Debunking Myths - SharePoint and Email Management Colligo Webinar Joel Oleson

The Myths & Truths of Email Management in SharePoint November 20, 2008 with Joel Oleson

Agenda
Speaker Introductions
Myth #1 – Mailboxes are Great for Email Management
Myth #2 – Public Folders are Dead
Myth #3 – Email-Enabled Lists Are a SharePoint Must
Myth #4 – Managed Folders Solve All Archiving Needs
Myth #5 – Keep all Emails & Attachments in One Place
5 Truths Revisited
Contributor Add-In Tips & Tricks
Next Steps

Our Speakers HOST: Barry Jinks President & CEO Colligo Networks, Inc. GUEST SPEAKER: Joel Oleson Microsoft SharePoint Sr. Architect, Consultant, & Speaker

The Myths & Truths GUEST SPEAKER: Joel Oleson Microsoft SharePoint Sr. Architect, Consultant, & Speaker Quest Software

Introduction
Growing Demands of CIOs, Architects, & Admins
Shrinking budgets
Regulatory compliance & legal liability issues
Email Needs to Be Managed
Information stored in email is a key enterprise asset
They need to be shared & “findable” for reuse
Five Things You Must Know
Myths vs. real world best practices
How Colligo Contributor can help

Myth #1
Mailbox Folders are a Great Place to Store & Manage Emails & Attachments

Myth #1 – Manage Email in Mailbox Folders
Advantages of Using Mailbox to Manage Email
Information workers find it convenient Email feels safe
Email documents to themselves to store them in Exchange
Drag-and-drop files & emails into Outlook folders > PSTs
PSTs can provide offline access
PSTs can get around inbox size limits
Disadvantages of Mailbox for storage
Important enterprise content gets buried in PST
PST files can be problematic:
Difficult to backup – continuously locked
Creates data islands
Risk of laptop theft, loss, corruption

Truth #1
SharePoint is a Better Place to Store Email & Attachments for Archival & Collaboration Applications

Truth #1 – Manage Email in SharePoint
Why Use SharePoint to Manage Email?
Centralize content on company servers
Supports sharing of email content across the enterprise
Body & attachment become searchable & reusable
Advantages of version control & history
Improved knowledge management
What is Microsoft IT Doing?
.MSG/.EML files = Top 10 File Type

Truth #1 – Manage Email in SharePoint
Tips & Tricks
Use content types to specify retention policies on content
.MSG files open in Outlook
Use custom metadata to improve “findability”
Don’t dump email into SharePoint
Storage nightmare
Users must decide which content is important
Metadata and decisions must be made when stored

Myth #2
Public Folders Are Dead

Myth #2 – Public Folders Are Dead
No Need for Confusion…
February 20, 2006 – public folders may not be in next release
March 31, 2008 – public folders will be in next major release

Truth #2
The Exchange Team Will Include Public Folders in the Next Version & Support Them for a Minimum of 10 Years: However, They Do Strongly Recommend SharePoint for Most Scenarios…

Truth #2 – Consider SharePoint for Applications
Why SharePoint Instead of Public Folders?
Functionality overlap between Public Folders & SharePoint
Public Folders are in maintenance mode
Microsoft is investing heavily in SharePoint development
Use Public Folders Currently? New to Public Folders? File Sharing Strongly Consider SharePoint SharePoint is the Better Option Team Calendar Similar Functionality Consider SharePoint First Contact Sharing Similar Functionality Consider SharePoint First Discussion Forums Similar Functionality Consider SharePoint First Distribution Group Archive Similar Functionality Consider SharePoint First Custom Applications Strongly Consider SharePoint Strongly Consider SharePoint Organizational Forms Similar Functionality Use InfoPath

Moving more content to SharePoint
Archiving and age limits on nearly all folders
Replication disabled to eliminate duplicate storage
Locking new folders down to exception-based requests
New provisioning requests pointed to SharePoint
Distribution list archiving most common exception

Common Issues with Public Folders
Heavy time investment for Exchange Administrators
Common Concerns
Control
Performance
Scale & storage issues
Support
Duplicate File Shares and SharePoint
Security and privacy concerns
“ Public” social dumping grounds an HR issue (pictures & music)

Migrating from Lotus Notes or GroupWise?
Mail migration: it’s a no-brainer, Exchange
Application migration: strongly recommend SharePoint
Tips & Tricks
If you plan to customize SharePoint sites & site templates, look at Features & Solutions
Colligo Tip: Fill the Gaps with a SharePoint Add-In
Notes to SharePoint migrations: applications + email in Outlook
Works online & offline

Myth #3
A SharePoint Deployment Is Not Complete Until You Turn on Email-Enabled Lists

Can Support Very Cool Applications … But Be Careful
Emailing Post to Blog
Emailing an Exchange Discussion to SharePoint List
Email-Enabled Lists Pose Challenges & Risks
Self service can easily get “out of control” & drain IT resources
AD objects created with no lifecycle
Contact accounts naming conflicts
Security risks – easy to create a hole
List scalability challenges
Can be complex to implement and support

Truth #3
Use with Caution: To Be Successful, Email-Enabled Lists Require Management & Oversight to Scale Past a Few Thousand Items

Truth #3 – Caution: Manage Email-Enabled Lists
Decided against using self service email-enabled lists
Tips &Tricks
If planning to use email-enabled lists, ask these questions:
Are those contact objects in a separate OU?
How do you know if the inbound mail stops working?
Can anyone send to the email enabled list?
Does the item show up the way you expect it to, or are just attachments showing up?
Does the metadata look like you expect it to?

Myth #4
Managed Folders Linked to SharePoint Will Solve All Archiving Needs

Bridge the Gap Between Exchange & SharePoint
Managed Folders Introduced in Exchange 2007
“ Auto Copy” feature routes all content to SharePoint
Risks
Can put heavy requirements on IT
Not end user configurable
List security management
Managed Folders can be abused & become “dumping grounds”
Scale limitations can lead to SharePoint performance issues

Truth #4
Managed Folders Can Work Well, But Require a Solid Information Architecture Design & Trained Admins Who Understand How to Manage Scalability

With Structure the Business Can be Creative

Balance with IT Governance

Truth #4 – Managed Folders Work Well With Oversight
Tips &Tricks
Design for list scalability (more on this later)
Bad Design: a folder called “Keep” or “Backup”
Good Design: a folder called “Legal Hold”
Use content types to set retention policies
Know what you are doing - it’s easy to end up with a mess
Test in preproduction environment first
Develop good workflows to manage new list requests
Design with support, search, and life cycle in mind

Myth #5
It’s Better to Keep All Emails & Attachments in One Place, & Use Metadata to Search Content

Flat Lists Don’t Scale

Myth #5 – Save All Content In One Location
SharePoint is an Attractive Place to Store Everything
Use views & search queries to retrieve content
Risks With Large Lists
Performance degradation
“ All items” view can take 10’s of seconds to render
Content database locking with very large lists
Microsoft guidance: 2000 items per view in SharePoint list/library (Use Folders/Indexed Columns)

Default List Page Load is Inefficient

Truth #5
With SharePoint, It’s Best to Limit the Number of Items in One List and/or Use Views, Folders, & Queries to Improve Performance

Truth #5 – Manage Quantity of Content in Lists
Set up scan to find lists > 3000 items
Read their whitepaper: “SharePoint Performance Optimization”
Tips & Tricks
Use Folders to break up content, < 2000 items per folder
Indexed Columns for quicker retrieval
Search Queries
Most efficient method of retrieval

Truth #5 – Manage Quantity of Content in Lists
Further Reading on Performance & Scale Issues
“ Working with Large Lists in Office SharePoint Server 2007 ” by Steve Peschka, Microsoft
testing to determine the performance of large SharePoint lists under different loads & modes of operation
“ Plan for software boundaries (Office SharePoint Server)” on Microsoft TechNet
performance & capacity limits of SharePoint, & guidelines for acceptable performance

Care and Feeding

The Myths & Truths Revisited
Myth #1 – Mailboxes are Great for Email Management
Truth #1 – SharePoint is a better place to store email & attachments for archival & collaboration applications
Myth #2 – Public Folders are Dead
Truth #2 – The Exchange team will include Public Folders in the next version & support them for a minimum of 10 years: however, they do strongly recommend SharePoint

Why Use SharePoint to Manage Email?
Centralizes content on secure company servers
User based selection ensures “important” content is stored
Supports sharing of email across the enterprise
Email becomes “structured” enterprise content with metadata
Body & attachment become searchable, findable, & reusable
Advantages of version control & history features
Content types support retention policies
Improved collaboration, knowledge management, & ECM

Truth #3 – Use with caution: to be successful, email-enabled lists require management & oversight to scale past a few thousand items
Truth #4 – Managed Folders can work well, but require a solid information architecture design & trained admins who understand how to manage scalability
Myth #5 – Keep all Emails & Attachments in One Place
Truth #5 – Limit the number of items in one list and/or use views, folders, & queries to improve performance

Colligo Tips & Tricks For Email in SharePoint HOST: Barry Jinks President & CEO Colligo Networks, Inc.

Tip #1 – Make it Easy to Manage Email in SharePoint
To Boost Adoption, Make it Easy for Users
Contributor Add-In for Outlook
SharePoint interface embedded in Outlook
2-way synch to document libraries (and lists)
Easy email drag-and-drop within Outlook folder tree
Content type selection at time of drag-and-drop
Automatic message field extraction (To, From, Date, etc.)
Immediate application of custom metadata
Supports Archival, Collaboration, & DM Applications

Tip #1 – Make it Easy with Drag-and-Drop

Tip #1 – Make Metadata Easy to Capture & Set

Tip #1 – Make it Easy to Access SharePoint Content

Tip #2 – Fill the Gaps with a SharePoint Add-In
Colligo Contributor for Notes Application Migration
Integrate Outlook email & SharePoint applications in one UI
Support for custom lists, content types, metadata, & views
Rich desktop client: right-click, drag-and-drop, etc.
Offline caching for mobile workers
Total Client Solution Outlook + Contributor Email + Applications =

Tip #2 – Fill the Gaps with a SharePoint Add-In
Colligo Contributor Supports SharePoint Features Used to Migrate Notes Applications

Tip #2 – Fill the Gaps with a SharePoint Add-In Outlook Exchange Notes Domino SharePoint Applications Email Contributor

Tip #3 – Drag-and-drop to SharePoint Folders in Outlook
Drawbacks of Sending to Email-Enabled Lists
Stores as .EML (will not open in Outlook)
Attachments stripped off & stored separately
Users cannot specify content type or metadata at “save” time
Advantages of Outlook Add-In for Email Management
Stores body & attachments as .MSG ( will open in Outlook)
Users specify content type & metadata at “save” time
Automatically extracts email properties as metadata
Outlook rules can automate email copy / move operation

Tip #4 – Let Users Self-Provision SharePoint Folders
Reduce Workload for IT
Users link SharePoint lists & libraries to Outlook on their own
Security trimmed – supports SharePoint user privileges
Flexibility in Classifying Content
Users select retention regime through content types
Default metadata specified at the folder level
SharePoint Experience in Outlook
SharePoint-like interface in Outlook
Access to content, metadata, views, documents, & forms
Eliminates context switching to browser

Tip #5 – Boost Performance With Caching & Metadata
Caching Content Can Improve Performance
Rich client much faster than browser access
Views & filters render quickly
Content is opened instantly with double click
Users can rely on consistent UI performance, online or offline
Ability to set metadata when content is saved leads to better classification

Customer Case Study: KPMG Denmark
Business Challenges
Wireless access too slow or unavailable at client offices
Email retention required for engagement management
Auditors add final files to SharePoint only at engagement end
Challenges: below optimal productivity, security, & compliance
Colligo Contributor Increases Auditor Productivity
Improved productivity with offline SharePoint at client offices
Enhanced client service with access to all relevant information
Boosted SharePoint adoption with easy drag-and-drop
Increased the # of emails/working papers in SharePoint
Improved data centralization & security for compliance

Next Steps
> Get 30-Day Free Trial – Contributor Add-In
> Access Webinar Recording
> Download Webinar Whitepaper
> Contact Presenters
Joel Oleson
Sr. Product Manager
Quest Software
[email_address]
Barry Jinks
President & CEO
Colligo Networks
[email_address]
www.colligo.com/webinars/EmailTruths

Debunking Myths - SharePoint and Email Management Colligo Webinar Joel Oleson

by Joel Oleson

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