Office PreSales

Windows Virtual PC (WVPC) and Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 are currently in RC.

brittog — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:23:00 GMT

Please check out the WVPC Engineering blog here: http://blogs.technet.com/windows_vpc/...(read more)

Are you trying to build your SharePoint Competency? Start here...

brittog — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:00:00 GMT

I thank Steve for this collection Start here! Everything to do with SharePoint http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/sharepoint/default.aspx Exam information This page points to all the necessary information to gaining a competency. Portals and Collaboration...(read more)

Hyper-V Support for SharePoint Products & Technologies

brittog — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 09:14:00 GMT

The long awaited Hyper-V support for SharePoint was announced on Aug 18th. Refer the SharePoint blogs for more information & FAQ's http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2008/08/18/update-on-virtualization-support-for-sharepoint-products-and-technologies.asp...(read more)

SharePoint Products Support for SQL Server 2008

brittog — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 09:03:00 GMT

Office SharePoint Server 2007 SP1 & Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP1 now support SQL Server 2008. Please refer to: Windows SharePoint Service 3.0 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288751.aspx Office SharePoint Server 2007 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262485.aspx...(read more)

Positioning Microsoft Office SharePoint - Part 2

brittog — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 08:06:00 GMT

Hi all and sorry for the delay in response, the following is the remaining part Understand the current collaboration environment: Most of the situations I have encountered during a technically sitting are as follows, the client consider / has the following...(read more)

Positioning Microsoft Office SharePoint - Part 1

brittog — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 23:41:00 GMT

Hi All, It is a great experience to sell SharePoint products & services for the past 4 years till now, let's dive deep on how we can position Office SharePoint Server in a presales scenario. Where & How: Where and how you would come across this...(read more)

Bandwidth planning for MOSS & HW Sizing

brittog — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 23:35:00 GMT

Check following articles for guidelines on bandwidth planning & hardware sizing. Estimate performance and capacity requirements for portal collaboration environments http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/a76963dc-1cd0-4aff-ae9c-3736d89c42441033.mspx...(read more)

Estimate performance and capacity requirements (MOSS, SPS, WSS 3.0 & WSS 2.0)

brittog — Fri, 11 May 2007 00:51:00 GMT

Office SharePoint Server 2007 Topics: Overview: Estimate performance and capacity requirements (Office SharePoint Server) Estimate performance and capacity requirements for Windows SharePoint Services collaboration environments (Office SharePoint Server)...(read more)

SharePoint Document: Microsoft Office Programs and SharePoint Products and Technologies Integration – Fair, Good, Better, Best

brittog — Tue, 01 May 2007 13:47:00 GMT

The Mosted Wanted WhitePaper is ready Brief Description This white paper describes how different versions of Microsoft Office programs work together with the 2003 and 2007 versions of Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=E0D05A69-F67B-4D37-961E-2DB3C4065CB9&displaylang=e...(read more)

Microsoft Certified Partners Group Launches Community Portal

brittog — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 01:19:00 GMT

If you are a Microsoft Partner you may want to take advantage of this community portal International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners (IAMCP), which this week launched an online community portal called SoftwareBizExchange.com ( http://www.softwarebizexchange.com/sites/swex/default.aspx...(read more)

Presence Information (In WSS/MOSS) Using MSN Live Messenger / Windows Messenger

brittog — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 00:55:00 GMT

It is good to take a break - that too for a week :) ...I am back from my vacation with lots of energy Here we go with a little creativity to start with Presence Information Using MSN Live Messenger / Windows Messenger Windows SharePoint Services and Office...(read more)

Groove portal on MSDN is live at

brittog — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 17:15:00 GMT

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/office/bb308957.aspx Microsoft now have a home for developers who want to learn more about Groove and how to develop solutions on the Groove platform. The site also links to relevant content on TechNet and Office Online,...(read more)

Groove 2007 Ready Reckoner

brittog — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:49:00 GMT

Product Definitions

Client Products :

Microsoft Office Groove 2007:

This is available as a standalone or as a part of Office 2007 Suites Enterprise or Ultimate, This product is unmanaged out of the box and can be managed via Groove Enterprise Services or Groove Server 2007

Free Trial 60 days : http://us20.trymicrosoftoffice.com/product.aspx?sku=3082923&section_id=211&culture=en-US

Microsoft Office Live Groove:

Groove client available from Office Online Trial download site and may be converted into a 1 year subscription. This product is unmanaged.

Managed : Groove client accesses the Groove Server 2007 at the customer site or Groove Enterprise Services

Unmanaged : Groove client accesses the public relay upon download. Customer has no ability to manage the workspaces, domain, etc.

Free Trail 60 days : http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/officelive/FX101945661033.aspx

Server Products :

Microsoft Groove Server 2007

Microsoft Office Groove Server 2007 is comprised of three, separately installed server applications

Groove Manager

Office Groove Server Manager is an easy-to-use, Web-based interface for managing all aspects of Office Groove 2007 deployments, including user account configuration, domain creation and certification, policy setting and enforcement, reporting and compliance, and more.

Groove Relay

Office Groove Server Relay provides three essential services that enable teams using Office Groove 2007 to work efficiently and productively anywhere, online or offline, with members inside and outside their organizations. The three services are(To find more click this link): http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/grooveserver/HA101655281033.aspx#2

Groove Data Bridge

Office Groove Server Data Bridge facilitates data integration between Office Groove 2007 client-side workspaces and enterprise databases and applications. Office Groove Server Data Bridge also enables IT organizations to build custom solutions that efficiently bridge the gap between the centralized data center and project teams working in an unstructured manner. As a result, teams stay productive anywhere they need to work with centralized data, and enterprise applications and data stay automatically up to date.

Note: Contact licensing Team for licensing information

Free Trial : No free trial for Microsoft Groove Server 2007 you have to try the Groove Enterprise Services http://r.office.microsoft.com/r/rlidGrooveES

Hosted Services :

Groove Enterprise Services

Office Groove Enterprise Services provides IT organizations with powerful, Web-based tools to centrally manage smaller deployments of Microsoft Office Groove 2007 without any on-site infrastructure. Office Groove Enterprise Services includes two primary services: Groove Enterprise Services Manager and Groove Enterprise Services Relay. This is a Web-based offering that requires no on-site server infrastructure or changes to network configurations

Office Groove Enterprise Services is offered on an annual subscription basis with a price-per-user fee structure.

Note: As of now licensing team do not have this information you to contact the distributor (like Ingram Micro, Tech Data..) for pricing and purchase information

Free Trial 30 days : http://r.office.microsoft.com/r/rlidGrooveES. You need to have a Windows Live or Passport Account and a Volume License account code.

Difference between Groove Server 2007 & Groove Enterprise Services (Hosted) :

Customers consider two criteria when choosing Office Groove Enterprise Services or Office Groove Server 2007: cost and functionality. Generally, Office Groove Enterprise Services is more cost-effective for smaller deployments, while Office Groove Server 2007 is more cost-effective for larger deployments. Office Groove Server 2007 also provides additional functionality such as directory integration and server-side data integration. Larger organizations that value these capabilities should acquire Office Groove Server 2007.

Advantages of Groove Server 2007 :

While most of management capabilities in Office Groove Server 2007 and Office Groove Enterprise Services are identical, having a dedicated Office Groove Server 2007 on-site does provide additional capabilities. These capabilities include Active Directory integration, administrative control over server functions through roles-based access control, the ability to create multiple domains, and custom reporting opportunities using Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services or Crystal Reports for Microsoft Visual Studio.

Reference Links:

Groove Home :

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/grooveserver/FX101674161033.aspx

Groove System Requirements:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/groove/HA101945381033.aspx

Office Groove 2007 FAQ:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/groove/HA101650611033.aspx

Groove Server FAQ:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/grooveserver/HA101655281033.aspx#2

Groove Enterprise Services FAQ:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/grooveservices/HA101655291033.aspx

Groove Licensing:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/FX101754511033.aspx

Vertical Case Studies:

IT Project Teams : http://www.groove.net/index.cfm?pagename=Segment1

The Public Sector : http://www.groove.net/index.cfm?pagename=Segment2

Managing a Small Business : http://www.groove.net/index.cfm?pagename=Segment3

Consulting Practices : http://www.groove.net/index.cfm?pagename=Segment4

Why File Shares & DFS Shares move to SharePoint - "File in use"

brittog — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 14:44:00 GMT

One main reason why file shares / DFS shares can be moved to SharePoint Document Library is "FILE IN USE"

Office Suites has an awesome feature of informing the other users when the Office Document in a document library is open by another user.

"File in Use" PopUp window has the following 3 options

Open Read Only copy
Create a local copy and merge your changes latter
Receiving notification when the original copy is avaialalbe

Open a Read Only Copy

Opens the document in read only mode when you try to edit or save back it gives us an option to “save as” to do editing on the document

Create a local copy and merge you changes later

Opens the document in edit mode, When changes are made and you try to the save the document. It prompts the users to save a copy of the document locally.

undefined\\my documents\SharePoint Drafts

Receiving notification when the original copy is avaialalbe

You will receive notification when the document is checked back by the owner of the document

PS: I did had a screen shot of the entire process and didnt had time to put the same way i have in the document to the blog with screen shot. Email me to get the copy of the document.

Advantages of office 2007 with Office SharePoint Server

brittog — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 11:01:00 GMT

I see few partners asking me about what are the advantage of using Office 2007 with Office SharePoint Server. Here you go to get a few i know about MOSS + Office 2007.

If you are currently using Office XP or 2003 against SharePoint 2003 and you upgrade SharePoint to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, your experience from Office XP or 2003 won't change. You'll have the same amount of integration with SharePoint, no more, no less.

If you upgrade the client applications to Office 2007 from 2003, here are the additional end-user benefits realized when interfacing with SharePoint 2007

The following are the SharePoint Integration benefits with Office 2007 which you don't get when you use Office 2003 with SharePoint 2007

Outlook

Ability to take SharePoint content offline: document libraries, contacts, calendars, and tasks
Ability to overlay SharePoint calendars with other calendars (people, resources, etc.) and fully edit the calendar in Outlook, including offline
Ability to send an HTML email version of a SharePoint calendar to anyone, including outside the organization
Ability to send InfoPath electronic forms via Outlook as an email. Results can be stored in SharePoint. Drops-downs can also be fed from SharePoint.
Ability to have tasks from OneNote, SharePoint, and Project Server consolidate inside of Outlook
Ability to approve tasks/workflows right from Outlook without having to open SharePoint or the Office content
Records management for email messages (assuming Exchange 2007 is installed) and the ability to integrate those emails with SharePoint's record management capabilities
RSS reader - all SharePoint content is available via RSS feeds, Outlook 2007 has an integrated RSS reader
From SharePoint, people can now e-mail a link directly to a document/file. When the user clicks on the link, the document will open in read mode and a button will appear telling the user they can edit it or check it out to make changes. This allows sending a link for both read and edit purposes.

Word

Enterprise Content Management

Ability to complete meta-data in the Information Property Panel
Ability to create custom Information Property Panels with business logic using InfoPath
In-client workflows (initiate, complete, etc.)
Ability to see a document requires workflow actions (approve, sign, etc.)
Ability to see a document is locked and requires check-out to be modified
Ability to see relevant corporate policies right in Office
Rich Document signature workflow process

Ability to author and publish web content
When opening a Word 2007 document from SharePoint 2007...

Ability to see all previous published and draft versions
Ability to restore back to any previous version
Ability to perform a graphical comparison between any two versions

Ability to create a new Blog posting or Wiki in SharePoint right from Word
Barcodes and meta-data labels when printing content

Excel

Publish spreadsheets to Excel Services

Web-based spreadsheet access
Web-services interface to the spreadsheets

Enterprise Content Management

Ability to complete meta-data in the Information Property Panel
Ability to create custom Information Property Panels with business logic using InfoPath
In-client workflows (initiate, complete, etc.)
Ability to see a document requires workflow actions (approve, sign, etc.)
Ability to see a document is locked and requires check-out to be modified
Ability to see relevant corporate policies right in Office
Rich Document signature workflow proces

PowerPoint

PowerPoint slide libraries
Enterprise Content Management

Ability to complete meta-data in the Information Property Panel
Ability to create custom Information Property Panels with business logic using InfoPath
In-client workflows (initiate, complete, etc.)
Ability to see a document requires workflow actions (approve, sign, etc.)
Ability to see a document is locked and requires check-out to be modified
Ability to see relevant corporate policies right in Office
Rich Document signature workflow process

InfoPath

Ability to publish forms to SharePoint Forms Services. This enables the InfoPath forms to be accessed from Internet Explorer, FireFox, Safari, Netscape, or mobile devices.
Ability to send InfoPath forms as emails to Outlook 2007 users. Results can be stored in SharePoint. Drops-downs can also be fed from SharePoint.

Access

Ability to publish rich reports using formats like PDF/XPS from SharePoint lists
Ability to centralize the data storage to SharePoint lists
Ability to take work offline

Groove

Ability to synchronize SharePoint document libraries to Groove Workspaces for secure collaboration whether on-line or offline. This enables easy collaboration with customers, suppliers, or partners which aren't part of your network or don't have access to your SharePoint servers. Also enables at least 192 bit encryption of all content in Groove workspaces.

OneNote

Ability to create shared notebooks hosted/saved on a SharePoint site.

Project

Project Web Access is implemented via SharePoint, thus all features apply - like take document libraries offline in Outlook
Project Lite - users can create Project task lists in SharePoint and then promote them to Project Professional and make them full-blown projects
Reporting - Project will provide what we're calling the "Reporting Center" which allows for customized Excel and Visio templates which can automatically populate based on back-end data.
Workflow - we now can have routing and approval of project- and resource-related information

Disclaimer:

This is test was conducted in the lab referencing few internal resources. A final document may be available in Microsoft website soon. I will post it here when I come across one.