Posts Tagged ‘Handshake’
The ILTA 2008 conference definitely had a heavy concentration on SharePoint sessions. (A two-part hands-on demo on Tuesday 8/26 was so popular that it was standing room only, and they ended up turning people away. One person I talked to waited 30 minutes in order to stand in the back of the room for the remainder of the session.) This particular session was a panel of four firms using SharePoint for their intranets, part of the Communication and Collaboration Tools Track on Wednesday 8/27.
Moderator Chad Engrun from White & Case began the session by discussing his use of SharePoint and Handshake Software to integrate with their document management system, Interwoven. He also is using a beta SharePoint workflow product called K2 blackpoint.
Michael Williams from Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi showed some screens from his SharePoint intranet also using the Handshake Software Relationship Toolkit, including a matter page that integrated with their docketing, financial, and document management systems. They utilize individual content managers across the firm with mixed success.
Next up was Paul Phillips with screen shots from Nixon Peabody, who started moving to SharePoint 2003 in the year 2005 (previously using Plumtree and ISYS for their intranet). They, too, are using Handshake web parts for integration with their document management system and SQL data. Recommind is also being used with their integrated Mindserver. Some of Paul’s top goals include moving to enterprise search and creating a financial dashboard for his firm.
Last on the panel was Sam Shipley from Ulmer & Berne. His original intranet was programmed in ColdFusion, but is now using SharePoint and (you guessed it) Handshake. They concentrated first on creating some useful reports and meters, including firm performance, practice group performance, and attorney performance.
All panelists indicated at least some level of difficulty getting decent metrics to measure success out of SharePoint, and some of them are using web analytic tools such as WebTrends.
~ Amy Witt
The third webinar in our five-part series called “Creating a Successful Law Firm Intranet” has been successfully completed! This latest session focused on developing with users, and we covered some key issues such as:
- Should you build your own law firm’s intranet, buy an external product, or a combination of both?
- Definitions of portal vs. intranet
- Vendor technologies (like SharePoint, Handshake, XMLAW, and LawPort)
- Pitfalls to avoid during development
- Creating a test plan and test environment
It was a full session but we did have time for just a few questions before we concluded. In particular, there was one attendee question that I’d like to further expand on, and that was the difference between WSS and MOSS. Aside from the very basic differences I covered in my slides (WSS is free to create customizable websites, MOSS is paid version for Office server suite with more functionality and enterprise search), I found a few other resources that help explain the differences in more detail.
- Which SharePoint technology is right for you? (from the Microsoft website)
- Windows SharePoint Services Version Comparison (from Microsoft TechNet)
- MOSS 2007 vs. WSS 3.0 (from Miles Consulting Group – Microsoft Certified Experts)
I also mentioned in the session that when you hear “SharePoint” it can mean many different things. To reiterate this point, I found a SharePoint Blogs posting that talks more about the broad label of SharePoint.
We still have two more sessions in our series coming up, one on intranet rollout, and the final one on intranet measurement and maintenance. Registration details will be posted soon, but for now mark your calendars to attend:
Webinar 4: You built it, now will they come? Plan the successful intranet rollout.
Wednesday, August 20 Noon -1:00 PM Central Time
Webinar 5: Measure & Maintain: Planning for your Intranet’s future.
Wednesday, September 24 Noon -1:00 PM Central Time
We hope you can join us!
~ Amy Witt
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