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BSM: Getting Beyond the Alphabet Soup

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:28:00 -0500

It is a common discussion topic I have had for years with colleagues, customers, and even family members. That is, how to describe IT Service Management so that a layperson can understand the concept. The first and most obvious stumbling block is all of the acronyms associated with the topic. The main culprits—ITSM, ITBM, and ITIL—share the abbreviation for Information Technology (IT). And that is where the general confusion about IT Service Management originates. People see IT and immediately think of it as a purely technical discipline. Not so.

GUI Enhancements to SQL Server 2012: SQL Denali’s Page Level Restore

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:30:00 -0600

With the new release of SQL Server Denali just around the corner, there are several new features that will be included.This blog post is going to focus on the improved Graphical User Interface (GUI) enhancements for Page Level Restore. I am only trying to familiarize you with the new features that will be available with the new release of SQL Server Denali. Also, all of the information is based upon SQL Server Denali CTP 3 and could change in the final release, which is currently slated to be the first half of 2012.

Well Master Data Management (MDM) in the "Real World"

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 10:54:00 -0600

Managing well data is a lifelong pursuit for most Oil & Gas enterprises. However, defining and maintaining a reliable set of descriptive information about each well is a game of shadows that has consumed many a company. A simple structure may work best in beginning the process of moving toward a more complete, more confident organization in terms of understanding its well portfolio.

Asset Centricity: Bridging the Gap Between the Business and IT

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:11:00 -0500

For most organizations, aligning IT systems with the core business is a goal that always seems to be just out of reach. I speak with clients every day who are on this common, age-old quest. Most ask the same two questions: “What is the best way to align IT with business? And where should we start?” There are no hard and fast answers, but an asset-centric approach to information management can help rationalize any organization's IT environment.

How to Share SharePoint Online Sites With External Users (Office 365)

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:23:00 -0500

One of the coolest features unique to SharePoint Online is the ability to share sites with external users. I’ve noticed the functionality was there throughout the beta but I believe I hadn’t actually been able to get it to work until GA. Even then, it took checking a number of settings before I could actually get it to work.

The 'New' ITIL?

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 09:04:00 -0500

There is a lot of conversation and hubbub about the release of ITIL 2011. Is it a new version? Is it just minor changes? Are there new processes? Have some processes been removed? Well, there is good news and . . . more good news!

Remedy 7.6 Delta Data Migration on a Company-by-Company Basis

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:44:00 -0500

I’ve been working with BMC Remedy for 17 years, and from time to time come upon version upgrade challenges that I’m sure others are seeing with their own projects. Recently, I had to determine if there was a way to migrate data from a source server to a target server on a company–by-company basis during an ITSM 7.6.04 upgrade using the Delta Data Manager, as this is not a BMC-supported approach. This concept has recently been proven effective in an upgrade from a 7.1 source to a 7.6.04 target server although the setup to accomplish this is manual.

Solid-State Storage Technology Can Save an Unusable Application

Mon, 23 May 2011 12:01:00 -0500

From a database administration perspective, solid-state drive technology represents a solution for a “resource hog” application and can significantly improve the app’s performance and scalability beyond the software vendor's specification. It can also overcome SQL Server’s metadata-locking limitations related to bulk inserts. For one Stonebridge client, implementation of solid-state drive technology allowed business users to exceed the software vendor's limitations and eliminate SQL Server outages.

Too Much Stuff: Business Intelligence Tool Rationalization

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 08:51:37 -0500

Much like how tools accumulate over time in your garage, an organization's BI tools are acquired over time from a variety of sources. Every situation is different when it comes to addressing BI capability overlap and tool redundancy, and I’ve seen organizations move in every possible direction amongst the main tool vendors. Still, several key principles should be applied in all cases.

PowerPivot Prototyping: Strengths and Weaknesses

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 15:35:46 -0600

In my last post, PowerPivot: A Cool Way to Prototype, I talked about the importance to prototyping a BI solution as well as consideration for using PowerPivot as a tool for developing a prototype solution. In this post, I’d like to discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of using PowerPivot as a prototyping tool for PerformancePoint dashboards and other Analytic Reporting solutions.

Oracle DBA: One Read-Only User Setup or User-by-User Setup?

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 09:24:35 -0600

I recently had an inquiry from one of our clients. They have an Oracle database, the entire data model is in a single schema with a single username. They have recently started adding additional reporting users and roles to their business, but that has not been reflected in the database yet. The developer asked me whether it was better to have a single read-only user or a set of different users. The answer, as with most IT-related queries, is: “it depends”.

Visual Business Intelligence Provides ‘Big Picture’ View . . . Literally

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:04:42 -0600

The objective of business intelligence/data warehousing is to take data you already collect and transform it into useful, actionable information – so that you can analyze trends, draw conclusions, and spot opportunities. Data visualization helps achieve that objective by embracing the “picture is worth a thousand words” adage.

PowerPivot: A Cool Way to Prototype

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:37:18 -0600

Prototyping is a crucial step in the development process, and PowerPivot is a great business intelligence prototyping tool.

How to Start Over With SharePoint 2010 Enterprise Search

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 15:36:14 -0600

It happens to the best of us. Sometimes, we just need to start over. A lot of times, I see cases in the forums where it is just easier to reinstall the Search Service Application. This especially applies to new environments or when someone ran the dreaded “wizard” to set up their service applications. This serves as a quick reference guide on how to re-create your Search Service Application.

How to Create an OpenSearch Provider in SharePoint

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 10:53:51 -0500

A while back, a friend pointed out to me that certain web sites could be searched in Google Chrome using the syntax <ur> query in the address bar. For example, once I have been to youtube.com, I can later type in youtube to initiate a search query. As someone that does a lot of work with SharePoint Enterprise Search, this got me thinking.

Windows Azure for Noobs

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 10:46:32 -0500

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to attend a Windows Azure Boot Camp. So this post today is for those of you who haven’t been keeping up and want to know about some of the basics.

Wildcard Search Web Part for SharePoint 2010

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:29:47 -0500

SharePoint 2010 Enterprise Search has great wildcard search support built in now. However, it requires the use to add an asterisk to their query every time they want a wildcard search. This is a great step compared to what we had in MOSS 2007, but now it results in a training issue. In 2007, many people wrote custom code or relied on the Wildcard Search Web Part that I built. So I thought why not use the QueryManager object to override the query and add an asterisk to the query for the user.

“Phase Zero”: Increasing Your Odds for Project Success

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 09:18:51 -0500

Formalizing the pre-development analysis phase is a best practice that we at Stonebridge provide to our clients via our Phase Zero® Assessments. A key component of our consulting methodology, Phase Zero is so named for its chronological place in multi-phased project development. The goal of a Phase Zero Assessment is to help both Stonebridge and the client gain a clear, shared understanding of the scope and extent of the business problem and the level of effort and costs necessary to deliver the solution.

Some handy keywords you might find useful in SharePoint Enterprise Search

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:39:42 -0500

Enterprise Search is one of my favorite SharePoint topics to speak about. Often in my talks, I use various keyword queries to display results that people often end up asking me about. Today, I thought it would be useful to show you some of the most useful built-in keywords that you can use to troubleshoot search results or even build custom scopes with.

Data Warehousing: Get it Right

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:27:18 -0500

Given the analytical and reporting benefits of a well-conceived data warehouse, it is imperative to get it right the first time. You can maximize the success of your data warehousing initiative using industry-standard best practices.

R&D in Recovery

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:35:31 -0500

I travel frequently. Sometimes too much, but the one thing that I look forward to is my time on the plane. I catch up on items that have not received enough attention during the week, spend time strategizing, work on my Japanese, and my most favorite past time – reading the Wall Street Journal. There is something soothing about reading The Journal cover to cover, being informed and leveraging ideas from others’ successes or failures.

Welcome to the New Stonebridge

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:15:20 -0500

Over the last 6 months, Stonebridge has been aggressively seizing on a strengthening economy. We have invested strongly in our people, processes, technology, marketing and sales engine to ensure that we are growing at a strong pace, but are also positioning ourselves for even larger growth in the future. Through our tightened organizational message and brand, we are driving a stronger focus on specialized, higher-value solutions in the marketplace, while ensuring that we are helping customers achieve their goals.

That Elusive "Single Version of the Truth"

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:00:26 -0500

I recently read an article about a new CEO’s “embarrassing problem.” It seems this CEO discovered there was no easy way for him to get a picture of what was happening in his company, no way for him to get the right information – the "single version of the truth" – he needs to accurately gauge the company’s true performance.

PMO: A Best Practice for All Seasons

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:43:37 -0500

In troubled economic times, a PMO can become a competitive differentiator to ensure that the project dollars and resources invested will provide the maximum possible return. The PMO serves as an advocate for the business and for IT, with the common good of the company as its primary objective. It also addresses how to better manage and prevent one of the most common causes for project failure: scope creep.