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Managing Your Current SharePoint 2010 Initiative with 2013 in Mind

Posted by Errin O'Connor on Jul, 17, 2012 01:07

With the SharePoint Server 2013 Preview being released yesterday there are a lot of organizations who are currently involved in large SharePoint 2010 deployments who are wondering how best they can adjust or minimize any system architecture or information architecture changes as well as governance updates to their current initiative.

I have had the pleasure of being able to test SharePoint Server 2013 for about the past year and with the preview and public information becoming available I wanted to put together this article to cover some of the major changes that are coming with SharePoint Server 2013 and things for you to think about in your current or planned SharePoint 2010 implementation.

Due to some release information restrictions I will use a lot of information verbatim that Microsoft released publically yesterday but it is key to go with a Hybrid SharePoint Deployment methodology in your current SharePoint 2010 deployment to adapt properly to a future upgrade of SharePoint 2013.

Note: As I have seen with SharePoint 2003, 2007 and 2010’s releases, some features may change or be put into a future Service Pack but this is where the product stands publically today.

A Few Quick Security Points:

In SharePoint 2013 Preview, claims-based authentication is the default and preferred method of user authentication and is required to take advantage of server-to-server authentication and app authentication.

The use of classic mode authentication, also known as Windows classic authentication, is discouraged in SharePoint 2013 Preview and you can only create or configure web applications for classic mode authentication with Windows PowerShell cmdlets.

Server-to-Server Authentication

Server-to-server authentication enables you to share resources that live on various servers in a SharePoint farm and access services, such as Exchange Server 2013 Preview and Lync Server 2013 Preview that are distributed among servers. Server-to-server authentication in SharePoint 2013 Preview also supports resource sharing and access with additional services that are compliant with the server-to-server authentication protocol.”

For SSL: “Web applications that include server-to-server authentication endpoints for inbound server-to-server requests, or that make outbound server-to-server requests must be configured to use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).”

When Configuring SharePoint 2013 My Sites

SharePoint 2013 My Sites are hosted by a web application and rely on a User Profile service application. SharePoint 2013 My Sites also requires a managed metadata service application and you should also have a Search service application to use with My Sites as without the Search service application the 2013 My Sites functionality will be affected. 2013 My Sites should also be configured on their own Web Application (hence your SharePoint 2010 My Sites should as well) as well as Site Collection (called the My Site Host Site Collection).

SharePoint 2013 – User Profile Service Application – Activity Feed Job

The User Profile Service Application – Activity Feed Job creates system generated posts in the feeds for the following events:

  • Following a tag
  • Tagging an item
  • Birthday celebration
  • Job title change
  • Workplace anniversary
  • Updates to Ask Me About
  • Posting on a note board

Note: Organizations who are developing custom web parts or features for Birthday Celebrations, Workplace anniversaries, etc. should note this feature is out of the box in SharePoint 2013.

SharePoint 2013 – New Communities Feature (with Microblogging)

This feature allows you to create communities within your organization. You can create Community Sites (with an OOTB template) as well as Community Portals. This is outside of your department hierarchy that you currently use in SharePoint 2010 and should continue to go with in SharePoint 2013 but a mindset change should come into play around Departmental Sites vs. Communities and Community Portals as this is getting into Social Collaboration \ Professional Networking in SharePoint 2013.

SharePoint 2013 – The “Following” Settings

“In the SharePoint Server 2013 Preview, following is a user-initiated action that indicates the user’s interest in a specific document, person, site, or tag. When users follow an item, new activities about that item appear in the users’ newsfeeds on their My Sites. Users view all their followed items from their My Sites.”

Note: This is something that will need to be added to your SharePoint 2010 \ SharePoint 2013 upgrade Governance Strategy in the future as there are settings \ governance around “Following” that should be taken into consideration.

The SharePoint Server Feed Cache and Last Modified Time Cache

“The SharePoint Server 2013 Preview feeds require the Feed Cache and Last Modified Time Cache. The Feed Cache maintains recent conversations and activities of entities. The Last Modified Time Cache maintains the last modified time for all items in the Feed Cache. The Distributed Cache service manages both the Feed Cache and the Last Modified Time Cache.”

Note: This is another example of added features coming out in SharePoint 2013 that organizations should keep in mind as you may be developing custom features in your SharePoint 2010 deployment around activities cache, etc.

“Last modified time information for recent conversations and activities” for much improved auditing as well as user participation, etc. within a community or within SharePoint 2013 in general for collaboration.

SharePoint 2013 eDiscovery and In-Place Holds – “eDiscovery Centers”

In SharePoint 2013, you can create eDiscovery Centers. There are Search service applications as well as the determination of what content each Search service application should crawl. You can have a single “eDiscovery Center” or multiple “eDiscovery Centers” and even associate the different centers with the Search Service so that all discoverable content is crawled by a particular Search Service.

This is an extremely exciting new feature and will only add to SharePoint’s stance as a leader in not only collaboration but a True ECM \ Records Management Platform with industry leading Social \ Professional Networking.

Configure Communication between SharePoint Server 2013 Preview and Exchange Server 2013 Preview

If you will use a SharePoint eDiscovery Center to discover content in Exchange Server, you must configure SharePoint Server 2013 Preview and Exchange Server to interact.

Note: To discover content in Exchange Server from a SharePoint eDiscovery Center, you must be running Exchange Server 2013 Preview.

Also, Content is only discoverable if it is crawled and indexed by the Search service application that is associated with the web application that the eDiscovery Center is in. It’s important to identify this Search service application when you are planning for eDiscovery in SharePoint 2013.

SharePoint 2013’s Business Connectivity Service (BCS)

“Every Business Connectivity Services solution is unique because each business has unique data integration problems that it is solving by using Business Connectivity Services. The solutions can range from something simple and straightforward that a power user or IT professional (who has the appropriate permissions) can perform by themselves, to complex solutions that require developer, IT professional, and end-user solution development involvement”

This is a shift to an extent from SharePoint 2010’s BCS mindset as instead of creating a centralized BCS for the entire organization to pull from you can tailor it more towards specific departmental or project needs and even to a type of role like a Power User. This is an extremely exciting new feature as reporting is going to be more powerful with audience driven capabilities.

SharePoint 2013 and Mobility

Microsoft is absolutely committed to mobility in SharePoint 2013 to work on pretty much every mobile or edge device out there. Also, there is a concept of a Microsoft Office 2013 Application being licensed to a user and not just a device which is a new concept. A roaming type of license will be released so that users can access “their” copy of Office 2013 wherever they are on which ever device they have with them.

The Single Biggest Change – SharePoint 2013 “apps”

“The apps for SharePoint provide a new method to deliver specific information or functionality to a SharePoint site. An app for SharePoint is a small, easy-to-use, stand-alone app that solves a specific end-user or business need. Site owners can discover and download apps for SharePoint from a public SharePoint Store or from their organization’s internal App Catalog and install them on their SharePoint sites. These apps for SharePoint integrate the best of the web with SharePoint 2013 Preview. They do not replace SharePoint features and solution packages, which customize or enhance SharePoint sites. Unlike features and solutions, which farm or site collection administrators have to install, apps for SharePoint are stand-alone applications that owners of sites can add to their SharePoint sites. The apps for SharePoint have a simple lifecycle – they can be installed, upgraded, and uninstalled by site owners.”

The following are examples of apps for SharePoint that site owners could add to their sites:

  • An app that provides event planning tools.
  • An app that provides a shopping cart experience for a site.

An app that sends a note of recognition for good work (kudos) to someone in the organization.

This is where Microsoft is offering a public SharePoint “App Store” concept as well as the private onsite company specific “App Store” concept. Your organization can have an “App Store” or almost along the same lines as the “Center of Excellence” concept where you have reusable solutions that can be deployed across the organization. Workflows, Web Parts, etc. (apps) can be more prevalently displayed to the organization. I think “private clouds” (i.e. Onsite or On-premise” environments, probably 70% of the SharePoint world will not feel comfortable purchasing apps from Microsoft’s app store right from the beginning due to information security risks or perceived risks as they will more than likely insist that the code be provided with the “app”.

I have been a longtime proponent of the “Solutions Gallery” in an onsite Center of Excellence and this is a similar concept and is great for Microsoft to roll out in SharePoint 2013 as it will be more prominently featured and promoted throughout the organization.

There is also a consideration of an app license as well as support and any change requests for that app and will the developer support that and if so what is the cost and if it’s internal, can there be charge backs to that department, etc. This will all be part of SharePoint 2013’s governance model and should start to be added to your existing SharePoint 2010 governance strategy.

Service Applications in SharePoint 2013 and Upgrade Considerations to Test the SharePoint 2013 Preview

“The following service applications have databases that can be upgraded when you upgrade from SharePoint Server 2010 to SharePoint Server 2013 Preview:

  • Business Data Connectivity service application
  • Managed Metadata service application
  • PerformancePoint Services service application
  • Search service application
  • Secure Store Service application
  • User Profile service application

Attaching and upgrading these databases configures these service applications. Settings for other services will have to be reconfigured when you upgrade.”

Supported Editions for Upgrading from SharePoint 2010 to SharePoint 2013 Preview

“The following table lists the editions available for SharePoint Server 2010 and the supported and unsupported ending editions when you upgrade to SharePoint Server 2013 Preview.”

Starting editionSupported ending editionUnsupported ending edition
SharePoint Server 2010, Standard editionSharePoint Server 2013 Preview, Standard editionSharePoint Server 2013 Preview, Enterprise editionYou can convert to Enterprise edition after upgrade.
SharePoint Server 2010, Enterprise EditionSharePoint Server 2013 Preview, Enterprise editionSharePoint Server 2013 Preview, Standard edition.
SharePoint Server 2010, Trial editionSharePoint Server 2013 Preview, Trial editionSharePoint Server 2013 Preview, full productYou can convert to the full product after upgrade.

Summary

SharePoint 2013 has a lot of exciting new features and it will be interesting to see how the SharePoint Product Team at Microsoft continues to build and package but the features and solutions within 2013 should give you and your organization added confidence in the fact that you have selected a solution that Microsoft is backing with its full support and has tagged SharePoint as its flagship product.

Errin O'Connor
About the Author

Errin O'Connor

With over 25 years of experience in Information Technology and Management Consulting, Errin O’Connor has led hundreds of large-scale enterprise implementations from Business Intelligence, Power BI, Office 365, SharePoint, Exchange, IT Security, Azure and Hybrid Cloud efforts for over 165 Fortune 500 companies.

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