated records declaration through SP 2010 and its department of Information Technology is looking forward to embrace cloud services, it is a difficult choice. Deconstruction can be followed by manual records declaration implementation or the services of third party experts might be sought for devising something new.

Perhaps the best option in doing nothing in this particular case. First, something or the other will ultimately break. Secondly, this is a department that thinks forwardly and hence it cannot be visualized as restricting to one particular solution due to the lack of options. Thirdly, the employee turnover happens to be so high that the future administrator tends to lose all context pertaining to the architecture. Fourthly, retention schedules are subject to change and so unraveling of the Center for reconstruction in accordance with the new schedule is an enormous concern.

Manual records retention can also be considered as an option. However, it is an inferior one:

• In-Place RM exists till today within Office 365, although it has been reduced to a mere status symbol. A one or a zero, which implies that either the record exists or it does not. In fact, the option for management of the same from the back-end is not available with the Administrator. The good news is that interaction with the end users is possible. On the other hand, the bad news is that until and unless the C-level stresses on and communicates its requirement, end users would definitely have to time for annual review. Destruction does not take place.
• For devising out-of-the-box manual RM services within Office 365, the best way is the creation of a Records sub-site for each site collection. In every ways, the same folders should be used as are planned for the SP 2010 Records Center. The content types may be bypassed entirely and the same information policies may be used directly behind every folder.

Those objects which are required to be declared as records can be copied from the major site collection pages to the Records sub-site’s suitable folder. Since it is the case of a copy (wherein move is not available), the metadata changes should be noted and the peer should return to the original object for deleting it.

For initiation of a solution, the help of a third party may always be solicited. On one hand, it is being demonstrated that you need a compromise. Migration to the cloud cannot be hindered. On the other hand, you wish to make use of your cordial partnership with IT very meticulously at this point. Since Records is your project, it should not go to the backseat, being assigned with cleaning up legacy data.

On the positive side
In case you are going for RM in Office 365, the positive point is that it is convenient to edit retention periods. As discussions are held with each peer for planning of their folder structures, the maps need to be edited. It should be explained why and how folders pertaining to every site collection are a component of a bigger process-oriented schedule. Moreover, site permissions need to be unraveled for rebuilding them. After all, there is once more the opportunity to describe the mission as well as the significance of the program. As your IT department gears up for handling 2014 projects, it's a great idea to seize the moment for RM in Office 365.

If you were to attempt a SharePoint site migration project to Office365, understanding of these choices and pros and cons would ensure a successful migration.

We provide SharePoint bespoke development services. If you would like to know more about the expertise of our SharePoint developers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Setting up a social strategy for SharePoint? Here are tips to get started

With the launch of SharePoint 2013 by Microsoft, social business became the talk of the day, with SP gradually moving towards becoming a company's social hub. Last year, Microsoft acquired Yammer, and is planning to tie up the same with SharePoint as well as other wares of Microsoft ranging from Dynamics to SkyDrive. My Sites along with Community sites have been introduced by SharePoint 2013, and these aid in internal business collaboration by providing a social interface. These are also designed to make use of the security as well as other enterprise or business management features that SharePoint has. This implies a genuine extension of collaboration among partners and work-groups.

According to R.Wang, leading social business analyst, going social might close the gap between execution and strategy, measurement and execution, as well as strategy and measurement. Organizations understand that SP might be a platform for integration of these technologies thereby bringing in innovation, provided there is a proper plan and strategy for social business.

Let us discuss briefly about three of the major social aspects of SharePoint 2013, namely My Sites, Community Sites as well as the new Newsfeed. All of these distinguish SP from its predecessors and make upgradation a forward-thinking smart decision.

Community Sites
Creating a new Community Site has become very convenient. You simply need to select Community Site from the list within SharePoint available for Collaboration site templates. As per the community's business role, site owners can go for selection of four permission levels:

• Private: Selected members can view or go for interaction with the community.
• Closed: Content can be read by end users but only those members receiving approved requests would be able to contribute content.
• Open with explicit membership: Content can be read by end users, who would also be able to automatically join the community for contributing content.
• Open: Content can be contributed by anybody.

Like other SharePoint subsites, the Community Site template would be able to disinherit or inherit permissions from its parent site. The fundamental permissions as well as security constructs remain similar. Community Sites just build on this construct utilizing the permission levels. In spite of the presence of this architecture, it is always considered a better practice to make use of unique permissions for management of community membership. It is essential for organizations making use of communities at the site level to become well-versed with this setup. Moreover, community moderators can gain access to features such as offensive content reporting or alerts which enable them to follow discussions more effectively.

My Sites
My Sites is capable of giving users exactly what their requirement is- rapid access to their things. Presently a user is able to follow people, documents or sites. This 'follow' mechanism helps in the automatic creation of lists which are rendered in the user's My Site, both on the Newsfeed page and also on the My Sites homepage.

Moreover, with the help of My Sites, a user is capable of having one click access to the sites he or she follows. It also recommends other sites the user might find interesting or useful, based on a number of criteria.

Newsfeed
Newsfeeds refer to content that is dynamically updated and generated through the activities indulged in by fellow users. These incorporate the currently omnipresent hashtags as well as '@ mentions', and resemble Facebook or Twitter feeds closely. Unlike the case of external social networks, organizations are able to exercise some amount of control over the activities that would be appearing across the Newsfeed from the User Profile Service Application. On the Newsfeed Settings screen, there are provisions for a user to have considerable control over e-mail notifications, hash-tags, and so on.

It is true that in order to make use of these tools, the enterprise architecture does incur some cost such as licensing costs, software and hardware considerations, along with architecture to render support to redundancy as well as performance. But the benefits are indeed far-fetched. Leveraging the social features present in SharePoint development platform with the proper strategy can help organizations effectively manage their social business interaction while at the same time safeguarding intellectual property and content.

We provide SharePoint site migration services. If you would like to know more about the expertise of our SharePoint programmers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Introducing MVC Support for Apps for SharePoint

SharePoint, which has already established itself as one of the most popular and preferred web application development platforms, works more effectively when incorporated with certain apps. Apps are those powerful website applications that add to the effectiveness of the platforms. These days, the ASP.NET.MVC has become a preferred mode of project application.

ASP.NET.MVC offers web developers with several advantages. To begin with, it comes up with a really pattern- based and powerful platform that allows easy building of dynamic websites. These websites, in turn, pave the way for separating different aspects such as that of the view, model and controller of the app. At the same time, the app provides full control over markup to offer a good experience of development.

SharePoint portal development with MVC as a remote project requires one to follow a two-step process. Firstly, this particular sort of project development needs to be created and secondly, one has to engage in what can be considered as the 'app-etizing' of the concerned web project. This is done with the purpose of adding an application for SharePoint.

When an auto-hosted or provider- hosted app for SharePoint is created in the Preview of the Visual Studio 2013, you get the option of choosing the type of the web application project. Once the procedure is accomplished and you click on the Finish button, the Visual Studio automatically takes up the following tasks:

• Creation of the application for the project
• Creation of the MVC website application project
• Addition of the SharePoint-references to the said project
• Addition of helper classes to that of the particular project

A working app for SharePoint with this advanced sort of web app is now ready. The following steps would encompass pressing F5 to debug the app. Now, Visual Studio deploys this app for SharePoint to the site of the specified developer. This is accompanied by a starting of the Internet Information Services or IIS Express and finally, running of your MVC website application. A browser is then opened to the home page of the app, in this case, the particular app that we are talking about.

A default template is created out of the box and it comes with the About, Home and Contact pages apart from some sample code. These sample code show you the way of interacting with SharePoint. The code helps in the creation of a client context for the host web while also retrieving the current user name, which is displayed in the home page.

The MVC website application project also offers a set of APIs, which involves a series of steps for the web project to communicate to SharePoint in a rather smooth manner and that too, in a single call. The SharePoint context filter takes up the additional processing for getting standard information when redirected from SharePoint to the remote web application, for instance, Host Web URL. Additionally, it also determines as to whether the application has to be redirected to SharePoint for the user to sign in. This is particularly applicable in case of bookmarks. This filter can be applied either for the purpose of viewing or to the controller.

The context classes of SharePoint incorporate all the data and information so that one can quite easily create particular contexts for the app web as well as the host web directly and thereby communicate with the platform. The introduction of the MVC support for apps turns out to be of substantial help provided that one is aware of the right ways of engaging in the process.

We provide SharePoint development services. If you would like to hire SharePoint developer from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

10 Mistakes to avoid while migrating from PHP to SharePoint

In recent times, there has been a rapid rise in the use of SharePoint (SP) and a number of enterprises are considering migration from PHP to SP. While there is of course huge amount of benefits associated with staying put with Open-Source PHP, SharePoint being a Microsoft supported platform comes high on security and other benefits as well. Weighing in on the pros and cons of both, there are migrations happening both ways – while some businesses are changing from SharePoint to PHP, other are going the Microsoft way.

Custom SharePoint development ensures that your enterprise’s collaboration efforts hit the roof while redundancies in processes are eliminated. And that often attracts businesses to migrate to SharePoint. The challenge lies in ensuring that SharePoint is appropriately implemented within the environment. It is true that the document management system can be conveniently installed as well as configured. However a number of organizations tend to make certain mistakes while migrating from PHP to SharePoint.

Let us have a look at 10 mistakes which should be avoided.

1. Choosing the basic installation for SharePoint: During installation of SP many organizations are into the habit of going for the basic install option. Although the basic version can be installed with simply a few clicks of the mouse, the advanced option is always better, so far as enterprises are concerned. It is advisable to choose the advanced option if you are not interested in installing everything on a single server or want to utilize complete SQL server, either existing or new.

2. Ignoring Fault tolerance: While migrating from PHP to SharePoint, a number of enterprises commit the mistake of considering that load balancing or greatly obtainable environments are meant for performance. The truth is that most of the times, fault tolerance is a greater priority and the actual reason behind leveraging load balancing, or any other highly available solution such as RAID. The configuration of an environment with high availability is not feasible with the basic installation.

3. Inappropriate utilization of permissions and service accounts: Like a lot of other server-oriented tools, SP has to interact with the server on which it is installed as well as the services surrounding it. As a result, service accounts are required, which are in fact, special identities used for communication with crawl content, SQL server, add index information across the file system, amongst various other functions. Many organizations make the mistake of going for generic server accounts, which is not at all recommended. In place of this, distinct domain accounts are required for every primary SP service.

4. Iterating by means of SPList Items: Developers have access to SPList object and are capable of using the same either from the existing SPContext or through creation of a SPList object to gain access to a list identified through its name. Although the used code is good for local environments, it leads to performance problems in case of custom SharePoint implementations.

5. Excessive data request from content database: With the help of the SPList object, data can be conveniently accessed from the Content Database. The problem is that every time this action is taken, it leads to requesting all the list items. Using SPQuery object, the data that is really needed can be queried. SPQuery facilitates putting a limitation on the number of returned items and columns as well as raising query for particular items through utilization of Collaborative Markup Language.

6. Memory leaks through SPWeb and SPSite: For those considering migration from PHP to SharePoint, it should be remembered that SharePoint makes use of COM components for certain core features. So far as COM Objects are concerned, memory management can be an issue. SharePoint installations often do not dispose SPWeb and SPSite objects and hence the ASP.NET Worker Process ends up leaking memory. So, it is advisable to monitor the memory usage to identify memory leaks.

7. Use of Index Columns for Performance Enhancement: Index Columns can offer speedy access to SharePoint Lists but there are certain limitations. With respect to every defined index, the index value is stored by SP for each list item in a distinct table. Queries utilize the first index column while additional index columns are not utilized for speeding up database access.

8. Using SP for transactional processing of great volume: It is a good thing that SharePoint does not bound you to the content database, but you should not use it for high volumes of transactional processing. A single table stores every data element. Implementation of database indices takes place through use of a second table which is then attached with the main table. Simultaneous access to different lists becomes an issue since the data belongs to the same table.

9. Inappropriate drive space allocation: The SharePoint installation procedure puts location of custom solutions, indexes, software and logs across the primary system drive, which is most of the times, the C drive. However, in a number of organizations, the C drive is partitioned into smaller components for the OS files. Consequently, space can rapidly run out.

10. Not focusing on disaster recovery situations: While engaging in migration from PHP to SharePoint, many organizations tend to disregard the disaster recovery continuity plans. SP is more intricate than other database driven portals. Hence, the architecture should be understood and accordingly plans should be made for reconstituting the environment.

These are the mistakes that are committed most often by organizations while migration from PHP to SharePoint. Avoiding these mistakes will save time and reduce the possibility of future issues.

We provide SharePoint webparts development services. If you would like to talk to one of our certified SharePoint developers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Steps to Migrate PHP Intranet site into SharePoint 2013

Today, SharePoint has possibly emerged as one of the best tools in the world of technology. However, there has still been an increase in the number of poor as well as unusable Intranets of the application. Most often, enterprises looking forward to migrate a PHP intranet to SharePoint often face issues in the endeavor of executing a successful migration.

So, how to achieve a successful migration and develop a good Intranet? Well, here is a quick look at the three steps to a successful migration that is sure to set the right path:

Always work with SharePoint 2010

It is understandable that you want to migrate to the 2013 version of the application software; after all, being an advanced product it comes with the goodness of cloud. However, for a successful execution, you must take it easy. The 2010 version, which was released in May 2010, obtained a service pack in June 2011. The latest 2013 version, which has just released might not be able to offer a stable experience. On the other hand, the 2010 version has been tested to provide a valid experience. Truly, there exists some limitations, but not without exact workarounds along with solutions. When it comes to using 2013, it is always wiser to give it a year for better development as well as improvement.

Avoid customizing the look and feel
Well, it is quite known that every organizations wants it logo to appear at the top left corner of every page. Additionally, you also want all the links to appear in a similar manner as against the PHP intranet alongside the header featuring a navigation communicating something about your brand. You want it to look as well as feel good. However, it must be noted that such aspects rarely matters in the case. After all, it is being developed for employee use and they already know you alongside being familiar to your logo along with brand values.

The job of the intranet is much bigger than just reinforcing the brand. It plays a better role in storing the document templates and helps in smart presentation of data related to employee performance. Furthermore, it also stands as the major engine of workflow behind your organization processes. Now, the brand is definitely important and your Intranet must exude a look and feel representing the same. However, it is more important for the intranet to function right. The focus must always rest with making a functional as well as rich intranet alongside focusing on the branding of the same.

Never completely end the project
You must always remember that developing an Intranet is not just a matter of few days or months. Indeed, organizations need to work on the same continuously. Disbanding the project team will never help in determining the success of the project. Starting with the development of Intranet is just the beginning and there is a lot of work that the enterprise needs to do with time. From placing fresh content to training the users concerning the refreshing courses, the application needs to accelerate the growth of your business as well as adapt to the changing requirements of the same.

You can achieve all these functionality along with benefits through SharePoint. The application not only helps in creating the front-end of your Intranet, but the back-end as well. For better execution of the migration process, the focus must rest on creating an Intranet team for ensuring better functionality of the same. The application software comes with task lists, email alerts, calendars, and special project site templates. You have a knowledge of all these because you are constantly telling your end users about all the features. The key lies in starting to use all the features for a better experience.

Therefore, to execute a successful migration during SharePoint website development process, you must focus on the long-term end of the project and follow the above-mentioned stapes carefully for experiencing the best of SharePoint, 2013.

We provide custom SharePoint development services. If you would like to know more about the expertise of our expert SharePoint programmers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Tips for Integrating SharePoint data with Java Applications

A number of enterprises today are looking forward to integrating content from the SharePoint site with java applications. Such organizations are usually considering avenues to deliver an integrated and optimized experience for the end user across a range of software platforms. In addition, the endeavor is also directed towards the aim of bringing the SharePoint data into compliance with governance, security, and branding standards. Net result, SharePoint application development and data migration is heading northwards.

Now, when it comes to integrating, the same can be achieved through the different tools or SharePoint integrator offering maximum competency and comprehensiveness. The software usually enhances the ability of the portal to take up an all-encompassing job that combines all assets of the enterprise together with the SharePoint content like the java applications with a scalable and saleable environment.

In today’s present age, the dominance of SharePoint is indomitable. The particular document management system application is today found everywhere and is rapidly used across enterprises. However, the challenge comes when enterprises need to integrate the SharePoint data with Java applications. Well, it is to be noted that the integration does not come easy and the organizations need to depend on a number of considerations for achieving the best.

If you seem to be wondering about the factors, then here is a look at the aspects of dependency that helps achieving optimal integration of the software with the web application –

• The particular version of Java that is being used
• The version of SharePoint that is being employed for the purpose
• The level of integration that is actually needed for the enterprise

Let’s assume the use of SharePoint 2007 and Java 1.5 for the integration exercise (the usual scenario that crops up while integrating existing applications of Java to new services of the document management system application).

Now, it is to be noted that it is quite difficult to determine the end of the particular approach. However, one of the major objectives of the integration approach rests with the fact of producing a matrix of the accurate approach of use across the various versions of Java and SharePoint.

Principle requirements
The principle requirements that must be followed while taking up the approach are as follows:

• Support for authentication schemes for IIS
• Support for the protocols of remote access
• Support for an integration up to highest level possible
• Integration based on LAN

Access Options of SharePoint Service Well, fortunately the products pertaining to SharePoint feature a number of access options that are entirely service based and dependent on the particular version. However, you need to keep in mind that the previous versions usually featured less capabilities based on the interfaces. Therefore, you must always have a look at the specific capabilities of need prior to making any choice.

Java Choices
The options of integration vary greatly depending on the particular version of the Java that is being used:

• Java 1.4 : The 1.4 version of the web application offers a restricted support for services based on the document management system application that exists in the distribution base. While a number of possible frameworks pertaining to Java web services can be used, the Axis 2 offers a special support to the NTLM V1 catering to all the requirements. Additionally, a primary consideration rests with support for the authentication schemes IIS. The base distribution features XML – RPC support
• Java 1.5 : The 1.5 version of the Java platform offers complete support for web services based on the document management system as well as the XML- RPC interface.
• Java 6 : This particular version offers complete support to the XML-RPC and web services that are available in the base distribution as well as supports an authentication of NTLM V1.

We provide custom SharePoint development services. If you would like to know more about the expertise of our expert SharePoint developers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.