This document provides answers to common questions about Microsoft SharePoint 2013 in a FAQ format. It clarifies that SharePoint is a collaboration tool, not a delivery platform for apps, and explains how components like Office 365, Office Web Apps, Excel Services, Access Services, and SkyDrive relate to but are separate from SharePoint. It also describes the purpose of SharePoint Designer and Workflow and provides resources for learning more about SharePoint 2013.

1. This is Not a Talk About
Sharepoint 2013
kpd

2. Why
• I don’t get Sharepoint
• 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
• Too many pieces moving to get my head around
• Former SP pieces that were spun off as separate things
• Formerly non SP pieces that are well integrated now
• Pieces that are named similarly to something else but aren’t
those things
• Pieces that consultants have brought in and associated with
Sharepoint but that aren’t Sharepoint
• If you are in that same place, have I got the 411 for
you…

3. Using the FAQ Model
• Heard these multiple times
• Asked them multiple times myself and got
different answers from different people
• These are not the right answers; I can assure
you they’re probably wrong, but they may
help us move in the right direction. You
almost assuredly can contribute to this
discussion.

4. What is Sharepoint?
• Collaboration tool (teamspace/wiki/lists)?
• Self-service development portal (workflow, no
IT involved)?
• Delivery platform (replacing IIS for my apps)?
YES

5. How is Office 365 Related to
Sharepoint?
• Office 365 is a subscription plan including
• Office applications
• Lync Web Conferencing
• Exchange Online
• Can include the desktop version of Office as well
• Sharepoint is available as an offering as part of an
Office 365 Suite
• So SP doesn’t deliver Office 365
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/business/microsoft-office-365-for-business-faq-
FX103030232.aspx

6. Uh, OK, How About Office Web
Apps?
• Office Web Apps is a separate entity from
Sharepoint
• Delivers access to Office documents via the
web
• Couple that with Mobile Iron to see the
intranet, and you’ve got Office on the iPad,
baby!

7. What is Excel Services and How
Do They Fit with Sharepoint?
• Enables Excel Web access (your doc is editable in
the browser)
• Collaborative editing
• Save and publish workbooks from desktop to
Sharepoint
• Can talk to Excel Calculation Services via Web
Services, REST, or JSON APIs
• “is all about BI, and you get it as part of
SharePoint Enterprise”
• Excel Web Apps is part of Office Web Apps (?)
Get a reference

8. What Are Access Services?
• Brings Access database to any browser
• Collaborative web applications
• An abstraction layer over SQL Server (!)
• Tables in Access are tables in SQL
• Queries without parameters are views
• Queries with parameters become table-valued functions
• Business users can create data tracking apps
• Similar to Operations’ Access application?
• Access App = Sharepoint App
• Infopath is deprecated because the power of Access Services is so much greater
• Create and modify Access Apps directly in Sharepoint – can package and deploy
too (can include the database structures and content)
• “the abstraction layer on top of SQL servers for Business users to actually design
and create real business applications”
• Can we set this up to point at an existing SQL structure? http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/sharepoint/fp123606

9. What is all that Stuff at the Top
of the Page That I Never Use?
• Sharepoint default navigation reminds you that you are
in Sharepoint
• And do Sharepoint-y things, not all of which work. From
different locations.

10. What is all that Stuff at the Top of
the Page That I Never Use? (2!)
Only for editors?
BROWSE – see the
page as if you’re a
user
PAGE – edit the
page as an admin
All:
NewsFeed – Your internal Facebook/Twitter feed
SkyDrive – Your P: Drive
Sites – Sites within Sharepoint that you have
followed (only within Sharepoint?)
Name – Profile/Sign out – like Google options
Gear – Site settings and stuff you can see
? – Help – Best practices for creating and managing
team sites. Do all users see this?
Share – add people to site or doc (to push info)
Follow – subscribe to a page or doc – changes
appear in your NewsFeed
Sync – copy a site to your skydrive or computer
Edit – if you have edit perms – edits the page
Box – “Focus on Content” – does nothing for me
Note – These “out of the box”
features have to be there.
Often implementations are
done quickly and lazily and
forget to implement them
properly.

11. What is Sharepoint Designer? When
Do I Use That Instead of Visual
Studio?
• The Artist Tool Formerly Known as Frontpage
• Not a dev tool. More of a SP power user tool
for creating SP artifacts
• Devs would normally never use Designer.
Power Users probably never would use Studio.
• VS is needed for packaging

12. What Does Skydrive Mean in the
Context of Sharepoint?
• SkyDrive is your P: drive
• SkyDrive can be your F: drive?
• It’s not connected with your home SkyDrive, if
you use it there

13. How Can I Learn More?
• Technet videos are very good:
• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
US/sharepoint/fp123606 ... but very lengthy
• Try it yourself?
• Free to evaluate
• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/evalcenter/hh973397.aspx
• Requirements
• SQL Server 2012 (for BI stuff)
• Windows Server 2012 (Std or datacenter) or Windows Server
2008 R2 SP1
• MS.NET 4.5;
• 8 GB, 4 core, 64 bit, 80 Gb for system drive

14. What about Workflow?
• Workflow is entirely separate in SP 2013
• Used to be integrated, now runs separately
• Now called Workflow Manager 1.0
• Use Visio 2013 or Sharepoint Designer to build
workflows and execute them on Workflow
Manager with integration with Sharepoint

15. Conclusions
• I’ll get to this later. I have some ideas though.