OK, I know that a lot of SharePoint deployments out there have not even upgraded to Service Pack 1. Previously I blogged about why you should upgrade to Service Pack 1 and that any new SharePoint farms being deployed should be using the SP 1 MOSS/WSS build. Microsoft has made a recent announcement that service pack 2 will be made available soon. I don't have a definite date yet. Let me highlight to you why you need to ensure that you have a proper process in place to update and manage your existing SharePoint deployments. When I talk about "deployments" I refer to your DEV > STG > PRD environments and that all of these should be patched and updated so each one has the same service pack and hot fix levels. One of the issues that you may have is that in order to update your existing SharePoint servers you will have to sc ...[Read More]

The Wellington New Zealand SharePoint User Group is celebrating it's 2nd Birthday on 29th of October 2008. Session Topic: Business Analysis Best Practices and SharePoint The ease of building sites in MOSS and WSS has allowed for many systems to grow unchecked and without guidance.  Allowing users to create and configure their own sites (Team Sites, Project Sites, My Sites, etc.) is great for collaboration and empowering your teams, but it can also lead to chaos in system navigation and data.  Standard business analysis practices (such as requirements gathering) many times get replaced by fitting out-of-the-box SharePoint features to a perceived business need (like Team Calendars). In this session Ken Biswell will review the process Redvespa Consultants went through to redevelop their MOSS intranet to better fit their business needs ...[Read More]

New Zealand stand out in the world as being one of the innovative countries! The latest community web site launched today epitomizes kiwi spirit and entrepreneurship. Well done John and the team for this latest venture! Go to: http://www.madefromnewzealand.com/ Watch the Video here Technorati Tags: New Zealand, World, Kiwi ...[Read More]

Previously I posted about the major post SP 1 SharePoint Infrastructure Update which was released July and notes on some issues that were discovered post release. Subsequently MSFT has released a cumulative update that addresses these issues. Needless to say that you should test these in your pre-deployment servers prior to installing on your production deployments. To specifically address the prior mentioned Alternate Access Mapping Issue a Fix is now available on request. The download link and details about this fix is available via the following KB article. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/956248/en-us I haven' tested these thoroughly yet so I am unable to confirm or deny but this post is highlight the availability of the August Updates. WSS 3.0 August Update Detailed description of the update - 956057 http://support.microsoft ...[Read More]

K2 are running a 3 day training course from 15th-17th October 2008 in Wellington - New Zealand. K2 provides business application modelling software which integrates with SharePoint 2007 when you want to take workflow and business driven process modelling to the next level in an Enterprise SharePoint Deployment. The K2 Blackpearl 101 program is an instructor-led, three-day course that is designed to provide participants with extensive hands-on product practice via lab exercises.  K2 Blackpearl 101 has 27 modules (listed below) that are intended to introduce the basic concepts, features and functions of K2 Blackpearl to a business-knowledgeable technical audience.  This fundamentals course is a prerequisite for all additional training. To book your place and for more information contact Hendrik Venter (hendrik 'at' k2.com) Mobile + ...[Read More]

A few people have asked me how to approach migrations and upgrades for previous versions of SharePoint. If you are planning to migrate or upgrade the options available to you for various versions of SharePoint are as follows. WSS V2 to WSS V3 SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Microsoft Content Management Server 2002 to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 WSS V3 to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Previously I have blogged about planning your migration and upgrade and also notes from one of the early upgrade and migration projects I was involved in. And remember PRESCAN is a must and in my opinion don't ever attempt to do in place upgrades. If you read my above posts you'll know why. If you are just starting to plan then here are some must read resources to help you plan. ...[Read More]