Microsoft Partner Archives

Digital Transformation and What it Really Means for Business

It's impossible to pick up a business magazine or read an IT blog without seeing "Digital Transformation" in the headlines. And while it's garnering a lot of ink and pixels, many professionals aren't quite sure what this means for their business. When we need technology answers, we go right to Mike Balatzis. He's Red Level's Microsoft Solutions Manager and besides being a nice guy with a big brain, he talks in plain English so even the non-geeks can understand. We peppered him with a few questions about Digital Transformation and what it really means for business owners and executives. Here's the scoop. What is the Digital Transformation? In simple terms, every business is a Digital Business and the importance of technology as a driver for business value has never been greater. This is especially important when there is an outage or another business impact. Everyone wants the ability to connect ...

Red Level2023-02-16T16:01:32+00:00

Take Advantage of Microsoft Flow Timers

Timers are helpful as a reminder to trigger us to do other actions. For example, if you set a timer when cooking pasta to make sure it’s al dente, you turn off the heat when the timer rings. It’s very much the same when it comes to Microsoft Flow; the timer can be very handy. Microsoft Flow has a whole series of timers that are built into it or things you can use to trigger the next action. In old-school technology, we have used in SharePoint to trigger types of time-based events through “information management policy” or “scheduled workflow.” These are the traditional approaches, and they get the job done. Some examples: Information Management Policy - You set duration, a start period and start date for when you want a certain document to wait for the next action to trigger. Scheduled workflow - Set a specific time to trigger ...

Red Level2023-02-16T16:01:33+00:00

Microsoft Teams Shortcuts

How often do you use shortcut commands such as Ctrl + C or Ctrl + V? Mostly likely a lot, or more than you can count. The truth is learning how to use to shortcut commands help us as users to familiarize with the system and use it. Same goes for Microsoft Teams! If you are struggling to find documents, things, or functions in Teams check our these shortcut commands. You may find they make it easier to embrace Microsoft Teams. Navigation- Alt +1 = Activity Alt + 2 = Chat Alt + 3 = Teams Alt + 4 = Meetings Communication- Ctrl + Shift +D = Decline Call Ctrl + Shift +S = Accept Call Other examples- Alt + E = Go to Search Alt + N = New Chat The command bar is another great tool in Teams that allows you to do some shortcut functions without typing ...

Red Level2023-02-16T16:01:33+00:00

The Yammer Hammer

Focus the Yammer’s purpose to communication, by removing file management features. I always keep my keys in the same place, on a hook at home, my backpack at work or my right coat pocket. With my daughter now driving, my car is taken out on a random basis, and my keys are often NOT found where I expect. However, with a few minutes of search, they are usually found. The issue is not the multiple drivers, it’s that there are multiple good places to store the keys at home. The Kitchen counter, the table by the front door, my daughter’s purse and our key rack at the back door. The same is true with Office 365 and file management. There are lots of good places to store files including SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, Groups and even Yammer. To reduce confusion, the number of options should be limited. So how do we ...

Red Level2023-02-16T16:01:39+00:00

SharePoint Migration and History

I have a client who asked me “Will I lose historical content approval information if it is disabled, migrate in some files and then enabled it?” Specifically, can I... Migrate in new files to a library with the SharePoint Content Approval and publishing workflow configured. Don’t trigger the publishing workflow. There would be so many new approvals Default new files to the status of Approved Don’t lose historical versions and approval status. A simple test example was needed to try this out. Create a Document Library: I created a new Document Library with the following: SharePoint Version: SharePoint Online App: Document library Experience: Classic Library Settings > Version Control > Content Approval: (Yes) Library Settings > Version Control > Version Settings > Major and Minor Drafts: (Yes) Library Settings > Workflows > Approval – SharePoint 2010 > Triggered on: Start this workflow to approve publishing a major version of an item. (Yes) Create Historical Data: Uploaded three test files They all start ...

Red Level2023-02-16T16:01:40+00:00

Building a Successful SharePoint ECM/ERM System in the Real World

If you listen to what is often said about SharePoint in enterprise records management (ERM), you might conclude that it is a mile wide and an inch deep. In other words, the conventional wisdom seems to be that SharePoint has a broad set of capabilities in theory, but in practice lacks the depth of its competitors such as Documentum, OpenText, and Laserfiche. But this comparison isn’t really fair, for three reasons: SharePoint “out of the box” costs a fraction of what these other products do. SharePoint’s competitors are often an amalgamation or “marketing bundle” of a variety of different products that have been purchased or licensed by the OEM, and often indifferently integrated with each other. The implementation of “enterprise-class” ECM systems usually includes a consulting engagement, whereas SharePoint is often “thrown in” without the same level of forethought. In reality, the reasons that ECM projects fail, whether on SharePoint or something else, ...

Red Level2023-02-16T16:01:40+00:00

OneNote: How to use it in an organization

What is OneNote? OneNote is, as its name implies, an electronic notebook. It excels as a personal tool for recording ad hoc, unstructured information that you need to write down quickly without the need for a lot of planning and organization. Information such as: Names, addresses, phone numbers Outlining/brainstorming documents Research notes Planning schedules and appointments Meeting notes Note that many of these information types may have a better place to record them in a structured way for sharing in the organizations. For example: Contact information can be stored in Exchange, either in your personal contacts or in shared contacts; or in a CRM system. Finished documents should go in a document management repository. Research notes and meeting notes, however, are particularly good candidates for long-term storage in OneNote. Meeting notes also take advantage of a second key feature of OneNote—the power to share notes and even co-author notes with ...

Red Level2023-02-16T16:01:42+00:00

The Redmond Channel Partner Top 200: We’ll Feel At Home Here

Most of us are familiar with that special feeling that comes from time to time when you know you’re performing professionally at the top of your game. It’s beyond the sense of simply knowing you’re doing a good job – it’s the sense of hitting a home run, and being confident that you could immediately go out and do it again. That’s how I’m feeling about our Red Level team these days. Some recent news we received from Redmond Channel Partner, Microsoft’s knowledge-sharing site for Microsoft solution providers, is one of the main reasons why. We recently announced that Red Level had been named to Redmond Channel Partner’s “Top 200 Solution Providers” list, an annual index of the top 200 Microsoft solution providers in the USA. It probably sounds like “inside baseball” to anyone outside the IT field, but from our standpoint it’s pretty significant: The listing served as a ...

David King2023-02-16T16:01:44+00:00

Microsoft Teams and Collaboration Tool Landscape

The Situation: Productivity continues to be on the radar of many companies. A copious amount of time is wasted searching for data, the increased volumes of email and the fact users are asked to collaborate with 2x more teams than they did 5 years ago all lend to lost productivity. This time lost hurts daily productivity. The ingredients that make up our business world are changing faster and faster. Will we find a tool that helps? The Solution: IT leadership is asked to provide a tool that can help facilitate collaboration in an engaging, socially interactive way. From: The Ultimate Guide to Chat-based Tools http://bit.ly/2n3kB9O Evaluation of Existing Tools Microsoft has had a few products within the collaboration space. These and other third-party products have had various levels of success. Features fall into two major categories: Content: Management of content for reference, searching, and sharing. Communication: Connecting and communicating with ...

Red Level2023-02-16T16:01:46+00:00

We’re Microsoft’s Heartland Cloud Partner of the Year

Excuse me if I seem a little bit proud at the moment. I am. Red Level has been named as Microsoft USB Champions Club Heartland Cloud Partner of the Year for 2016. Not for the first time, or the second, but for the third year running. In 2014, Red Level was named Partner of the Year and for the past two consecutive years, Cloud Partner of the Year. A true “hat trick”. What does that mean, you ask? Well, if you’re not in our line of work, that title might not mean a lot to you, but from where we stand it means a lot. In essence, it means that our company has been selected for outstanding performance when it comes to, in the Microsoft’s words, “arming the small business community with the right technology and services they need to be successful.” In practical terms, that means helping companies to ...

David King2023-02-16T16:01:51+00:00

Previous 1 23