However if your company needs something put into place in a short amount of time, has a limited budget and will be content with boxed functionality maybe Sharepoint isn’t a good choice.

I think it is important that management does a bit of research before they tell their already overworked IT staff. “we need Sharepoint!”

I am a bit biased but here a few interesting links about MS Sharepoint.

What’s wrong with Sharepoint?
http://nkilkenny.wordpress.com/2006/11/13/whats-wrong-with-sharepoint/

Sharepoint Sucks Part 1
http://blog.furuknap.net/2009/10/sharepoint-sucks-and-heres-why-part-1.html

Here is a site that tracks negative comments about Sharepoint
http://amplicate.com/hate/microsoft-sharepoint

New studies highlight the potential downsides of SharePoint
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/new-studies-highlight-the-potential-downsides-of-sharepoint/1492

Cutting Through The Hype – What You Should Know About SharePoint
http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/alexexmachina/cutting-through-the-hype-what-you-should-know-about-sharepoint-22775

Tips to avoid a Sharepoint nightmare
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=1369582

SharePoint – Dream or Nightmare?
http://www.thecontenteconomy.com/2008/04/sharepoint-dream-or-nightmare.html

Let me know if you have any Sharepoint Links I should include.

Users set up their own custom tabs in the Quickbar which can include a link to any application or page the user has the rights to access.

Step One

From the My Profile Page, click the edit button in the top right.  In the General Settings Tab choose Yes to Display Quickbar.  Save your changes and log back into Noodle to apply.

Select the Edit link in the top left under the Toolbar logo to open the Quickbar Settings

Step Two

Create a tab by entering a name into the textbox below the list of currently available tabs (the top box). Ex.Company Forms, or Personal Pages…Select ‘Create New’ to save.

When a tab is selected, a list of its linked applications or pages will now be shown in the lower list. Simply select ‘Add New’ and select an application in the new window to create a link.

Shortcut names may also be altered from this menu by selecting them in the lower list and entering a new name for them in the textbox. Quickbar tab names may also be changed this way using the upper list and textbox.

Step Three

Create multiple tabs to organize your links for quick access frequently accessed applications within Noodle.

This is a perfect opportunity to look at your Intranet and the processes that accompany it.  Here are few suggestions on how to review your Intranet strategy.

Survey Says

The users are the most important part of your Intranet.  The people that use it every day to find important information and obtain corporate wisdom from it’s contents.  Create a simple 5-10 question survey to ask questions that will help point you in the direction of what areas are working and what areas are not.  The survey should me mandatory for all employees who access the Intranet.

Stats

Ensure you have a good look at the stats for the Intranet.  Key metrics to look for are:

What pages are being accessed the most
What pages are being access the least
What features are popular based on traffic
What department is getting the most use from the Intranet

Who are your champions?

By looking at your stats and the results of your survey you should be able to find out who your champions are.  Champions play an important role in improving your Intranet and getting more people involved.  They are a valuable resource that will help your Intranet be successful.  Think of them as your Intranet ambassadors.  Have them write a page or blog about why they use the Intranet and how others can benefit like they do.

New Technologies

Summer is the best time to look at the market and see what new technologies or features are available for your Intranet.  For example micro blogging has become very popular with Intranets or integrate a group chat tool for a few months to see what works and what doesn’t with your user base.  Using the results of your survey and stats will help you decide what new features you should try.

Putting it all together

As Fall approaches you will need to use the data you have collected to update and optimize your Intranet.  The survey will tell you what is working and what is not.  Anything that is not working needs to be removed or updated so that it does.  Your Intranet champions will have been interviewed and encouraged to evangelize the benefits of the Intranet and you will added few new features and technologies that will help your company experience the benefits of a finely tuned Intranet.

This process should be done every year to keep your Intranet a value creator for your company.

We recently added Leigh Anderson to our team and she has been in training for the last two weeks.  Leigh will be part of our support group and soon will be answering phones and emails.

Instead of going over all the technical issues we train people on I thought it would be more interesting if we listed some of the characteristics we feel is important to our ongoing success.  Every team member at Vialect must have these 5 characteristics.

Listening
In some cases new employees will try to prove themselves by interjecting with comments or suggestions, of course we encourage this but listening to fellow coworkers and customers will help shorten any learning curve.  Understanding why something is done is more important than how something is done.

Focus
Multitasking is a word that is used way too much and we see it on resumes all the time.  What it usually means is you do many tasks poorly instead of one task great.  We prefer you focus on one task and do it great.

Attention to Detail
This may be related to focus but it deserves mentioning.  The details are what makes something great.  Doesn’t matter if you work in design, support or sales, pay attention to the details.

Organization
This may seem like a common sense point but if you are unorganized the previous points will all be lost.  There are many tools today to help you get organized.  We like to use Noodle.:-)

Don’t have a Know-it-all Attitude
Be open to learn new things.  Every day we learn new things and technology is almost never black and white.  Every job requires uniques skills and knowledge so be ready to learn.  You should know more today than you did yesterday.

Feel free to welcome Leigh to the team!

The site now has a simple yet elegant look. All the information is easy to find and showcases our product and success stories.

Our Blog is now a main navigation item as we feel it is an important piece of our customer communications and will evolve in the future with more people from the company contributing to it.

We hope you enjoy the new website and look forward to hearing your feedback regarding the update. Would love to hear your comments or suggestions.

What’s New in V6.8?

New Feed View Interface for Folders
Shows by Date or A-Z
Upload Multiple Files (supports Mac & PC)
Upload Zip Files (unpacks Automatically)
Download all files in a folder option
Folder Description Panel
Folder Information Panel
Inline Comments for files
Check Out Documents
Check In Documents (Option to create new version or overwrite)
Versions show inline on Feed View
Send Link to file via instant Messenger
Image Thumbnails in Feed View

What’s New Subscription Feature
Users can subscribe to Noodle to receive What’s New (daily, weekly or as it happens)

Add calendar events from the Merged Calender interface.

Search Speed greatly improved

We hope you enjoy these new enhancements to Noodle

You know your doing something right when your customers are writing poetry about your software.  This was sent to us from one of our customers.

Stick to the Noodle
By Margaret McMaster

When you are fraught with worries and woes,
From the top of your head to your wee little toes,
And a cup of hot chocolate or maple-glazed strudel
Cannot ease the stress of another bad rule,
A school bus that’s late, a battery that’s dead,
A book you think you’ve already read.
When all of your spunk has gone up in smoke
And your mood hangs on either a pill or a joke -
Waste no more time, it’s so simple, you see,
To get the kisses and hugs that you need,
No not from that slobbering standard white poodle
No, no, you must all STICK TO THE NOODLE!

Stick to the Noodle for tips worth hearing,
Where no one gives a hoot what you’re wearing!
Don’t hesitate – by gosh, don’t tarry,
Or make an appointment with Ben & Jerry,
Tomorrow will break fresh and new,
And give us another tough bone to chew,
But we are strong and we are mighty,
Answering supply calls in our nightie,
Our resolve is strong, we’re steadfast and true,
And stronger than any ridiculous flu,
The cure’s so simple it’s almost feudal,

Need I say it again? STICK TO THE NOODLE!

http://ourcompany.intra.net

username: guest
password: guest

What’s new in version 6.8?

New Feed View Interface for Folders
Shows by Date or A-Z
Upload Multiple Files (supports mac/PC
Upload Zip Files (unpacks automatically)
Download All files Option
Folder Description Panel
Folder Information Panel
Inline Comments
Check Out Documents
Check In Documents, (Option to create new version or overwrite)
Versions show inline on Feed View
Send link to file via instant messenger
Images Thumbnail in Feed View

What’s New Subscription Feature Users can subscribe to Noodle to receive What’s New(daily, Weekly, as it happens)

Add calendar events from the Merged Calendar.(legend)

Location added to What’s New Page

Five tips for de-cluttering your Intranet

It’s fall and that means cleaning up the garage and preparing for the colder months ahead.  Just like a garage, an Intranet is a storage facility and if not kept organized it can become cluttered and inefficient to use.

Here are 5 simple tips to help keep your Intranet de-cluttered and running efficient for your staff.

1. Review Main Navigation
During the year items may have been added to the main navigation to distribute information or call attention to a company initiative.  If these items are not longer important or dated, remove them as they just add clutter to your interface.

2. Review Employee Directory & Permissions
Your company may hire new employees during the year and ultimately some may leave.  Ensure your user directory is up to date by validating that new employees have access and remove people that no longer work for your company.

3. Remove any date sensitive announcements
Archiving the RSVP invitation and map for the 2007 Christmas party is not really a good use of the Intranet.  Remove any old content that is not considered corporate knowledge.

4, Archive data not being accessed
Old company data has value and should be considered as corporate knowledge but it needs to be organized and archived in a special section of the Intranet.  This will de-clutter current information areas and help with future research.  One of your navigation items should be labeled archive and used to stored older content.

5. Update usage policies & strategy
Review your Intranet usage statistics.  It is important to fully understand what pages are the most popular and what are the least.  Find out from users what needs improving or adjusting and why.  Companies often adjust their business strategy and the Intranet should be aligned with that strategy.

If you implement these few simple suggestions every year, your staff will find the Intranet easier to use and your company will experience the value promised by an effective Intranet.