Microsoft search wants to pick your brain...and then some!

So you have all been in the same situation before - you sit listening to a great presentation - stunning stage work - a slick demo - and a powerful speaker that makes you want to jump up and just 'buy one'. But there is something in your mind that just resides and niggles making you question what you see and hear. I have to say, absolutely everyone in Microsoft is sceptical about stuff we see and hear - and so it was the same with me when I heard about the knowledge network inside of SPS 2007.

A good resume of the knowledge network can be found here:

'The next release of Microsoft's SharePoint server software will have a feature called Knowledge Network that automatically builds profiles of employees and their areas of expertise'

https://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/applications/0,39020384,39269529,00.htm

So how does it work in action? Well, last May I was given a new task - please do XYZ and devise a strategy for MS UK should deliver on ABC - the first thing I wanted to do was find all the experts in the domain area - conduct my own research and then pick their brains. Within a few minutes I was able to find the people and start surfing their mysites for all the content that would help me in my new task - before this would have taken weeks and would have involved lots of 1:1 meetings and would have been a long and drawn out process. Within an initial 10 day period working at home the strategy was devised and the initial task achieved. As I have said countless times before 'software helps intellectually challenged people look clever' - Job done, I need all the help I can get!

If you want to know more, click here for the press release and a host of links to downloads and whitepapers:

https://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/may06/05-17CEOSummit06PR.mspx

Great weekend all..!