Office 365 Newswire: What will 2012 mean to Office 365? – 12.28.2011

I have travelled there-and-back-again from to the plains of West Texas. This is a land covered with gigantic windmills that harness the power of the 30 mile-per-hour winds that scatter the prairie dust along with the occasional tumbleweed and generate electricity for the great state of Texas. I think these windmills produce 8% of the energy here.

Not a bad start.

I guess they are a good thing but they kinda ruin the view. West Texas has the best sunsets you will ever see. I think it is because we can see all the way to the ocean… that is if the windmills don’t obstruct the view.

The New Year is upon us!

I can tell that a new year dawns because the majority of the news discusses one of two topics:

1. The best/worst N things that happened in 2011.
2. What 2012 will mean to/for ____________

In the case of item #1, N typically equals 10 (N=10)

In the case of item #2, insert any noun.

For this edition of the Office 365 Newswire, that noun is… well, Office 365!

What will 2012 mean to Office 365?

This section actually includes items that (more or less) fit items #1 & #2 above. I believe a liberal interpretation of their definitions will suit our purposes best for now.

• The road ahead: Cloud & IT predictions for 2012 :: These predictions originate from the great, all-knowing, oracle from Quest Software… their CEO. He predicts MSFT will gain traction with Office 365 but will see slow adoption overall. Find that confusing? Me too.
• In 2011, Microsoft began its comeback in the Cloud :: Paul Thurrot reviews Microsoft’s 2011. Actually, I think he has been reading the Office newswires and my statements that Microsoft is starting to rediscover their MOJO. Mr. Thurrot sees something similar as he reviews MSFT’s 2011. This article has some interesting insights. I say interesting because 1) I didn’t think of them and 2) I agree with them. Also, there are quotes from Tom Rizzo regarding Office 365. When Mr. Rizzo speaks, we should listen.
• Analysts will be ‘shocked’ when they see Office 365 sales figures :: Part 1 :: Part 2 :: Speaking of Mr. Rizzo, he was recently interview by Redmond Channel Partner magazine. This is one of the best articles I read while away for Christmas. I think big things lie ahead for Office 365. As an Office developer, I think I will spend time this year brushing up on my HTML + Javascript + CSS skills. Just look at Windows 8 and Office 365 and it doesn’t take long to realize these three technologies will be a big part of our future.
• My Office 365 wishlist :: Actually, this is not my wishlist but it is the title of a post from the Office 365 community forums. Could we see any of these items in 2012?
• Tech that should be on your company’s Radar for 2012 :: Tablets, virtualization, cloud, blah blah blah, & OFFICE 365! Be sure and participate in the survey.

Win some, lose some

You can’t win them all… at least not initially. This week, one of the largest and most famous universities in the USA decided to adopt Google Apps instead of Office 365. It was a slow news week so this news item received lots of attention. No doubt this decision required a “blue ribbon committee” and several months to consider each and every pro and/or con.

Here is a smattering of the digital pulp produced regarding this item:

• UC Berkeley’s email system: Microsoft to Google :: This article does a great job of providing all the facts regarding Berkeley’s decision. No editorializing here. This article is the place to start.
• Microsoft loses UC Berkeley Cloud contract to Google :: This article is fairly short but it quickly explains where Office 365 was strong and where it ultimately lost.
• UC Berkeley chooses Google Apps over Microsoft Office 365 :: Turns out Google is providing their Google Apps service, free of charge, without ads, to Berkeley forever. Hmmm. Makes me wonder about the next item.
• Email / Calendar solution: assessment matrix :: This is the blow-by-blow decision matrix used by Berkeley’s committee to document their decision. It is worth reading for anyone looking to sell or purchase either of these services.
• Berkeley explains why Google trumps Microsoft :: This items is from Wired.com. The author does a great job of making the topic interesting while providing tons of details.

It appears the sticking point had to do with the requirement of installing on-premise Exchange prior to migrating to the Office 365. I’m not an infrastructure guy so I can’t contest this point. That said, I’m not convinced this is the case.

Other news of interest

I couldn’t think of a heading that properly encapsulated these items… so I left it with the generic, all-purpose heading that it is.

• SharePoint Online and custom BDC models :: SharePoint Online now supports Business Connectivity Services. These services let you connect to external data for use within SharePoint. This link is from StackExchange’s SharePoint site. The questioner wonders how he can use the BCS (although he used its old name, BDC) to connect to timesheet data from another system. He won’t like the answer but you will learn something.
• Everything you need to know about the Ribbon Designer for SharePoint and Office 365 :: No doubt you have heard the news about our new product. If you haven’t (or if you are looking to learn more), this link will take to Learning Center page for the Ribbon Designer. It contains links to all our articles and videos that will help you learn what you need to about this great new development tool.
• Office 365 integration with Small Business Server 2011 :: This free tool allows users of SBS 2011 to integrate their on-premise technology with Office 365 email and collaboration tools (e.g. SharePoint Online). Using this tool you can perform Office 365 account management, link your internet domain, view usage stats, and more. The tool integrates seamlessly with Windows SBS 2011 Essentials.

Cutting room floor

If only I had more time and didn’t need another cup of coffee. The NY Times states they publish “all the news that’s fit to print”.

Well, the Office 365 Newswire (as well as the Office Newswire) publishes “all the news I can editorialize while drinking a single cup of coffee”.

• IT shops scrutinize Office 365 while clutching on-premises apps
• SharePoint Online and External Data using JSONP
• Excel Mashup Tutorial :: I keep thinking I will dig into this Excel Mashup thing… next week maybe?
• MasterCard offers discount for Small Businesses on Microsoft’s Office 365
• Web Analytics in Office 365 : SharePoint Online

That’s all for today.

I’m headed to make more coffee and then kick it in gear the rest of the day.