Common Threads Between Hybrid, Search and Social

I’m sitting in the headquarters of Colligo in Vancouver, BC, preparing to speak to the Vancouver SharePoint User Group (www.VanSPUG.org) on two very different, seemingly unrelated topics: hybrid SharePoint deployment options and the new world of Delve. I was originally asked to speak on the latter of the two topics, but when the other speaker had to back out, Kate and team asked if I would talk….twice.

As I was making the drive north from Bellevue, WA and thinking about what I wanted to say this evening, the idea of showing the commonalities between these two very different topics came to mind. How are they similar, you ask?

Looking back over the history of SharePoint (and now the entire Office 365 platform), it struck me that now more than ever organizations need to step back and think about their next steps. I’m not one of these doom-and-gloomers who are predicting the demise of SharePoint, rather I see it as becoming more and more a part of the infrastructure of Office 365, just as Yammer will become (I predict) less about the destination (Yammer.com) and more about the social plumbing (or, I suppose, the fabric) across all of the Office 365 experiences.

Yes, I used the word "experiences" that Microsoft is using within their marketing, not because I am compelled to push out the language and messaging that Microsoft dictates, but because I think it is an appropriate definition for how Redmond is expanding the capabilities of Office 365 — and of SharePoint on prem.

Back to my ori8ginal thought (which I’ll make quick because the SPUG is getting ready to start): hybrid is about options. Options for your infrastructure. Options to continue to leverage assets and investments in your on prem, while taking advantage of the cloud. In my mind, this translates to experiences. Infrastructure experiences, if you will.

Similarly, Delve is an option, an experience, which may or may not fit the needs of your organization today. It is a search experience, a social experience. As with the other new features and capabilities Microsoft is building out for Office 365, these things are options that you need to think about as you plan for the next version.

Ok, this is very much a stream-of-consciousness post. I’ll flesh the idea out even further with the SPUG tonight…