I hate SharePoint, and why every business should use it

Let me start off with a shout-out to every SharePoint Zealot out there who is going to seethe, scream and yell at the very presence of this topic; who will vehemently disagree with me before they even take the moment to disregard and throw away this article, because frankly they don’t need to read it at all!  (Hi guys! :))  And for the rest of you, allow me to give you a journey in to some of the reasons I absolutely hands down DESPISE SharePoint; Oh did I mention that is also WHY you should not only be considering if, but be deploying it full-scale to take your business in that next direction?  K, glad we got that out of the way!

Disclaimer: The following is a breakdown of entirely non-sarcastic statements with core sound, business and technical justifications of just why SharePoint is the flaming pile of destructive pleasure that it is and will continue to be part of your organizations ecosystem from this point forward.    If you disagree, agree or are a contrarian this is the post for you!

Follow-up Disclaimer: I’ve decided to release this as a series instead of one really long blog post you likely won’t even read in the first place, so feel free to follow the entire series of why I hate sharepoint and why you should use it! :)

Microsoft TechEd NA 2010 – Register by Dec 31 2009 and save $300!

Yea I think that’s pretty clear in the title though I think it bears repeating!

Register by December 31, 2009 and Save $300 for TechEd

This years TechEd North America will be hosted in none other than New Orleans, LA! – Which frankly is a GREAT city to host a TechEd in (I went ~10 years ago in NOLA – Good times!)

What this year does have on track for those of you looking to attend are – talking points and ways to convince your boss!

Want to Attend Tech-Ed? Convince your boss! Explain the value that attending Tech-Ed will provide for you and the company! 

This actually takes you to a web-form which will generate off an email and send it to your boss :)

Send me to Tech-Ed 2010! Convince your Boss!

Now from a personal perspective, the benefit and value of this promotion is pretty severe.  I attended TechEd NA 2009 (Maybe you met me! I personally talked to ~3000 people!) And with that said, the attendance was dismal as far as I was concerned! Not to mention there was a great imbalance of Developers compared to IT Pro’s!    So the value of convincing your boss is and should be very important – considering the fact that VMWorld had 3-4x the number of participants yet worldwide FAR more people work within the space of Microsoft Technologies (Hey, I love VMware too, but you’d think we’d atleast get a decent attendance!)

I’ll be ‘convincing’ my boss, and so should you!   So, I’ll see you at TechEd (By hook or by crook :)) And what better time to convince than when you can save $300! :)

I'm somewhere in that picture, though I can definitely make out @markmorow

Career Express Day 11 Get Off the Bus in Los Angeles TechEd!

For some reason, as I fly from LAX to ORD, I cannot seem to find any of my photos I thought I took of the masses who welcomed the SWAG Express, err.. the Career Express as it pulled in to TechEd, but I still have some after-swag-attack photos, so I can definitely share those.

Previously on the Bus, on Day 10, we had an enjoyable night out on the town to get back to the bus by 3:45AM for Departure to get in to LA.   We made it back literally just in time to grab our bags from the hotel, board the bus, and definitely in my case – to go to sleep.

Awaking 30minutes from the Convention center, I made sure to alert the Tweetosphere of our location(s) so they could prep for a Swagtastic arrival, which they frankly did quite a good job of relieving us of swag!

Who's that girl?!It's all about community with MCT's

The type of community and engagement was just great, and amazingly well received.   People immediately entered into conversation, catching up with old friends or meeting new ones.

Welcome back! Ken's Session, MCITP is the new MCSE!

I had the opportunity to attend a session too! My first and only session for TechEd09, was Ken Rosen’s session on MCITP is the new MCSE, where you (me) need to watch out when you attend sessions.. you just might get called up to answer a community question ;)

With the bus tour at it’s end, the one thing that was everyone’s mind when talking about it was, asking how it was.   While I will do a full post-mortem and additional high-lights, here is a brief description of the bus tour.    zOMFG! Amazing!  That’d be the first point to say about an event and experience like this.    If you’ve ever had the opportunity to have your eyes opened to not only aspects of community you may have never seen, but to see that which is otherwise perceived as uniform being implemented so differently across communities in the north, the south, east and west.   Things are done in unique and interesting ways in every type of CPLS, ITA, and even in training businesses from coast to coast.    

When the bus tour was announced, I was gangbusters set on trying to win this, and this is even before I would realize the full depth of the experience, but once I did I yearn for it even more.     I evangelized about this opportunity constantly within the community (and my local community) to encourage them to take advantage of this, because while this may come along again, you’ll never have been part of the first one, and that first makes all the difference!

I look forward to something like this being done again (EMEA?!:)) and definitely the opportunity to get out in front of more members of the community, helping them connect with each other and just grow, grow grow!   The friendships, relationships and all the people I met cannot be replicated, cannot be bought and the experiences will be stories and legends to tell for years to come!

I want to thank all of you for following along and reading of our adventures cross country, cross community, and for making an investment in yourself through education.

Join NetApp and @CXI at TechEd!

Hey, are you going to TechEd? Stop by and visit NetApp (and me! :))

Join NetApp at Microsoft TechEd 2009

Booth 417

Join us at booth 417 to discover how you can do more and store less with NetApp. Guaranteed.* See how our comprehensive portfolio of storage and data management solutions can help you reduce costs, reach new levels of efficiency, and increase data protection in your Microsoft environment.

You’ll also have the opportunity to meet with our executives and technical experts. Together, we’ll look at how our innovative solutions for Microsoft Hyper-V™, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server®, and Microsoft SQL Server® can help your company go further, faster.

In addition to learning about NetApp® storage and data management solutions for Microsoft environments at the NetApp booth, you’ll get a free NetApp t-shirt and a chance to win an Amazon Kindle 2 and a $200 Amazon gift certificate in our daily raffle. You’ll also be entered to win our grand prize—a $5,000 AMEX gift card!

If you would like to get more in-depth information on our innovative storage and data management solutions for Microsoft environments while at TechEd, fill out the form to request a meeting with our executives or technical experts.

Furthermore, the kinds of things which will be covered?!

NetApp virtualization solutions for Hyper-V:  Enabling customers to realize the promise of a flexible, scalable, and efficient data center by eliminating common challenges with storage provisioning and data protection encountered when transitioning to a virtualized environment.
NetApp storage and data management solutions for Microsoft Exchange:  Helping customers reduce costs, increase availability and simplify management of their enterprise messaging systems.
NetApp storage and data management solutions for Microsoft SharePoint Server:  Helping customers reduce costs and improve availability by improving ways of managing and protecting their data in collaboration portals and document repositories across the enterprise.
NetApp solutions for Microsoft SQL Server: Enabling customers to reduce costs and increase availability using our highly efficient, scalable storage and data management solutions.

NetApp Birds-of-a-Feather session

NetApp will be hosting a Birds-of-a -Feather session, “Gaining Efficiencies with Virtualization” on Wednesday, May 13th from8:00 pm – 9:00 pm.

 

So, come on down, and I’ll be there as well! Feel free to tweet me, or find me around!

Trika Embeds bowling into TechEd Party scene

Another Party at TechEd! This party is being hosted by Trika “I love you” Harms Zum Spreckel and the Windows Embedded Team at the Lucky Strike Lanes! (No her nickname isn’t actually “I love you” that was more of an undying love for trika confession! ;)”

Here are the details, and a link back to Trika so you can get the formal published registration when that time comes!

Lucky Strike with Windows Embedded: Community Party at TechEd

What:
An evening of bowling, drinks, music, food and general swankiness with the Windows Embedded team (all 18 lanes, pool tables, foosball, ping pong, great food, open bar, and a D.J….)

Where:

Right across from TechEd at Lucky Strikes Lanes in LA: http://www.bowlluckystrike.com/locations/info/?id=26

When:

Tuesday, May 12 – 7 PM to 11 PM

Who:

The Windows Embedded team, partners, and customers; plus special guests the Microsoft Certified developer community (MCPD, MCAD, MCSD, MCTS).

Why:

To celebrate what Windows Embedded and Microsoft Certified developers have in common: demonstrated skills using our platform and development tools, commitment to Microsoft, and a love of… bowlng. We want to mix it up and introduce embedded development to the top Windows developers and for Windows Embedded developers and partners to get to know the outstanding Windows development community.

How:

You’ll need to register online in advance (registration URL in development) and then show your printed confirmation to pick up your blue wristband (required to enter the party) at the Windows Embedded Technical Learning Center. Party is for Windows Embedded community and Certified Developers; be prepared to show your MCP ID or a transcript when you pick up your wristband.

Also, this will be included in the other Parties at TechEd Post (Wow, lots of parties on Tues!)

TechEd Parties – 2 weeks away!