Facts about SharePoint 2016 Preview and What makes it Different from its Previous Version

Image Source: itunity.com

You might have read about the SharePoint 2016 updates in my previous blog, here I am back with some more important highlights and facts about the SharePoint 2016  such as its preview version, launch date, usage, advancement, applications, features as well as answers to some basic queries of the users.

As we know Microsoft has released SharePoint 2016 Preview on August 24, 2015 to test the features of original SharePoint 2016 which will become usually available in 2nd quarter of 2016. Let’s have brief look on SharePoint 2016 features and what makes it different from its previous version. SharePoint 2016 will focus more on better user experience, cloud hybrid infrastructure, compliance & monitoring and many others.

Better User Experience - SharePoint 2016 will be most likely  similar to  SharePoint 2013 but with more people centric feature. By improving the user experiences with the use of innovative technology such as, it will provide improved touch based experience across all the devices, mobiles, and tablets. While emphasising more on one drive for business, which means place where all the files you are working with are stored and accessible from anywhere. A personal online storage space just like “Dropbox”.

Cloud Hybrid Infrastructure - SharePoint server 2016 updates allow users to avail advantage of cloud hybrid capabilities. By providing all-in-one facility to all the users who are working in different environment. It means, with the help of a true hybrid index users can get search results from Office 365 and SharePoint 2016 as well as SQL Server together with cloud data commonly in a single index.

Compliance & Monitoring -With every new version, SharePoint provides better authentication and security features so that content can be shared securely and safely inside and outside of the organization. Same with the SharePoint Server 2016- It ensures better security and monitoring facility than the previous version and with investment in DLP (data loss prevention) information remains protected i.e. in earlier versions DLP was negotiable, schools and organization doesn’t pay much attention but now it’s compulsion for all to make sure that confidential information remains protected.

These are some SharePoint 2016 features, now let’s have a look on to solutions of some common questions of the users which arise in their minds before installation of SharePoint 2016 preview

Which  Browsers are Supported in SharePoint 2016?

SharePoint Server 2016 IT preview supports all the popular browsers like latest versions of Internet Explorer i.e. 11 & 10. All versions of Microsoft edge, latest versions of Google Chrome, previous to latest and most recent versions of Mozilla Firefox, latest released version of Apple Safari. But all the features do not work in all the above browsers and their different versions. 

What are the Minimum Specifications Required?

Hardware requirements are –

For single SQL server instance RAM 12 to 16 GB RAM, with 64-bit 4 Core processor, 80 GB space for drive and addition 100 GB for second drive.

Single farm server (separate server for the SQL DB) RAM 12 to 16 GB, 64-bit 4 Core processor, 80 GB for drive space.

Software Requirements are – 

You'll need to update some of the softwares like Server 2012 R2 at a minimum and .NET Framework 4.5.2. It can also run on Server 10 with only change in .Net Framework i.e. 4.5.6 instead of 4.5.2

Can SharePoint 2016 Preview  be Upgradable to RTM?

No, one cannot upgrade the SharePoint 2016 Preview to RTM.

Are Excel Services Removed from SharePoint 2016?

Following Excel Services in standalone SharePoint 2016 farm is deprecated-

View Excel Spreadsheet

Reliable data providers

Unattended service account 

Excel SOAP API & Webparts

But it is suggested to IT admins to use the Office Online Server to host Excel services.

What are the Extra new Features that are Coming in SharePoint 2016?

Speedily Site Creation – The site collection process became easy now, it will totally rely on copying collection of existing site which increases the speed.

Link Durability – Links whose file name changed and moved to different site collection still it will work properly.

Hybrid Result – Now in SharePoint 2016 search results are shown from cloud and on-premises farms i.e. hybrid results are shown, no matter from where you search.

Launch of SharePoint 2016 is still a year away but you may install its preview version. It will give you a closer view about its working, features, specifications and more.

Keep in tune I will keep on updating you with more facts about  SharePoint 2016  and its release date.

Contact here for your SharePoint application development services. Our expertise on Microsoft SharePoint will help you

Facts about SharePoint 2016 Preview and What makes it Different from its Previous Version

Posted by Sophina Dillard No comments

Image Source: itunity.com

You might have read about the SharePoint 2016 updates in my previous blog, here I am back with some more important highlights and facts about the SharePoint 2016  such as its preview version, launch date, usage, advancement, applications, features as well as answers to some basic queries of the users.

As we know Microsoft has released SharePoint 2016 Preview on August 24, 2015 to test the features of original SharePoint 2016 which will become usually available in 2nd quarter of 2016. Let’s have brief look on SharePoint 2016 features and what makes it different from its previous version. SharePoint 2016 will focus more on better user experience, cloud hybrid infrastructure, compliance & monitoring and many others.

Better User Experience - SharePoint 2016 will be most likely  similar to  SharePoint 2013 but with more people centric feature. By improving the user experiences with the use of innovative technology such as, it will provide improved touch based experience across all the devices, mobiles, and tablets. While emphasising more on one drive for business, which means place where all the files you are working with are stored and accessible from anywhere. A personal online storage space just like “Dropbox”.

Cloud Hybrid Infrastructure - SharePoint server 2016 updates allow users to avail advantage of cloud hybrid capabilities. By providing all-in-one facility to all the users who are working in different environment. It means, with the help of a true hybrid index users can get search results from Office 365 and SharePoint 2016 as well as SQL Server together with cloud data commonly in a single index.

Compliance & Monitoring -With every new version, SharePoint provides better authentication and security features so that content can be shared securely and safely inside and outside of the organization. Same with the SharePoint Server 2016- It ensures better security and monitoring facility than the previous version and with investment in DLP (data loss prevention) information remains protected i.e. in earlier versions DLP was negotiable, schools and organization doesn’t pay much attention but now it’s compulsion for all to make sure that confidential information remains protected.

These are some SharePoint 2016 features, now let’s have a look on to solutions of some common questions of the users which arise in their minds before installation of SharePoint 2016 preview

Which  Browsers are Supported in SharePoint 2016?

SharePoint Server 2016 IT preview supports all the popular browsers like latest versions of Internet Explorer i.e. 11 & 10. All versions of Microsoft edge, latest versions of Google Chrome, previous to latest and most recent versions of Mozilla Firefox, latest released version of Apple Safari. But all the features do not work in all the above browsers and their different versions. 

What are the Minimum Specifications Required?

Hardware requirements are –

For single SQL server instance RAM 12 to 16 GB RAM, with 64-bit 4 Core processor, 80 GB space for drive and addition 100 GB for second drive.

Single farm server (separate server for the SQL DB) RAM 12 to 16 GB, 64-bit 4 Core processor, 80 GB for drive space.

Software Requirements are – 

You'll need to update some of the softwares like Server 2012 R2 at a minimum and .NET Framework 4.5.2. It can also run on Server 10 with only change in .Net Framework i.e. 4.5.6 instead of 4.5.2

Can SharePoint 2016 Preview  be Upgradable to RTM?

No, one cannot upgrade the SharePoint 2016 Preview to RTM.

Are Excel Services Removed from SharePoint 2016?

Following Excel Services in standalone SharePoint 2016 farm is deprecated-

View Excel Spreadsheet

Reliable data providers

Unattended service account 

Excel SOAP API & Webparts

But it is suggested to IT admins to use the Office Online Server to host Excel services.

What are the Extra new Features that are Coming in SharePoint 2016?

Speedily Site Creation – The site collection process became easy now, it will totally rely on copying collection of existing site which increases the speed.

Link Durability – Links whose file name changed and moved to different site collection still it will work properly.

Hybrid Result – Now in SharePoint 2016 search results are shown from cloud and on-premises farms i.e. hybrid results are shown, no matter from where you search.

Launch of SharePoint 2016 is still a year away but you may install its preview version. It will give you a closer view about its working, features, specifications and more.

Keep in tune I will keep on updating you with more facts about  SharePoint 2016  and its release date.

Contact here for your SharePoint application development services. Our expertise on Microsoft SharePoint will help you

SharePoint Server 2016 Updates

As the world is moving towards cloud based technology, Microsoft is planning to release yet another product SharePoint server 2016 in the next year which will give a new outlook to the SharePoint technology. The SharePoint server 2016 will be released in Q2 2016, with a public beta planned for Q4 2015. It is the next version of SharePoint Server which is inspired by cloud technology and will help to unify the servers. At the same time, hybrid deployments of SharePoint Server with Office 365 will be possible through cloud innovation.

It is assumed that “SharePoint server 2016 can be all or one thing” meaning, it will be the server experiencing all kind of features including file repositories, providing various BI (Business intelligence) . So, everything will be available at a single place for the user.

With SharePoint 2016, Microsoft is moving various technologies into cloud such as Delve, clutter, groups, and is also introducing a new layer rather than keeping all services separate. Moreover, Microsoft is also planning to add new experiences to the server 2016 by making it more social and mobile, and enforcing machine learning capabilities. The main improvement which will be introduced in SharePoint server 2016 is SharePoint's Files, Content Management, Sites and Portals.

Portal will now be mobile enabled and will be more simplified for the end users. Search improvement in the SharePoint will be Delve based on office craft technology and will have governance control for IT department. Files in SharePoint 2016 will be improved with one drive for business (previously it was My Documents). The improved files will help in mobile data management and prevention of data loss.

In addition to this, SharePoint 2016 will now be more consistently code based, which will help in filling gaps between offline and online products. Another important feature is patch with zero down time. A super exciting feature.

Continuing with the more features; SharePoint 2016 will also be adding server role installation wizard, while new compliance reports with role based installation will be added in the product.

Last but not the least, server will have inbuilt health analysers which will keep track on road as provision in SharePoint form.

Few Requirements for SharePoint server 2016-

OS requirement for SharePoint server 2016 will be Windows Server 2012 R2 or "Windows Server 10 In addition to this, it also requires Windows Server App Fabric 1.1 but it will be deplored next year. For the time being it will be supported in the SharePoint 2016.

Author :

Omnie Solutions is an enterprise application development company providing custom web and enterprise mobile application development services to global business using enterprise platforms like Microsoft sharepoint 2013, IBM WebSphere portal, Siebel CRM and more. Follow Omnie Solutions on Facebook, and Twitter. 

SharePoint Server 2016 Updates

Posted by Sophina Dillard No comments

As the world is moving towards cloud based technology, Microsoft is planning to release yet another product SharePoint server 2016 in the next year which will give a new outlook to the SharePoint technology. The SharePoint server 2016 will be released in Q2 2016, with a public beta planned for Q4 2015. It is the next version of SharePoint Server which is inspired by cloud technology and will help to unify the servers. At the same time, hybrid deployments of SharePoint Server with Office 365 will be possible through cloud innovation.

It is assumed that “SharePoint server 2016 can be all or one thing” meaning, it will be the server experiencing all kind of features including file repositories, providing various BI (Business intelligence) . So, everything will be available at a single place for the user.

With SharePoint 2016, Microsoft is moving various technologies into cloud such as Delve, clutter, groups, and is also introducing a new layer rather than keeping all services separate. Moreover, Microsoft is also planning to add new experiences to the server 2016 by making it more social and mobile, and enforcing machine learning capabilities. The main improvement which will be introduced in SharePoint server 2016 is SharePoint's Files, Content Management, Sites and Portals.

Portal will now be mobile enabled and will be more simplified for the end users. Search improvement in the SharePoint will be Delve based on office craft technology and will have governance control for IT department. Files in SharePoint 2016 will be improved with one drive for business (previously it was My Documents). The improved files will help in mobile data management and prevention of data loss.

In addition to this, SharePoint 2016 will now be more consistently code based, which will help in filling gaps between offline and online products. Another important feature is patch with zero down time. A super exciting feature.

Continuing with the more features; SharePoint 2016 will also be adding server role installation wizard, while new compliance reports with role based installation will be added in the product.

Last but not the least, server will have inbuilt health analysers which will keep track on road as provision in SharePoint form.

Few Requirements for SharePoint server 2016-

OS requirement for SharePoint server 2016 will be Windows Server 2012 R2 or "Windows Server 10 In addition to this, it also requires Windows Server App Fabric 1.1 but it will be deplored next year. For the time being it will be supported in the SharePoint 2016.

Author :

Omnie Solutions is an enterprise application development company providing custom web and enterprise mobile application development services to global business using enterprise platforms like Microsoft sharepoint 2013, IBM WebSphere portal, Siebel CRM and more. Follow Omnie Solutions on Facebook, and Twitter. 

Innovative Use of SharePoint in Different Field

United Airlines- Central Deployment

United Airlines is one of the well-known and leading airlines with over 85,000 employees, participated in the SharePoint Server 2013 Rapid Deployment Program. The program build to provide advice or feedback about the customer’s airline’s experience in its WAN environment. Simultaneously, it also allowed each customer to reduce their server footprint while providing an outstanding social collaboration experience. Moreover team developed a new procurement tool that is based on taxonomy and additional features in SharePoint 2013.

United Airlines’ team trust on SharePoint sites to complete job-related tasks including the 379 global airports. Even the whole route map for the airline which shows the geographic environment is served by a centralized SharePoint farm.

Ref: technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh206325

University of West London - Social Learning

University of West London (UWL) decided to create a student portal by using SharePoint. A platform that allows students to interact with each other safely and which create academically driven environment.

To keep this thing in mind an online portal is created using SharePoint for better collaboration between staff, students and administration, and to make the things and services available at anytime, anywhere & from any device. The student portal has so many features, range of tools, services under one platform i.e. My UWL branding. (My Email, My Site, My SkyDrive, My School, My Noticeboard, My Connections, My Marks, My Timetable, My Personal Details, My Modules, My Pebble pad, My Calendar, My Graduation, My Software Deals).My site was similar to social networking platform like Facebook.

Ref: ucisa.ac.uk/groups/cisg/sharepoint

University of Essex -Student Recruitment

University of Essex started 2 year SharePoint project to store and use the central students file. They replaced their paper based document record with an Electronic Student File hosted in SharePoint. A two year SharePoint project was started at university of Essex to store and use the University’s central student files for editing and updating files and other sources into a single electronic file. The aim of creating Electronic files is to keep them safe and they can never be misplaced or misfiled. With SharePoint it is also possible to manage registry process from initiation to completion.

By the time SharePoint used for monitoring academic selectors’ approval of applications, interview results and disability needs valuation. Which lead to significant savings in staff time and reduction in paper files.

After the implementation of electronic files for undergraduates, the University turned its attention to postgraduate applications. These benefits of SharePoint resulted into unexpectedly positive degree.

Ref: ucisa.ac.uk/groups/cisg/sharepoint

D & M Holdings Inc. - Enhances Images, Cuts Cost 

D&M manufactures various brand of exclusive consumer electronics including Denon and Marantz. Now the company required to streamline the management of its brand website to increase the sales and reduce the cost. Hence D&M Holdings selected Microsoft SharePoint 2010 for internet sites. With the amazing feature of SharePoint the company has combined nine different platform into one, and created unified brand image. Resultant of it is website user experience has improved.

Ref: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/111176438/Omnie-Solutions-Implemented-MicroSoft-SharePoint-2010-for-D-and-M-Holdings-Company

Hence, this are some case studies defining the importance of SharePoint since many years, there are many more unique features of SharePoint which will lead users by surprise.

Innovative Use of SharePoint in Different Field

Posted by Sophina Dillard No comments

United Airlines- Central Deployment

United Airlines is one of the well-known and leading airlines with over 85,000 employees, participated in the SharePoint Server 2013 Rapid Deployment Program. The program build to provide advice or feedback about the customer’s airline’s experience in its WAN environment. Simultaneously, it also allowed each customer to reduce their server footprint while providing an outstanding social collaboration experience. Moreover team developed a new procurement tool that is based on taxonomy and additional features in SharePoint 2013.

United Airlines’ team trust on SharePoint sites to complete job-related tasks including the 379 global airports. Even the whole route map for the airline which shows the geographic environment is served by a centralized SharePoint farm.

Ref: technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh206325

University of West London - Social Learning

University of West London (UWL) decided to create a student portal by using SharePoint. A platform that allows students to interact with each other safely and which create academically driven environment.

To keep this thing in mind an online portal is created using SharePoint for better collaboration between staff, students and administration, and to make the things and services available at anytime, anywhere & from any device. The student portal has so many features, range of tools, services under one platform i.e. My UWL branding. (My Email, My Site, My SkyDrive, My School, My Noticeboard, My Connections, My Marks, My Timetable, My Personal Details, My Modules, My Pebble pad, My Calendar, My Graduation, My Software Deals).My site was similar to social networking platform like Facebook.

Ref: ucisa.ac.uk/groups/cisg/sharepoint

University of Essex -Student Recruitment

University of Essex started 2 year SharePoint project to store and use the central students file. They replaced their paper based document record with an Electronic Student File hosted in SharePoint. A two year SharePoint project was started at university of Essex to store and use the University’s central student files for editing and updating files and other sources into a single electronic file. The aim of creating Electronic files is to keep them safe and they can never be misplaced or misfiled. With SharePoint it is also possible to manage registry process from initiation to completion.

By the time SharePoint used for monitoring academic selectors’ approval of applications, interview results and disability needs valuation. Which lead to significant savings in staff time and reduction in paper files.

After the implementation of electronic files for undergraduates, the University turned its attention to postgraduate applications. These benefits of SharePoint resulted into unexpectedly positive degree.

Ref: ucisa.ac.uk/groups/cisg/sharepoint

D & M Holdings Inc. - Enhances Images, Cuts Cost 

D&M manufactures various brand of exclusive consumer electronics including Denon and Marantz. Now the company required to streamline the management of its brand website to increase the sales and reduce the cost. Hence D&M Holdings selected Microsoft SharePoint 2010 for internet sites. With the amazing feature of SharePoint the company has combined nine different platform into one, and created unified brand image. Resultant of it is website user experience has improved.

Ref: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/111176438/Omnie-Solutions-Implemented-MicroSoft-SharePoint-2010-for-D-and-M-Holdings-Company

Hence, this are some case studies defining the importance of SharePoint since many years, there are many more unique features of SharePoint which will lead users by surprise.