Offline SharePoint

Recent Events

December 3rd, 2009 – DataLAN SharePoint 2010 Briefing Session in New York City.
Earlier this month Colligo exhibited and spoke at a Microsoft-DataLAN SharePoint 2010 briefing session at the Microsoft Executive Briefing Center in midtown. John Arnold and Tony Smith from DataLAN always do an excellent job putting these events together for their clients, and this was no exception. DataLAN provided a thorough overview of the SharePoint 2010 platform and various considerations as firms looked to leverage new features and functionality with the platform.

On behalf of Colligo I presented an informational piece on the various out of the box options available for email integration with SharePoint. Other vendors (Syntergy, Nintex, etc.) covered off their playgrounds as well.

Also, this was my first peek at the newly renovated Microsoft facilities. Very chic and modern!

December 10th – St. Louis SharePoint User Group
A Midwestern swing through St. Louis and Kansas City brought me to the St. Louis SharePoint User Group hosted by Convenent Technology Group, a Colligo partner. For a user group there was a solid turn out of over 70 people to listen to Joel Olesen speak on both “The New World of SharePoint 2010 Admin” and “Migration to SharePoint 2010”. Joel was in his element with the tech crowd, about 30% of whom had played around with SP2010 already, and really put on a good 2.5 hour show. Well done Joel. Colligo was an event sponsor and we gave away a bundle of our Share shirts. We look forward to doing more with this SPUG in the future, as they are a well organized group of Midwesterners.

December 12th – Kansas City SharePoint Saturday.
After what turned into an epic train ride to Kansas City, I attended the KC SP Saturday event. This was Colligo first SP Saturday event as a sponsor, and we joined at the encouragement of Becky Issermanand Kevin Hughes from HNTB. The event was very well attended, particularly for a Saturday this close to Christmas.

Again on behalf of Colligo I presented an expanded version of the Outlook – SharePoint integration options. If you have any questions, or would like a copy of the presentation please let me know.

This award means a lot to us as it’s voted on by the IT community, so many thanks for those who supported us. The 2009 Awards were the cover story in the December issue of Windows IT Pro Magazine. The Community Choice winners for “Best SharePoint Product” are:

• Gold: Site Administrator for SharePoint—Quest Software (www.quest.com)
• Silver: Colligo Contributor Pro—Colligo Networks (www.colligo.com)
• Bronze: CorasWorks Workplace Suite 10—CorasWorks (www.corasworks.com)

Here’s the first paragraph from our press release. 

Vancouver, BC, December 9, 2009 – Colligo Networks Inc., a leader in SharePoint® client solutions, today announced that its Colligo Contributor Pro product was named as a silver medal winner for “Best SharePoint Product” in the 2009 Community Choice Awards by Penton Media’s Windows IT Pro magazine. The winning products in each category are both nominated and selected based on individual voting by IT professionals.

Again, thanks to all our supporters out there!

On Wednesday, November 18, 2009, Colligo and Quest Software partnered on a webinar entitled “The Secrets to Successfully Migrating Exchange Public Folders to SharePoint”. Over 1,400 SharePoint and Exchange professionals signed up for the webinar. Attendees submitted questions during the live broadcast. While we answered several of them live, many more were answered by email afterwards. Below are the answers to the questions that were submitted to Colligo.

If you are interested in learning more about this important topic, you can get a replay of the webinar and download a copy of the associated whitepaper here.

Now for the Q&A:

how much is Colligo?

Colligo Contributor is sold on a “per seat” basis. Pricing depends on product and quantity. For single quantities and low volume pricing, please visit the Colligo webstore at www.colligo.com/store. For volume pricing requests, please email sales@colligo.com.

What about Sharepoint 2010? Will this drag & drop not be supported native?

SharePoint 2010 will not support drag and drop through the browser, nor will it support automatic extraction of email properties. Outlook 2010 only provides download of emails, not upload.

does this work in outlook 2003

Yes, Contributor works with Outlook 2003, 2007 and (as soon as it’s released) Outlook 2010.

Is the Colligo Outlook add-in compatible with the Dynamics CRM Outlook Client?

As far as we know, there are no conflicts with the Dynamics CRM client.

Will the Colligo add-in work with the Outlook 2003 client? Does access with Colligo contributor work with audience targeting?

Contributor works with Outlook 2003, 2007 and (as soon as it’s released) Outlook 2010. Unfortunately, Colligo Contributor does not cache data which is rendered through the Content Query Web Part, which controls what different audiences can see. That being said, lists and libraries that are cached in Contributor are security trimmed, so users must have at least read permissions to view content offline.

Regarding Metadata, is there a way to utilize properties like Outlook categories to organize contacts?

Yes. “Categories” is one of the properties that Contributor automatically extracts from emails and populates in SharePoint as metadata. Views can then be used to sort and filter by the values in that column.

How about Exchange 2010 and SharePoint 2010? Will your products be replaced by functionality in those products in the 2010 and beyond?

Contributor has no dependency on Exchange direclty, but will support Outlook 2010 when it’s released. We’ve announced support for SharePoin 2010 when it’s released as well. We are already working with some beta customers. Office 2010 has some increased functionality for offline SharePoint scenarios, but the support for SharePoint in Outlook 2010 has not changed much from 2007. For example, you will not be able to drag and drop emails into SharePoint from within Outlook 2010, a critical requirement for Public Folder replacement.

How are the emails viewed in Sharepoint outside of Outlook?

Emails are saved to SharePoint as .msg files and can be opened and viewed from the site, and from Colligo Contributor, through Outlook. They are just a standard emails.

Does Colligo’s solution integrate/work directly with BPOS?

Yes, Colligo Contributor works today with BPOS and will work with the 2010 version as well.

Does colligo support Outlook 2010? Does colligo support SharePoint on BPOS? do you support configuration via group policy? how does colligo work with products like matchpoint?

Colligo Contributor will be certified to be fully compatible with Outlook 2010 and the other Office 2010 clients when they are released next year. Yes, Colligo Contributor works today with BPOS and will work with the 2010 version as well. Contributor can be configured using login scripts, an admin shell, or modified through registry settings. I’m not familiar with Matchpoint, but as long as the application stores content on SharePoint in standard lists and libraries, so they are accessible using SharePoint web services.

is this meant for each client computer to purchase and use, or is there a server application?

Colligo Contributor is 100% client code, nothing is installed on the server.

How to work around SharePoint limits for >2000 elements in lists when using Colligo? Any recommendation on folder structure/separation into different libraries?

I think the limit is related to the rendering time required for large lists on SharePoint 2007. These limits have been raised significantly in SharePoint 2010. As a client application, Contributor does not actually have such a limit, but there is a practical limitation to how much content you will want to cache on the client. As far as recommendations go, I’d suggest you partition into folders on SharePoint 2007 as much as possible, or move to SharePoint 2010 as quickly as possible.

Does Outlook Search look into the SharePoint folders?

Not at the present moment, but we are looking at this for a future release.

Is this supported on the Mac (Entourage)?

Contributor does not run in Entourage. You could, however, run Contributor on a Mac using Boot Camp on OSX.

How does Colligo handle multiple users accessing the same document/file?

Multiple users can edit content offline. A sophisticated conflict resolution engine notifies users if conflicting edits have been made by multiple users while offline and provides ways for them to correct the conflicts.

Does Colligo Contributor require Outlook 2007?

Contributor works with Outlook 2003, 2007 and (as soon as it’s released) Outlook 2010.

Does a person have the ability to still reply to a message that has been migrated from a public folder into SharePoint? What are the pros and cons to integrating email communication to a document library, such as Colligo Contributor, versus a discussion board list. If a document library is the best solution, then what do you see as the role of a discussion board within SharePoint?

Yes, emails are saved to SharePoint as .msg files so they can be opened directly in Outlook. If the original recipient opens a .msg in Outlook which contains an email that was sent to them, they can reply to it. Outlook 2007 allows users to drag and drop emails to discussion lists, however, the “Subject” and “Body” properties are captured, but the majority of email metadata (e.g. To, From, Cc, Received, etc.) is lost or changed in this process. For example, Outlook changes “From” to the person who added the email to the Discussion list, not the original author of the email. The discussion board is used to enable a group of users to send messages to a distribution list – much like email. On SharePoint this distribution list can be limited to those with credentials on SharePoint.

SharePoint storage (any database storage) is also expensive – is SharePoint the best location for the Exchange data?

Microsoft does not recommend all Exchange data be moved to SharePoint. It`s not recommended for email archival. They do, however, recommend SharePoint for a number of scenarios when replacing Exchange Public Folders, such as document and email collaboration, since SharePoint is a very effective platform for that application.

Many of my PF’s are email enabled. How is this done in SharePoint?

SharePoint document libraries can be configured to enable users to send emails (and attachments) to them. However, this has a few limitations. Attachments are stripped off and stored separately while the body of the email is stored as a .eml file that cannot be opened by Outlook.

Does Colligo make the Exchange to Sharepoint connection two way?

Yes, Colligo Contributor sync in bi-directional. It enables users to save content from their PC (emails, files) to SharePoint. Conversely, SharePoint content can be cached to their PC.

Do you have any best practice regarding number of e-mails in a document library before we will get serious performance issues?

SharePoint 2007 has a recommended limit of 2000 items per list or folder. This limit has been raised significantly in SharePoint 2010. I believe it’s now 10,000 items or more.

what kind of contact & distribution list sync (if any) does contributor have?

Contributor can sync most types of custom lists in SharePoint, including contact lists and distribution lists. The actual format of these in SharePoint depends on the migration tools you choose.

Colligo has a great deal of success in the engineering and construction space. Lots of firms are adopting SharePoint and working to capture emails from their jobs sites given the litigious nature of their business. Metadata is the key in this regard for both emails and documents, the old file shares are proving insufficient, and our Outlook Add-In/Uploader products hit the sweet spot.

Interestingly enough many of the engineering and construction projects that come to our attention have been in St. Louis, MO and Kansas. A real hot spot for us and is certainly punching above their weight by population and GDP in the Colligo funnel! In working in St. Louis and surrounding areas we have found ourselves on few projects with a great system integrator and SharePoint consulting practice out of St. Louis called Oakwood Systems Group. By all accounts, Oakwood is a valued implementation partner and I am pleased to announce that Oakwood has agreed to formalize this relationship by becoming a member of the Colligo Partner Program.

We are happy to welcome them aboard, and look forward to jointly ensuring you have a successful SharePoint deployment.

Our next webinar is coming up on November 18th. We’re partnering with Quest Software on it. I think it should be pretty interesting. Here’s the info on how to register:

Exchange Public Folders are being replaced by SharePoint in many organizations, because it is a better choice for document sharing and collaboration applications. Once you’ve made the decision to migrate to SharePoint, how do you ensure a successful project from both the content migration and end-user adoption points of view?

Attend this practical “How To” webinar to learn the secrets of designing and implementing a complete end-to-end solution for migrating from public folders to SharePoint. Join Adam Woodruff, SharePoint Solutions Architect at Quest Software and Barry Jinks, Founder and CEO of Colligo Networks as they provide the strategy, tools, and secrets to a successful migration.

In this webinar, you’ll learn how to:

• Plan, and structure a public folder migration project
• Migrate existing content from Exchange to SharePoint
• Provide MS Outlook users with online and offline access to SharePoint
• Drive end-user adoption of the final solution

If you are responsible for SharePoint or Exchange in your organization, you won’t want to miss this webinar! Join us to learn the secrets to a successful public folder migration – register here today!

WHAT – The Secrets to Successfully Migrating Exchange Public Folders to SharePoint

WHEN & WHERE – Wednesday, November 18, 2009
8:00 AM Pacific / 11:00 AM Eastern
4:00 PM London / 5:00 PM Paris
Online Webinar

PRESENTERS – Adam Woodruff, SharePoint Solutions Architect, Quest Software, and Barry Jinks, President & CEO, Colligo Networks Inc.

COST – COMPLIMENTARY

REGISTER – Register HERE Today

Web Seminar Guest Speaker - Adam Woodruff
SharePoint Solutions Architect, Quest Software

Adam heads the Microsoft SharePoint Professional Services Practice at Quest Software. With more than 10 years of experience creating solutions utilizing Microsoft systems and infrastructure, Adam is skilled in Windows, Microsoft Exchange, Office, and SharePoint Portal Server (MOSS) platform integrations and configurations for deployment, architecture, design, governance, and operational management. He has written white papers, maintains his own SharePoint blog and is a contributing author to .NET Developer’s Journal.

The 4.0 beta has now officially left the station and it seems to be going well. Everyone that applied for one should have received an email with download directions and a key. If you filled out the form, but did not recieve an email, please email beta40 at colligo.com and we’ll look into it.

The recent webinar entitled “How to Implement an Effective Email Attachment Solution in SharePoint” was a big success with over 800 registrants. Our guest speaker was Eric Legault, MVP for MS Outlook and expert in SharePoint. Eric shared some of his thoughts on the issues facing organizations that want to move attachments from Exchange to SharePoint. He did a demo of the new Attachment Manager capabilities in Colligo Contributor 4.0 and also went through how to code up policies so IT can manage attachment upload.

For those that missed the webinar, there is a reply available here. There you can also get a trial of the Add-In for Outlook with the attachment manager function and download the sample code that Eric demonstrates.

I will post the answers to the webinar questions in a few days.

We are really fortunate to be doing a webinar later this month with Eric Legault, Microsoft MVP for Outlook. It concerns a topic that seems to be gaining in popularity – storing and managing attachments in SharePoint. The link to sign up is given below. It’s free.

Here’s the info on the webinar:

According to industry analysts, attachments make up as much as 90% of all data stored in Microsoft Exchange, often clogging mailboxes with redundant and out-of-date information.
Moving attachments to a content management platform such as Microsoft SharePoint provides the ability to tag, search, share and single instance files while controlling access and managing versions. Despite these benefits, user adoption can be low because of the cumbersome process required to save, tag, and link to SharePoint through the Microsoft Outlook interface.

Attend this practical "How To" webinar to learn how you can overcome objections and develop an effective email attachment management solution in SharePoint. Join Microsoft MVP Eric Legault as he shares tips and tricks to help your organization leverage your investment in SharePoint today.

In this webinar, you’ll learn:

• The advantages of managing attachments in SharePoint
  
• The requirements for a SharePoint-based solution
  
• Architectural and implementation considerations
  
• How an end-to-end attachment management solution can be deployed today using Colligo Contributor Add-In for Outlook
  

If you are responsible for SharePoint or Exchange in your organization, you won’t want to miss this webinar! Join us to learn Best Practices for using SharePoint for attachment management – register here

WHAT – How to Implement an Effective Email Attachment Solution in SharePoint

WHEN & WHERE – Wednesday, September 30, 2009
8:00 AM Pacific / 11:00 AM Eastern
4:00 PM London / 5:00 PM Paris
Online Webinar

PRESENTERS – Eric Legault, MVP, Consultant & Author and Barry Jinks, President & CEO, Colligo Networks Inc.

COST – COMPLIMENTARY

REGISTER – Register HERE

Web Seminar Guest Speaker - Eric Legault
Founder, Collaborative Solutions

Eric Legault, a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for Outlook since 2003, is the founder of Collaborative Innovations, a MicroSoft ISV and consulting services provider specializing on Microsoft messaging and collaboration solutions. Eric has over 13 years experience in the IT industry and has focused his energies developing solutions based on Microsoft application platforms. He has published articles in MSDN, Office Online, Windows IT Pro magazine, edited books on Outlook, SharePoint and Access, and maintains a blog on Outlook programming and SharePoint technologies. His current focus is on developing custom Outlook Add-Ins to integrate line of business applications or enhance collaboration processes and workflows. Eric is the co-founder of the Winnipeg SharePoint User Group and a guest speaker at conferences around the globe.

October 1 2009 Update — This webinar is now over, but you can view a replay here.

I was pleased to hear that Colligo Contributor Pro has been chosen as a finalist in the 2009 Windows IT Pro Community Choice Awards, presented by Windows IT Pro and SQL Server Magazine.

This award is based on community voting. If you like Colligo Contributor, you can show it by casting your vote (assuming you think we are the best of course!). This is where you vote. Go to the bottom of the page and hit “Next”. On the next page, scroll half way down to #27 (“Best SharePoint Product”) and then select “Colligo Networks Colligo Contributor Pro for SharePoint”.

And, for those who have enjoyed using our free product, Colligo Reader, here’s your chance to show us the love! In category #32, “Best Free or Open Source IT Tool”, Colligo Reader was not entered into the awards, but you can write in your own nominations. So if you type “Colligo Reader for SharePoint” into the “Other” box under #32, Colligo Reader will be entered.

Then scroll to the bottom, enter your name and email address and click Done.

Voting ends September 16th. By the way, valid entries accompanied by an email address will be entered into a random prize drawing to win a $250 cash gift card or one of 30 Windows IT Pro T-shirts. Winners will be notified via email on Friday, September 18th, 2009.

Thanks for your support!

Although version 4.0 is a bit late, we’re pleased to announce that it’s ready for external beta testing. The wide range of operating systems and Microsoft Office configurations it is designed to support, coupled with the sophisticated twiddly-bits we put into Windows Explorer have delayed release a wee bit longer than expected due to final QA.

If you would like to request a beta copy of 4.0 for testing, please fill out the Colligo Contributor Pro Beta Request Form. Once we’ve had a chance to sift through the requests, we will send out copies of the beta code next week (week of August 10th). We will even provide a nifty online form for testers to provide their feedback quickly!

Version 4.0 offers major feature enhancements, increases the extensibility of the Contributor platform and expands our product line.

WHAT’S NEW IN 4.0 – NEW FILE MANAGER INTERFACE PLUS LOTS OF NEW FEATURES

Window Explorer Integration – Contributor File Manager exposes SharePoint Functionality through the well known Windows Explorer interface. Users may create, edit, and delete documents fully supporting Content Types defined in the SharePoint architecture. The Windows Explorer Integration extends the Explorer interface allowing users access to SharePoint features including Check-Out/Check-In and Metadata.

File Open/Save As – By exposing the SharePoint connection in Windows Explorer, SharePoint folders can be accessed from any application that uses the standard Windows File Open/Save dialog.

Attachment Upload Replace with Link – Contributor Attachment Manager extension to the Contributor Add-in makes it easy for a user to save their email attachments to SharePoint and send a link to the SharePoint item. Sending a link to the attachment reduces the network bandwidth consumed by both the email Sender and Recipients; reduces disk-quota space consumed in the email mail box; and helps maintain a single master version ensuring recipients are accessing the current version of the document at all times.

Send Rules for Attachments – Contributor Attachment Manager supports rules to restrict the ability to send emails with attachments. The standard rule can be configured to block sending emails with total attachment size larger than a configurable limit. Users are encouraged to use the ‘Attachment Upload Replace with Link’ feature to replace attachments with links to SharePoint items.

Custom Rules for Attachments – Enterprises may override the default ‘Send Rules for Attachments’. Rules may be designed to apply business rules specific to the business. Rules may reference the Email (recipients, subject, body, etc); the Attachments (Filename, Size, etc); or any other data source.

Drag and Drop Files and Folders between SharePoint Sites – Folder Drag-and-Drop allows you to recursively copy folders and their contents within a Document Library or to a new Document Library from an existing Document Library. Item metadata is retained during the operation. Optional metadata prompt is supported for folder drag-and-drop (including Custom Metadata Editor).

Drag and Drop Folders between Windows and SharePoint – Folder Drag-and-Drop allows you to recursively copy folders and their contents from a standard Windows folder to a Document Library. Office 2007 embedded metadata is maintained during the copy. Optional metadata prompt is supported for folder drag-and-drop (including Custom Metadata Editor).

Better Documentation and Updates – A new help guide makes it much easier to discover features and get the most out of Contributor. The check for update button will keep you up to date on new Contributor releases. You can also use this feature to determine if we have released any updates or critical enhancements.