Market Development—the Neglected Companion of Product Development

“Too many products are developed to satisfy the desires, urges, and hunches of people within the company, rather than to meet the specific needs of the market external to the company. Products grow out of the desire to tinker, or because an engineer sees a purely technical challenge.”

Source: Albert D. Ehrenfried, “Market Development—the Neglected Companion of Product Development,” IEEE Western Electronic Show and Convention (WESCON) (San Francisco: August 24-26, 1955).

The quote is 60 years old and people keeps falling into the same trap.

SharePoint 2013 and SharePlus: How SharePlus will help you mobilize SharePoint 2013

I recently found a recording of a webinar I prepared almost a year ago about SharePoint 2013 and mobility.

Mobilizing SharePoint 2013 with SharePlus

Today I’d like to share a webinar where I talk about some key innovations in SharePoint 2013, see how mobility is addressed and how SharePlus can help you increase productivity while on the go.

On the #SharePoint Road Again

It's been a while since my last technical post. Now that the SharePoint 2013 buzz has started growing, thought it was a good time to resume posting.

After reading the annoucement post from the SharePoint team, the topic that puzzles me most is:

"Use SharePoint as an out-of-box application whenever possible - We designed the new SharePoint UI to be clean, simple and fast and work great out-of-box. We encourage you not to modify it which could add complexity, performance and upgradeability and to focus your energy on working with users and groups to understand how to use SharePoint to improve productivity and collaboration and identifying and promoting best practices in your organization."

What does it mean?? Is SharePlus no longer, as Microsoft used to say, an out-of-the-box product AND a dev platform?  What about being SharePoint the new "Service Platform" for the enterprise?

What about all the custom Corporate Social Networks, BPM and CRM-like solutions, built on top of SharePoint?

What about VARs that made the product successful by patching the limitations the product had with custom code?

-Gus

The End of Solution Sales

“If the customer isn’t skeptical and doesn’t push me, then either I’ve done something wrong or she just isn’t serious.”

The End of Solution Sales, by Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon and Nicholas Toman.

Harvard Business Review July–August 2012

Working with PDF files in Sharepoint 2010

Sharepoint 2010 doesn't offer the best PDF experience out of the box, but it can be quicky improved applying the recomendations from this two articles:

• Opening PDF files in the browser instead of downloading them
• Displaying PDF logo and Indexing PDFs

Removing Sharepoint’s 2010 Left Nav Bar

Most of Sharepoint Page Templates and Masterpages include a left navigation bar. To remove it, we have two options:

1. Implement a custom master page, or simplier,
2. Create a (layout) page that removes the master’s nav bar by:
1. Declaring an empty Content Placeholder for PlaceHolderLeftNavBar

<asp:Content ContentPlaceHolderId="PlaceHolderLeftNavBar" runat="server"/>

2. Modifying the div’s styles

<style type="text/css">
    body #s4-leftpanel {display:none;}
    .s4-ca {margin-left:0px;}
</style>

Taken from the Kraft and Kennedy blog.

Office 2010 64-bit and the Datasheet View

I’ve just updated my notebook to Office 2010 64-bit, and suddenly, the Datasheet view in my Sharepoint 2010 sites started to give the following error:

The list cannot be displayed in DataSheet view for one or more of the following reasons:
- A datasheet component compatible with Microsoft Sharepoint Foundation is not installed.
- Your web browser does not suport ActiveX controls
- A component is not propelry configured for 32- or 64-bit support.
After wondering what was wrong, I came across this thread.
Apparently, Sharepoint 2010, even being 64-bit, requires the 32-bit ActiveX Datasheet.
Luckily, we can install the 32-bit ActiveX as part of the
“2007 Office System Driver: Data Connectivity Components” that can be downloaded here.

Money as Motivator

"When tasks get more complicated, when it requires some coceptual, creative thinking, the best use of money as a motivator, is simply to pay people enough to take the money issue out of the table"

Define "Inmense": Windows Azure Project

We as last mile developers usually forget the huge amount of work and complexity laying behind the APIs of services and products we consume.

This presentation about the Windows Azure project, gives a very good picture of the titanic efforts behind this kind of services.

A figure: 10 football fields surface of datacenter.

Windows Azure Platform

Sharepoint 2010 Accessibility Compliance Tests

Yesterday, Tim McConnell posted a very interesting article stating what to expect from SharePoint 2010 in terms of Accessibility. Since Accessibility is a topic which is very related to compliance, I’ve decided to run a few tests against a Validation Tool to get a more objective picture.

Considering that we are still evaluating a “Release Candidate” version, the results are promising.

Fact Sheet

• Sharepoint Test Bench
• Sharepoint 2010 RC installation
• Using default “Publishing Site Template” Homepage,
• Added a calendar and a list web part
• V4.master applied instead of nightandday.master applied by default.
• Enabled Anonymous access
• Validation Tool
• Using TotalValidator v6.3.0
• Parameters:
• HTML Validation: none
• Accessibility: (see table)
• Check for broken links: no

Results

US Section 508	Passed!
WCAG v1 A	Passed!
WCAG v1 AA	4 errors E821 - 1 instance E833 - 3 instances
WCAG v1 AAA	(idem)
WCAG v2 A	6 errors E871 – 3 instances E872 – 1 instance E886 – 1 instance E892 – 1 instance
WCAG V2 AA	(idem)
WCAG V2 AAA	(idem)

 

Full Report

Total errors found:
6 (WCAG v2 A: 6)

Page Layout

The line numbers refer to lines in the original source.
Any with a line number of '0' are implicit tags added by Total Validator:

39 E872 [WCAG v2 3.2.2 (A)] The submit button is missing:
     <form name="aspnetForm" method="post" action="default.aspx" id="aspnetForm">

134 E871 [WCAG v2 1.1.1 (A)] Link text is missing:
     <a id="HiddenAnchor" href="javascript:;" style="display:none;">

158 E871 [WCAG v2 1.1.1 (A)] Link text is missing:
     <a href="#" tabindex="-1" style="display:none">

158 E871 [WCAG v2 1.1.1 (A)] Link text is missing:
     <a href="#" tabindex="-1" style="display:none">

259 E886 [WCAG v2 1.1.1 (A)] Do not use the 'alt' attribute here:
     <input name="ctl00$PlaceHolderSearchArea$ctl01$S3031AEBB_InputKeywords" type="text" value="Search this
     site..." maxlength="200" id="ctl00_PlaceHolderSearchArea_ctl01_S3031AEBB_InputKeywords" accesskey="S"
     title="Search..." class="ms-sbplain" alt="Search..." onkeypress="javascript: return
     S3031AEBB_OSBEK(event);" onfocus="if (document.getElementById(&apos;ctl00_PlaceHolderSearchArea_ctl01_ctl04&apos;).value
     ==&apos;0&apos;) {this.value=&apos;&apos;; if (this.className == &apos;s4-searchbox-QueryPrompt&apos;) this.className = &apos;&apos;; else
     this.className = this.className.replace(&apos; s4-searchbox-QueryPrompt&apos;,&apos;&apos;);
     document.getElementById(&apos;ctl00_PlaceHolderSearchArea_ctl01_ctl04&apos;).value=1;}" onblur="if (this.value ==&apos;&apos;)
     {this.value=&apos;Search this site...&apos;; if (this.className.indexOf(&apos;s4-searchbox-QueryPrompt&apos;) == -1)
     this.className += this.className?&apos; s4-searchbox-QueryPrompt&apos;:&apos;s4-searchbox-QueryPrompt&apos;;
     document.getElementById(&apos;ctl00_PlaceHolderSearchArea_ctl01_ctl04&apos;).value = &apos;0&apos;} else
     {document.getElementById(&apos;ctl00_PlaceHolderSearchArea_ctl01_ctl04&apos;).value=&apos;1&apos;;}" style="width:170px;" />

402 E892 [WCAG v2 1.3.1 (A)] Use CSS for presentation effects, use <em> or <strong> for emphasis:
     <menu class="ms-SrvMenuUI">

More Information

WCAG v2 A Errors

• E871 - 3 instance(s): Describe the purpose of a link by providing descriptive text as the content of the <a> element. The description lets a user distinguish this link from other links in the Web page and helps the user determine whether to follow the link. The URI of the destination is generally not sufficiently descriptive. See http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/H30.html (displayed in new window)
• E872 - 1 instance(s): You must provide a mechanism that allows users to explicitly request changes of context. The intended use of a submit button is to generate an HTTP request that submits data entered in a form, so it is an appropriate control to use for causing a change of context. See http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/H32.html (displayed in new window)
• E886 - 1 instance(s): Although HTML may allow the 'alt' attribute here, it should only be used on image submit buttons. User agent support for this attribute on other types of form controls is not well defined. Other mechanisms are available to label these controls. See http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/H36.html (displayed in new window)
• E892 - 1 instance(s): Tags that are being used purely to create a visual presentation effect should not be used. You should use CSS to control layout and presentation so that users and their aids may control it. See http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/G140.html (displayed in new window)

Installing SharePoint 2010 RC: First Notes

I’ve just finished installing Sharepoint 2010 RC, and even when I found the setup process to be very straightforward (at least if you installed MOSS 2007 sometime) there are still a few tricky steps that I thought I could share.

Platform Setup

• Install Windows 2008 64-bit
  • Remember to activate “Application Server Role” and “Web Server Role”
• SQL Server
  • I recommend doing a full install, instead of using the bundled SQL Server Express
  • Install SQL Server 2008 64-bit
  • Install SQL Server 2008 SP1, 64-bit.
  • Install SQL Server 2008 Cumulative Update 2, 64-bit.
  • The final build number should be 10.00.2714.
  • Test the installation accessing the server with the SQL Management Studio and browsing the sample database.

Installing SharePoint 2010 Prerequisites

Download the installation package from here. Then launch it. (14.0.4730.1010_OfficeServer_none_ship_x64_en-us.exe)

Click on “Install software prerequisites”. The installer tool will download and install all prerequisites for you. If you don’t have Internet access from the server, you should manually download and install all pre-requisites listed here.

Then, simply follow the wizard steps.

 

Installing SharePoint Server

After finishing installing the prerequisites, click on  “Install Sharepoint Server”, enter the Licence Key (Beta key: PKXTJ-DCM9D-6MM3V-G86P8-MJ8CY), accept the licence terms and follow the wizard steps.

When the installation wizard finishes, clear the “Run the Sharepoint Product Configuration Wizard now” checkbox. Directly executing the Configuration Wizard would require us to provide a domain account (not local) as administrator. To workarround this, we’ll create an initial Configuration Database using the PowerShell command new-SPConfigurationDatabase.

Configuring Sharepoint 2010

After runing the installation wizard, follow this steps to create an initial Configuration Database using PowerShell. (More info on provisioning Sharepoint 2010 using PowerShell here).

Next, launch the Sharepoint Products Configuration Wizard. It will recognize the previously created Configuration Database and will offer us to stay connected or disconnect from the existing farm. Choose to stay connected and click “Next”.

Then, specify the port in which the administration site will be installed. Use a number easy to remember (My pick is 1024). Then pick the security setting that best fits your environment (default = NTLM) and click “Next”.

Finally, the wizard provisions the Administration Web Site on IIS.

  

And that’s it. :-)

On the next post, I’ll review the first steps to configure the newly created Sharepoint 2010 farm, using the “Farm Configuration Wizard”.

What makes No.1 products

Joel Spolsky speaks about what makes No.1 products different from No.2's.

In brief:

* "Typical" quality aspects can bring us up to No.2, not No.1.
* To be No.1 you´ll need to:
* make people happy
* obsess over aestetics
* observe the "culture code"

Evaluate motivation in 10 questions

I've found an interesting questionaire about employee motivation, and decided to rephrase the questions for self-asessment. Very handy to evaluate oneselve's situation from time to time.

1. What is the "primary aim" of your company? Is it alligned with yours?
2. What obstacles stop you performing to best effect? Is your company concerned about them? Better, is someone actually dealing with them?
3. What really motivates you? Would your boss answer the same?
4. Do you feel empowered by the company?
5. Are there any recent changes in the company that might have affected motivation? Maybe is the lack of them?
6. Who is most motivated in your company? Why? Is there a path for you to get there?
7. Are your goals and company goals aligned?
8. How do you feel about the company? Safe, loyal, valued and taken care of? Or taken advantage of, dispensable and invisible?
9. How involved are you in company development? Do you feel heard? Are you consulted? Are there regular opportunities for you to give feedback?
10. Up to your experience, is the company's internal image consistent with its external one?

Sharepoint in Plain English

Microsoft has just released this great video describing typical team collaboration pains and the support provided by Sharepoint. Clear, simple, and based on real life.

Well, I guess I'll have to review my presentations. I'm still using the "Knowledge Management" speech, that is clearly becoming obsolete. In the Web 2.0 era, users don't want their companies to "capture, store and publish" knowledge in centralized systems for them, they want to do it themselves! Productivity, personal and collective productivity. That's what users want.

SharePoint in Plain English

Pitty, I kinda liked the introduction I used about mercantilism, capitalism and Drucker's Post-Capitalism and knowledge as an asset.

Sharepoint 2010: Not supporting IE 6

Tom Rizzo, director of Microsoft SharePoint Server, announced at TechEd that SharePoint Server 2010 will not support Internet Explorer 6. Having to deal with 64-bit only servers was one thing, but this will be much much harder to explain to customers.

The web goes one direction, others go the opposite.

Extract DLLs from GAC easily

If you need to extract files from GAC, you can map the c:\windows\assembly folder to a new drive using the subst cmd and then accessing the newly created drive with the windows explorer.

c:\> subst j: c:\windows\assembly

To Undo, simply use

c:\> subst /d j:

Thanks Guille Kaveckis for the tip. Saved me hours.

What happens in Vegas...

Fill this Sharepoint Survey and win a chance for Sharepoint Conference 2009 pass.

BizAgi: Cool BPM with Cool Marketing

Storyline:

A businessman sits at home watching TV, gets a great idea, goes to IT. IT tells him they need years to implement the feature, the guy leaves frustrated. Phone rings...



Watch the full story here or the product in action here.

Bing: Not quite getting it...

Sad but true.

Last Wednesday, Microsoft released a brand new search tool, Bing.com. But, hey, why don't I get the brand new tools when I enter the site? Because only the USA-English version has been released. The rest of us, 2nd class citizens, will have to wait a little longer.

Please, someone point this people to the word GLOBALIZATION in the dictionary.