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KnowledgeForward

March 05, 2010
23:58
Google Buys DocVerse: Maybe This Collaborative Authoring Thing Finally Has Legs?
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

This morning, Google announced it is buying a little company in San Francisco that enables real-time and asynchronous (offline) collaborative authoring of Microsoft Office docs called DocVerse. The founders of DocVerse are actually ex-Microsoft product folks. As I wrote back in September 2008, I believe collaborative authoring is one of the top five trends for next [...]
15:25
The Onion Peels Back Google Privacy
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

Leave it to the Onion to nail down an issue – in this case the amount of trust so many people are putting in a megacorporation that promises not to be evil. Personally, I don’t put that much out on Google, but if they buy Yahoo, Zoho, Netflix, and my health insurance company I’d be [...]
March 04, 2010
2:47
Catalyst Prague Discount Code
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

Our European Catalyst conference is coming up in April. It’s a beautiful time to be in Prague. The “Collaborate or Perish” track (on Wednesday, April 21st) should be especially interesting. We’ll be casting a critical eye on the Microsoft’s 2010 releases while also discussing non-Microsoft alternatives. I have a discount code to use while registering [...]
March 01, 2010
20:31
Where’s My Interruption Manager? Not In One Place, I’m Afraid
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

Larry Cannell pointed me to a good posting by Daniel Tunkelang called “You Can’t Hurry Relevance“. Mr. Tunkelang obviously believes in the idea of attention management. I especially like the way he states the holy grail of attention management: a system that understands what is important to the user and dispositions messages accordingly. Well, I’ll [...]
February 26, 2010
2:40
SharePoint Governance Process Saves Home Redecorating Project
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

I took a lot of vacation time at the end of the year for a big project – a complete home redecorating including wood floors, painting, furniture, and little stuff too. My wife and I started running into some disagreements about various decisions and had to take a step back to analyze the situation. I [...]
February 19, 2010
23:30
Clay Shirkey on Information Overload as a Filter Problem
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

Jacob Ukelson of Actionbase recently had some good comments on my posting “Information Overload as Evolutionary Maladaptation“: Clay Shirky’s take on it is that the information overload problem (at least as it pertains to email) is an email filtering problem, not an information overload problem. His video can be seen here: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/01/31/clay-shirky-on-infor.html I hadn’t seen that video before, [...]
February 18, 2010
21:17
E-readers and Localization
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

I just talked to a reporter from eContent about content globalization and localization. After the usual questions about the challenges of localization and how technology can help, she asked an open ended question about whether I see anything on the horizon that would change the need for localization. eContent is a magazine that is read by [...]
February 17, 2010
22:44
Enterprise Virtual World BOF
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

Please let me know if others out there are interested in a “birds of a feather” teleconference on internal business use of virtual worlds. I’ve had a request from a client (in the financial services space) to host such a session to hear what other companies are doing, thinking of doing, or are prevented from [...]
February 16, 2010
23:02
"Up in the Air": A Technology Review
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

For my day off, I finally got to see a movie: “Up in the Air”. Yes, I know we’re a little behind, but we don’t get out much. Now, I’m not a film critic, but I am a technology critic. And as manager of a team that covers enterprise unified communication technology, I can attest [...]
February 14, 2010
6:18
Evolutionary Maladaptation: 2 Days
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

I’d like to lay claim to control over the Wall St. Journal’s editorial page, remarkable prescience, or the luck of the Irish. I’ll take any of those 3 I can get. My claim is based on my February 10th blog posting “Information Overload as Evolutionary Maladaptation” and a WSJ editorial just 2 days later by [...]
February 10, 2010
14:30
Information Overload as Evolutionary Maladaptation
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

I’ve noticed much that’s written about information overload starts from an assumption that a root cause of the problem is with humankind (or a particular sub-species known as “information workers” that lives in fuzzy cubes and whitewashed caves) and its inability to adjust to the rapid increase in content. This type of argument is known [...]
February 05, 2010
23:23
Portal Quiz: What is WSRP?
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

OK, it’s time for a portal quiz: What is WSRP? Possible answers: A. A Spanish-language AM radio station in Jacksonville, North Carolina B. The Republican party state branch covering Microsoft headquarters C. Web Services for Remote Portlets D. A research project related to the biblical times of West Semitic peoples It’s a trick question of course – they’re all true. If [...]
January 29, 2010
21:14
An End Run Around IT? Nope, Not Us …
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

In a previous posting (“Solution for Broken IT: Fix It“) I decried a trend I’ve noticed towards businesses taking collaboration and content needs into their own hands (via end user computing, consultants, or SaaS) rather than attempting to fix the relationship with IT. One example I noted was with SharePoint, where I said “Microsoft is [...]
January 14, 2010
17:12
SharePoint Governance Definitions Evolve
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

2009 was the year that governance really took off in the SharePoint community as evidenced by SharePoint conference presentations, user’s group presentations, and bloggers. It’s been a major part of my conversations with clients and presentations to audiences using SharePoint since 2003, but I’ve never seen the energy around this topic that I have in [...]
January 06, 2010
6:41
Long Time, No Post
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

Yes, your blog reader is still working. I just haven’t posted in a while as I took a lot of vacation around the holidays. I’ll get back to blogging soon. In the meantime, you may have heard that Gartner acquired Burton Group. Big news, but surprisingly little changes for me right now. Still working on the [...]
December 09, 2009
16:06
Shooting at Information Overload: Right Target, Wrong Weapon
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

Tom Davenport’s “The Attention Economy” is the best information overload/attention management book I’ve read so far (despite several flaws). For that reason alone I avoided obvious, snarky rebuttal titles for this blog post such as “Why We Don’t Care What Davenport Thinks About Information Overload” or just “Why We Don’t Care About Tom Davenport”. But I [...]
November 23, 2009
23:36
Solution for Broken IT: Fix It
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

I’ve been noticing a distinct anti-IT trend in vendor marketing lately. There has always been dissatisfaction with IT for everything from failure to understand business needs to technical elitism. But there are more options now for business units that want to get around IT. Especially for the technologies I cover: collaboration and content. What are those [...]
November 19, 2009
4:33
Self-governance
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

Governance doesn’t have to be paternal and forced on groups by higher powers. Here’s a quote from an article in the Oct 15th 2009 issue of the Economist (“Reality bites“): In 40 years of studying how common resources—from lobster fisheries in Maine to irrigation systems in Nepal—are actually managed by communities, Ms Ostrom found that people [...]
November 18, 2009
16:53
Countervailing Wisdom for SharePoint
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

In April of 2008, we released our advanced SharePoint workshop that describes how to offer “SharePoint as a service” by applying ITIL v3 to SharePoint. Alas, it’s taken a while to start publishing this methodology in document form, but I just submitted the first paper on this subject. It’s called “ITIL for SharePoint: Defining SharePoint [...]
October 30, 2009
21:55
How Star Trek Informs SharePoint Governance Models
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

I just got back from an onsite visit to help a client work through their SharePoint governance issues, which includes talking about picking the appropriate spot on the governance continuum. This is almost always some form of federation. My definition of federation is “Groups in an organization recognize a central authority’s right to set high-level [...]
October 27, 2009
14:31
Want an Aurally Pristine Environment While Flying? Try the Cockpit
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

Do you want an aurally pristine environment while flying on your next trip? One where you can press a few buttons and silence all distractions from the outside world so you can focus on your laptop in uninterrupted peace? No, it’s not first class. It’s the cockpit. Some attention management analysis seems to be needed in [...]
October 24, 2009
23:07
Free SharePoint Governance Poster
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

I just got back from Vegas where I presented on what SharePoint governance is (and isn’t) and how to create a SharePoint statement of governance. If you went to the conference, your logon will grant you access to the video in a few days I’m told. I’m not sure if or how it will be [...]
October 20, 2009
20:25
Reflecting on the Winding Path of SharePoint
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

At his keynote address at the SharePoint Conference, Steve Ballmer acknowledged that 10 years ago, if they had written up a list of what SharePoint is supposed to be on paper, that wouldn’t be what it is today. “Your feedback and input … the way you’ve driven us” has made SharePoint what it is today, [...]
0:01
SharePoint Conference: Keynote Applause Lines
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

I have mixed feelings about applause lines at vendor conferences. These occur when a new feature is announced or demoed and the audience breaks into applause, causing the executive on stage to beam triumphantly. On the positive side, the applause means “I’m happy, good job”. It shows the vendor has been listening to its customers and [...]
October 18, 2009
3:55
SharePoint Conference Presentation: Governance, Politics, and Diplomacy with SharePoint
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

I’m packing my bags and heading for Vegas for the Microsoft SharePoint Conference. If you are going, make sure to see my presentation on governance. I’ll be standing up in front of 400 people, the majority of whom are “IT Professionals”, and telling them that the IT Pro role isn’t the right one to be [...]
October 14, 2009
5:13
Oracle World Thomas Kurian Keynote
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

Integration is good. But you can’t really demo it. Thomas’s keynote was a runthrough of the wonders of vertical integration, from UI down through applications, database, and (for the database appliance) even hardware. When all your systems can work together and speak to each other, wonderful things can happen. The problem is that integration is [...]
October 13, 2009
3:19
Oracle WebLogic Portal Keynote
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

I was interested to hear the messaging to the audiences of the “other” portals that Oracle still sells, even though WebCenter is the annointed portal. This was an issue that bookeneded the presentation. At the beginning, there was a slide for people entering the room clarifying “This presentation is about WebLogic Portal. Not the product [...]
3:13
Oracle WebCenter Keynote
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

Nothing new here since my posting after the Oracle analyst event in June. There is a new set of product codenames (Sunshine for WebLogic portal, Neo for ALUI, RoadRunner for WebCenter). Oracle Portal doesn’t seem to have a cute name yet, and they couldn’t talk about Sun. I like how Oracle continues to address SharePoint – [...]
3:09
Oracle World Keynote
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

Hello from San Francisco, where I’m attending the first few days of Oracle World ‘09. I got a good briefing in June (blogged here), and didn’t hear much new, so my postings will be more commentary than lists of features. Today’s kick-off keynote was content rich. I mean it – no Olympic rhythmic gymnasts, no loud [...]
October 09, 2009
16:12
Is SharePoint Inevitable for My Organization?
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

It’s amazing how often the question “Is SharePoint Inevitable for My Organization?” comes up in conversations with clients. Usually not that bluntly or directly, but the question underlies their questions and assumptions. For example, in a conversation with a client today they were looking at another portal product. But there are some pockets of SharePoint [...]
October 01, 2009
23:57
Interruptions: Meh, but Distracted Driving: Deadly
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

Great article in the New York Times about distracted drivers: “At 60 M.P.H., Office Work Is High Risk” (part of an ongoing series). I’ve shown a bit of skepticism in past entries about the extent of the cost of interruptions for information workers and the intractability of the problem. I’ve said many of the interruptions [...]
September 28, 2009
16:25
Virtual World Meetings: Qwaq Becomes Teleplace
» ‎ KnowledgeForward

It’s been a while since I blogged as Burton Group analysts had a week-long offsite meeting last week. We’re a pretty virtual company, so it’s nice to see everyone in person without a conference to distract us. But that’s not to say virtual meetings aren’t useful as well. In fact, I just blogged about the [...]