What is SharePoint?

What is SharePoint 2010 exactly, and why is it so important?

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 makes it easier for people to work together, but SharePoint isn’t just a tool, it’s a toolbox.  Using SharePoint 2010, your people can set up Web sites to share information with others, manage documents from start to finish, and publish reports to help everyone make better decisions.  Below are just a few of the options you have with SharePoint 2010.

-SharePoint 2010 Sites provides a single infrastructure for all your business Web sites. Share documents with colleagues, manage projects with partners, and publish information to customers.

-SharePoint 2010 Composites offers tools and components for creating do-it-yourself business solutions. Build no-code solutions to rapidly respond to business needs.

-SharePoint 2010 Insights gives everyone access to the information in databases, reports, and business applications. Help people locate the information they need to make good decisions

-SharePoint 2010 Communities delivers great collaboration tools—and a single platform to manage them. Make it easy for people to share ideas and work together the way they want.

-SharePoint 2010 Content makes content management easy. Set up compliance measures ”behind the scenes”—with features like document types, retention polices, and automatic content sorting—and then let people work naturally in Microsoft Office.

-SharePoint 2010 Search cuts through the clutter. A unique combination of relevance, refinement, and social cues helps people find the information and contacts they need to get their jobs done

If any of this seems confusing to you, don’t worry we have you covered.  Below is a list of our upcoming SharePoint classes that will get you off and running.

SharePoint 2010 at Babbage Simmel

   SP726: SharePoint 2010 for Business Users, Power Users, and Site Owners 1/4/12-1/6/12

M-10175: Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Application Development 12/5/11-12/9/11 and 1/16/12-1/20/12 and 2/6/12-2/10/12

M-10174: TS IT PRO: Configuring and Managing MS SharePoint 2010 1/9/12-1/13/12 and 1/30/12-2/3/12 and 2/27/12-3/2/12

M-10231: Designing a MS SharePoint 2010 Infrastructure 12/19/11-12/23/11 and 1/23/12-1//27/12

   M-50354: SharePoint 2010 SharePoint Designer 1/5/12-1/6/12 and 2/23/12-2/24/12

   M-50429: SharePoint 2010 Business Intelligence 1/30/12-2/3/12 and 2/13/12-2/17/12

   M-10232: Designing and Developing MS SharePoint Server 2010 Applications 2/6/12-2/10/12

-Matt

Cloud Computing can open new doors for IT professionals

Cloud Computing promises new career opportunities for IT professionals. In many cases, existing core skill sets transfer directly to cloud technologies. In other instances, IT pros need to develop new skill sets that meet the demand of emerging cloud job roles.  Companies that consider moving to cloud computing will want to educate their IT professionals about the potential opportunities ahead so that they can build staff capabilities and skills ahead of the change.

Many IT professionals feel as though the Cloud will take away key job roles and applications.  This is incorrect.  The bulk of an IT professional’s skills remain relevant in a cloud environment.  System configuration tasks such as creating routing rules, configuring archiving, and managing policies are still necessary.  The change is moving from building and supporting local IT infrastructure to managing IT services in the cloud, which requires, an extension of skills and capabilities.  This means employers will be looking for IT professionals with these types of skills.

One way IT professionals become more essential in the cloud era has to do with their ability to implement public cloud services like Microsoft Office 365 and Windows Azure.

As I mentioned before, instead of decreasing an IT professional’s role, the move to cloud solutions opens up many new opportunities.  Key technical skill sets become more critical to career success, including custom application development and deep technical knowledge of the various collaboration products such as Exchange Server.

Tasks that remain include monitoring, configuration, and integration with existing on-premise services such as Active Directory, while activities such as purchasing hardware, installing operating systems and managing patches are no longer needed since they are handled by the cloud provider.

Once IT professionals learn more about the cloud and they see there’s a big change that will help them in the future, it will become clear to them that they will have a job that is more challenging than just being an administrator.

Developers will have to focus on innovation, integration, and rapid delivery on business requirements. They also will find more design opportunities beyond what they currently manage.  IT security will be prevalent as ever.  Cloud solutions have new security implications for consideration.

Organizations in different industries have divergent requirements regarding privacy and data retention. This means that the solution selected by an organization or an enterprise must be carefully evaluated to ensure that the selected services allow the organization to remain in compliance.

Below are the three types of cloud services companies will be migrating to in the near future.

• A private cloud is a set of standardized computing resources that is dedicated to an organization, usually on-premises in the organization’s datacenter. It works with the current capital investment and delivers the new functions as a service.
• A hosted private cloud has a dedicated infrastructure hosted by a third party, inaccessible to other organizations.
• A public cloud consists of computing resources hosted externally but shared with other organizations and dynamically provisioned and billed on a utility basis — the customer will pay for what is used as they use it.

The IT industry will continue to evolve, just as it always has.  The more understanding that companies and IT professionals have of these new technologies will help secure their futures.

-Matt

Virtualization is the Way of the Future

Lead your company into the future. Take the Microsoft Virtualization Challenge

Virtualization is picking up speed. Are your skills keeping up?

Lead your company into the future with Microsoft training and certification.

Information technology is moving to the cloud. Virtualization is the foundation.
Every IT professional is looking for ways to more effectively use their infrastructure, respond to new business opportunities, and adapt to change. With cloud computing, a new world of computing power is within your reach. Using virtualization as the foundation, skilled IT professionals are able to deploy creative solutions to meet the business challenges of today.

Virtualization is the future. Get ready.

Be relevant. Be different. Be specialized. Become a virtualization expert
In a world where technology is rapidly evolving, becoming a virtualization expert could mean the difference between getting ahead or getting lost in the crowd. When you need to show what you know, certification will set you apart.

Success today means having the wisdom and ingenuity to guide your company into the future. In a world where technology is rapidly evolving and virtualization is the way to the cloud, becoming a virtualization expert could mean the difference between getting ahead or getting lost in the crowd. When you need to show what you know, certification will set you apart.

As today’s companies expand their efforts around virtualization and the cloud, they need employees with the skill and understanding to lead them in the right direction. You have the opportunity to inspire an IT evolution in your company. Become a virtualization leader today with Microsoft Certification.
Take the next step in your virtualization training. Get certified.

If you’ve taken classes here at Babbage Simmel, then we’ve got a great offer for you!  Call your Learning Solutions Representative to get a free test voucher for the 70-659 Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization exam and test your skills.  If you pass the exam, congratulations!  You are at the forefront of an IT evolution and you will have earned the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certification. If you aren’t able to pass the exam on your first try then we have the solution.  Our M-10215 class, Implementing and Managing Microsoft Server Virtualization, will prepare you to pass the exam.  Once you’ve completed the class, you will receive another free test voucher for the 70-659 exam!
Here are the dates for the class:

M-10215: Implementing and Managing Microsoft Server Virtualization  1/23/12-1/27/12 and 2/6/12-2/10/12

Below is a list of the other courses we offer on virtualization technologies.

M-10215: Implementing and Managing Microsoft Server Virtualization
1/23/12-1/27/12 and 3/12/12-3/16/12

Vmw-1300: Vmware vSphere 5.0 with ESXi and vCenter
12/5/11-12/9/12

-Matt