[Meta] Updating johnliu.net from Squarespace v5 to v7

This is actually something really, really long overdue.  v5 is from the year 2008.  That is SEVEN years ago.

You will notice:

• Responsive Design
• Comments are replaced with Disqus - the original comments are imported, but Squarespace's own comment spam detection has not been great for me. 
• Squarespace v5 renders pages in X-COMPAT-IE8 which means it looked extra sucky.

You will find missing:

• Some of my game blog pages - I've removed them because they are just the rambling of a young man.
• /Storage is a bit funny - I "hope" I imported my old stuff properly.
• My badges and tag cloud.  I hope to add them back in time.
• I noticed the RSS feeds got confused and prepended www.johnliu.net - I've removed the www but there may be duplicate records in the RSS reader.

What I am missing:

• I am absolutely devastated that v7 doesn't work with Windows Live Writer.

SharePoint 2016 - debunking confusion and concerns

The announcement of SharePoint 2016 should not come as a surprise (Office 2016 was previously announced, and SharePoint has always been a product released in parallel).

http://blogs.office.com/2015/02/02/evolution-sharepoint/

What was the surprise, to me, is how many people immediately jump the gun and asks is there another version of SharePoint after 2016, I don't recall a time where when Microsoft announces Office 2010 is coming and people immediately ask is there an Office 2013.

Why the confusion

I think the confusion, or concern, is that customers can clearly see Microsoft's heavy investment in Office 365, and even the attitude of cannibalizing its own existing products to move forward. 

I think this is the right thing to do for Team Office.  Apple let iPhone ate the iPod.  Windows didn't evolve and got stagnant.

But our concern is genuine.  Many customers can not move to the cloud.  They are indeed worried whether they should continue spending in the on-premises product, or invest elsewhere.  It seems that Microsoft has not been investing in existing features, instead it has been investing only in Office 365 and very little is coming down the pike.

There are also much FUD spread by competitors implying Microsoft has abandoned on-premises and thus a customer should consider abandoning Microsoft and go with a competing on-premises product.

What we can safely assume

There are areas that Microsoft is playing to its strengths.  Many companies - Facebook for Work, Google Apps - are entirely cloud (or mobile) offerings.  SharePoint and Office 365 is a hybrid offering.  And in this strength, Microsoft is uniquely in the cloud, but also in your enterprise and cross-platform in your devices.  This isn't going to change, in fact, this is an area Microsoft will continue to expand the offering.

A decade ago, we can distil Microsoft and Windows down to A PC on Every Desktop. 

I'd like to think that for Team Office, it should be Office anywhere you do Work.

This means that perhaps while SharePoint the brand is fading into an on-premises only product, SharePoint the product is never going away.  It has not been given the 10-year support life line.  And Microsoft continues to invest in the product.

What could the next version of SharePoint look like?

I see two possibilities with the shape of the next version of SharePoint. 

It could be a stand alone product, in the shape of SharePoint 2019, launched with Office 2019 desktop suite.

It is also possible that in the SharePoint 2016 timeframe, the product becomes Evergreen and future updates are rolled out in the form of Service Packs.

I would kiss the Microsoft Product Manager that makes SharePoint On-Premises Evergreen.  This isn't something unimaginable.  Office 365 has already gone that route.  Windows 10 is envisioned as Windows as a Service and new updates will just roll out new features.  An Evergreen SharePoint effectively means this would be the last release version of SharePoint - and that is great for customers.

It's worthwhile to note that this isn't a decision Team Office has to make in the 2015-2016 timeframe.  This is a decision that should be made in the 2016-2018 timeframe.  By that time, Microsoft and customers would be well-understood about what Microsoft means when it says Windows As A Service.

So no rush.  But you know what I want, Dear Team-Office-Santa.

What I want to see more

http://blogs.microsoft.com/firehose/2015/02/02/how-sharepoint-will-evolve-in-the-cloud-with-office-365/

Reading between the lines in the Office announcement, I think Office 365/SharePoint announcements coming up in Ignite will be split into really three areas:

• Office 365 / Cloud / SaaS - new features will appear here first.  That's what Cloud-First means.
• SharePoint 2016 - boring backend updates, applicable learnings from Office 365 (probably not much - since we aren't big on hosting multi-tenanted environments in a single enterprise).  Database stuff.  High availability.  API updates and APPs that runs in the cloud but also on premises.
• Hybrid, Hybrid, Hybrid - how to connect everything from Office 365 with On-premises SharePoint: Sway.  Video Portals.  The mystical "Next Generation Portals", Yammer, Groups, Delve and Hybrid Search. 

I expect news to be a bit light between now and Ignite conference, where Microsoft is storing up bags of product announcement goodies.

http://ignite.microsoft.com/

I'm preparing for everything to get more awesome.  And I don't think SharePoint is going away anytime soon.  If anything, it is still right in the middle of everything (if you are on the ground, not just in the cloud).

I'm Loving every bit of it.  Turn it up to v15!

Microsoft MVP Community Camp 2015

Microsoft MVPs in the Asia region continues with various events in 2015.  The first event is the MVP Community Camp held at the start of the year. 

Melbourne's starts "today" on January 30.

Sydney's will be the next Friday on February 6.

https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032610278&Culture=en-AU&community=0

There are two tracks:

MS Technologies for Business

 

In-depth with Azure

Register for free here

https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032610278&Culture=en-AU&community=0

While I won't be presenting a session, I'll be hanging around with the other MVPs across the Microsoft stack answering questions. 

Ask me anything about:

• Office 365
• SharePoint
• TypeScript
• JavaScript
• WindowsPhone
• Microsoft Band
• XBox One
• Windows 10

SharePoint Saturday Sydney 2014

November 29, 2014 was a great day for SharePoint Saturday.

I presented "Develop and Build Workflow Apps in SP2013. Wait, Workflow Apps?" - which is a session that covers lots of the new things you can build with SharePoint 2013 workflows using primarily Visual Studio 2013.  These work on premises and in Office 365.

The REST end points opens up SharePoint

I still think my transition along with exploring new activity and suddenly jumping into REST was tough.  I need to work on how to introduce that point.

The key point stands.  As a developer, or even a power user using Workflows - the REST API opens SharePoint completely to me.  I can use it to create lists, site columns or assign permission groups.  The trouble is that creating the JSON packet to talk to SharePoint end point is quite hard.  Which is why the need (and the ability) to package existing series of Actions into a reusable Custom Activity is a big deal.

Confusion over Workflow Custom Activity

There was actually a lot of confusion over the artefact "Custom Activity".  In 2010, these were sandbox or coded solutions.  In 2013, Custom Activity is completely declarative.  It is a way for you to save a series of workflow actions into a reusable piece of functionality that you can use over and over.  In my demo project I have about 10 custom activities.

Downloads

• WorkflowApps-spssyd.pptx
• WFApp-MelbCup.zip

News Update

We announced at the beginning and the end of SharePoint Saturday 2014 that this would be the last SharePoint Saturday in Australia.  As Microsoft and Industry trends towards Office 365, we will move with that trend.

From 2015 onwards, Office 365 Saturday will return, bigger and with more coverage of Office and SharePoint Online, but also address your On Premises needs.

Hope you have a great holidays and see you soon in 2015!

SharePoint Saturdays in Australia

I wanted write about two things.  I still wanted to do a summary of SharePoint Saturday Adelaide 2014, but I will have to do that later, perhaps combine my thoughts after Brisbane.  Right now, I wanted to talk about the upcoming SharePoint Saturday Brisbane 2014, as well as SharePoint events in general in Australia.

SharePoint Brisbane is May 31st

Will be upon us very soon in two weeks.  There’s a strong call for additional local speakers.  If you are in Brisbane – you really should consider presenting a topic.  It can be a simple topic.  If you feel you don’t have enough content, prepare for 30-40 minutes, and let your audience ask questions.  You’ll be surprised how quick a session is.

Attending a SharePoint Saturday

There are several great reasons to attend a SharePoint Saturday event:

• SharePoint Saturday events are free.  We will bribe you with food.  Additionally, there’s usually good sponsor prizes.
• You get to hear from your local knowledgeable SharePoint people, on a variety of topics that you can choose.  Sure, you can see them in the monthly user groups, but you don’t always get to choose the topic that’s presented at the user group.  SharePoint Saturday offers that choice.
• You get to network with your local SharePoint people.
• We understand and are thankful that you are sacrificing one day of your precious weekend to attend a training event.  Please don’t feel bad at all if you need to leave early, or can only visit for an hour after lunch.  It is still great to see you, so nice of you to make the trip.

Presenting at a SharePoint Saturday

Because there is a larger set of available spots in a SharePoint Saturday event.  There is a lot more room for local speakers to present. 

• Have you done a particularly cool project and want to talk about it? 
• Have you did a presentation in your company that you want to test with a wider audience? 
• Sure, not everyone will agree with your particular approach.  But that’s the best thing about SharePoint – there’s always more than one way to do things.  You way is superior already because you get the stage to explain it to your audience!
• The perfect springboard to learn what you preach.  It is true.  The best way you learn is if you can teach someone else.  I personally learned so much from talking about what I’m doing.  I stop and write this blog, because it helps me document and digest what I’m doing.  I write an event summary, because it wraps up my thoughts, preparation and the aftermath.
• The person that benefits the most from a SharePoint Saturday event, is the presenter.

Whether attending or presenting, I hope to see you at SharePoint Saturday in Brisbane, or in a SharePoint Saturday event in your city soon!