Capturing and storing digital assets for your organization with an ECM or DM solution is only the first step.  Now you need to leverage those digital assets to drive revenue and cut costs further.  So here is your checklist for making technology choices to complement and future-proof your ECM or DM implementation.

[Note: Our e-books are free. Check them out HERE. Have you registered for our free Fall ECM Seminars?]

8 Criteria to Consider in Selecting Your ECM/DM Solution

1 -- Metadata Maintenance (Automation).

If your long term problem has been the categorization and organization of digital assets then you must address this long term maintenance issue.  And do not forget that the meaning and importance of metadata will change over time and quality of tagging will depend on perspective of each end user.  Not to say folksonomies or allowing end users to contribute tags is not useful, it is; but have no doubt that automation is the only scalable solution.  Do not leave tagging to the end users.   The end user is overwhelmed already, so you need to reduce the metadata maintenance requirements on their time.  To automate metadata maintenance tasks, you will need a solution that supports entity extraction and tools for vocabulary management.  This ensures the longevity of your solution for digital assets of all types by minimizing your reliance on end users to maintain it. 

No use storing digital assets securely with redundant backups if no one ever uses them or worse yet, has no ability to discover those assets.  Keep in mind that tagging is often insufficient because a two-line email might have the same number of tags as a 50-page report – but obviously 50-pages has more content to index/tag than two lines in an email.  Also, do not settle for a faceted search or simple content analytics either.  Your ability to empower users to find relationships between documents, people, and events is paramount.  Look for solutions based on RDF or semantic web technology to reveal relationships, so your end users can build profiles and aggregate facts about a person or document without having to read every line.  Linked data and semantic web technology saves time and builds value.

Can your IT department and developers manage all the software and directly work with it or is the solution dependent on proprietary code, limitations in functionality?  Can you use the metadata for more than search? Can you integrate with BI systems?  Can this support email and CRM systems and leverage the daily inflow of information from conversations and transactions?  Look for solutions that are not simply point solutions, but platforms with a measurable benefit for more than one application.

Future proof? Does the software rely on proprietary code or require specially trained and certified developers?  Look for solutions that rely on open source and open standards.  Open source could mean that the search engine is Lucene or SOLR or the structured database is mySQL.  Or perhaps the solution can leverage my existing investments in enterprise licenses for Oracle or SQL.  In any case, you need to look at the ancillary licensing costs related to the implementation and then the maintenance of the solution… be aware of hidden staffing costs, certifications, and license costs!

Can you provide direct access for application developers to access, search, and build upon the information you are storing?  Can they effectively use the metadata? Can you search the actual text and content of files or only the metadata?  If you cannot build upon what you store and give your IT team easy access to support your end users, then you have created an archive.  Your ability to search and build upon the full text of what is stored is the key to maximizing the ROI of your information management strategy.

What are the native tools and applications that your users have to access documents and metadata?  Can you easily develop applications that access and utilize the text within these documents or only the metadata?  What is the search capability?  Are you generating more support requests with this implementation than you are solving?  The main point is that users need to be able to mashup, visualize and access the documents – document management is not synonymous with archiving. The more access options and end-user controls you can utilize, the better.

Can you manage security for users, groups, collections of documents, categories of documents, and/or by location of data?  Can you change those settings and provide audit logs to journal the changes in security settings?  How about mapping security protocols from one organization to another for access to the same document repository?   There is no right solution for every organization, so the security offered must be scalable and flexible.

Can you capture all required elements for dispositioning data and files in compliance with legal requirements of document management policies?  Are you ready for e-Discovery and auditors?  Can you map the capabilities of your solution to the e-Discovery Reference Model?  Truly you can kill two birds with one stone here and create allies within your legal department.

The tools and applications you select for your ECM or DM solutions that integrate easily can address a variety of IT tasks - saving time and money.  Moreover, you can win many advocates in your user community by saving them time and helping them do their jobs better.

---

Charlie Minesinger (Charlie.Minesinger@InnovativeQuery.com) is an expert in enterprise software solutions with over 15 years of experience in consulting to and working directly for enterprises such as Nortel and Siemens.  Charlie is the VP of Sales and Marketing at Innovative Query where he is building semantic solutions with IQeXplore for publishers, enterprises, government partners, and our online channels to transform text and unstructured data into assets that drive revenue or cut costs.

Discovering when to use which method can be difficult, so to assist in this endeavor, please reference the following chart, provided by Microsoft TechNet, as it lays out some solid rationale for each particular approach.

Differences between a records archive and in-place records:

The following table describes differences between the two records management approaches that might affect how you manage IT resources.

Resource differences between a records archive and in-place records:

Source: Microsoft TechNet

Writing proposals is like a love hate relationship, without the love. Many companies do not give proposal writing its due in the organization. Many companies believe that it is the salesman’s personal relationship with the customer that will win the deal, many companies respond to any and all RFPs by throwing together a “boilerplate” proposal with pricing. This is because many companies do not see the value in spending time and resources on proposal writing. This is where your company can be a winner by putting together a well written sales proposal that responds to the RFP requirements. This by itself will guarantee you a spot on the short list.

[Note: Our e-books are free. Check them out HERE. Have you registered for our free Fall ECM Seminars?]

8 Things to Consider When Writing an ECM Proposal

And you are saying, “Gee Bud, I never thought of that.” And if you were on my end, as someone who writes RFPs, I would say that I can’t count the number of times I’ve referred the vendor back the RFP to answer a question or read proposals that seemed like they were responding to a different RFP. Read and annotate is the key to success.

2 -- Start writing down questions as you read the RFP.

Questions concern things you don’t understand in the RFP or information that is missing in the RFP.  Submit questions as soon as possible so that you don’t do double work when writing the proposal. Questions force you to read the RFP closely.

ECM RFPs can be difficult because the technology is complex and diverse – document imaging, electronic document management, records management, workflow, and all of their supporting technologies like OCR, PDF/PDF-A, storage strategies, etc.  RFPs can be written by people who may not fully understand the ECM technology array and all of its components and so you may get a requirement for workflow where there is none and OCRing of MS Word documents. Don’t be adversarial, be collegial. Keep in mind that you are the expert in imaging, or OCR, or how long it takes to implement workflow.

3 -- Once you have read the RFP and started your list of questions, begin to outline your proposal.

If the RFP gives you a proposal response format, follow it. If there is no outline, follow a general outline such as executive summary, technical section, management section, pricing, appendices. Start matching areas of your outline to the RFP and make writing assignments.

BTW, don’t throw a 27 page technical whitepaper about workflow into the middle your workflow response section – it ruins the natural flow of your response to a requirement. Save the big bulky whitepapers and studies for an appendix. In your outline, establish the appendices right away so that you can refer to them as you write….”As reviewed in Appendix B, OCR Character Analysis.” and “More detail on workflow can be found in Appendix C, Workflow Explained.”

4 -- Find all of the requirements.

This is an area that can be tricky and difficult because you often will not know if something is a requirement or not. Look for statements that have the word “shall,” “will,” “must,” as in “Vendors shall provide document library services,” or “Handprint recognition will be required.” I often built an Excel table of all the requirement statements so that I know that I am responding to each one.

5 -- Start writing as soon as possible once you have the proposal outline developed.

I can’t tell you how important this is because only by writing will you uncover even more important questions and possible issues that you may not have “noticed” just by reading the RFP. Some issues/questions will be internal to your company/solution like a lack of a certain technology or an implementation/management requirement. BTW, watch your use of boilerplate. I’ve seen vendors throw in a complete 2 page datasheet to respond to a requirement that should have taken three good sentences.

6 -- Many RFPs state that “Pricing will only be a factor when two or more proposals have equal technical points.” And this is true.

While some companies will choose the lowest price proposal, most companies want the best solution first and lowest pricing second. This is your chance to show where your product is different technically from all others. By the way, feature/benefit writing goes a long way to helping explain the value of your solution. OCR is a “feature” and “converting a TIF image to text” is a benefit. Feature/benefit selling is basic salesmanship seems to have been lost. Remember, a proposal is a selling document and it may represent your first contact with the customer.

I can’t tell you what it means to an evaluation team to see a proposal with lots of grammar mistakes, misspellings, sentences that are incomplete, sentences that have no context within a paragraph, and a proposal structure that is ill defined. Evaluation teams I have been on have eliminated proposals due to the overall poor quality of writing, organization, lack of effort. If possible, ask another salesman or someone not helping on the proposal to read and comment on the proposal. Some vendors have a “Red Team,” which is a second group of people who can read and evaluate your proposal as if they were the customer.

8 -- Figure out how to make your proposal a winner among all the other proposals – while staying within the framework of the RFP.

In a recent proposal effort I helped on, we determined that key to winning the proposal was the experience of the implementation team. We hammered this point many times throughout our proposal - our implementation team had the most actual experience, had worked in that industry and spoke the language. There would be no “learn on your nickel” time, no fresh-out-of-college people, and we would “hit the field running with a named senior implementation team.” We backed these statements up with solid resumes and references to similar successful implementations. This strategy not only worked, we won, but the customer mentioned this in our first project meeting. BTW, we were not the lowest priced.

Enjoy.

And don't forget our e-books, located HERE.

Many thanks to all the contributors on this project. I appreciate your involvement and insights.

For those of you unfamiliar with AIIM, we are a non-profit organization focused on helping organizations find, control, and manage their information. Whether you are a user, a hardware or software vendor, or part of the content channel, AIIM is the leading voice for the document, content, and records space. We do market research, provide training and education, and help those on the sell side of the industry connect with prospective customers.

1. 8 Benefits to Gain by Outsourcing a Document Management Provider
   
2. 8 Things to Consider When Writing an ECM Request for Proposal (RFP)
   
3. 8 Major Trends That Will Change ECM in the Coming Years
   
4. 8 Tips for Converting Your SEO Operation into a Key Online Marketing Channel
   
5. 8 Things You Should Know About Your Digital Images
   
6. 8 Things You Need to Know About Managing Your Personal Electronic Information -- Too Much Paper, Too Little Time
   
7. 8 Things You Need to Know about Devising an Information Governance Strategy
   
8. 8 Ways to Advance Your ECM Project
   
9. 8 Things to Wear to a Social Media Party
   
10. 8 Web Presentations You Need to See
    
11. 8 Risks of Managing Licensed Content Across an Enterprise
    
12. 8 Things to Help Contain the Cost & Risk of Litigation
    
13. 8 Things Document Automation Can Do For Your Company
    
14. 8 Things We Learned on the Way to ECM 
15. 8 Excuses for Not Implementing an Enterprise Content Management System When You Know that You Should 
16. 8 Reasons Why E-Forms Can Transform Your Business 
17. 8 Things You Need to Do to Capture, Share and Retain Knowledge from Your Digital Landfill
18. 8 Reasons Why ECM Implementations Experience High Failure Rates, and What to Do About It 
19. 8 Steps to Information Risk Compliance 
20. 8 Ways Information Management (IM) and IT Governance (ITG) Will Support Each Other 
21. 8 Business Use Cases for Twitter 
22. 8 Things You Need to Know Now That You Are Out in the Real World Looking for a Job 
23. 8 Tips for Efficient Application Development Projects 
24. 8 Things You Need to Know About How Taxonomy Can Improve Search 
25. 8 Ways to Balance Collaboration Efforts with Traditional Records Management 
26. 8 Things to Consider for a Successful Multi-Touchpoint Customer Experience 
27. 8 Reasons to Abandon Paper Signatures Forever 
28. 8 Reasons to Outsource Document Management 
29. 8 Ways to Control Your SharePoint Infrastructure
30. 8 Things to Consider When it Comes to Getting Paper into SharePoint 
31. 8 Things You Need to Know About the CMIS Standard
32. 8 Disruptive Forces That Will Transform The Content Management Industry
33. 8 Ways to Garner Adoption for Social Computing in Your Company
34. 8 Things You Need to Know About Taxonomy, Metadata and Information Architecture in SharePoint 2010
35. 8 Signs of a Lackluster ECM Implementation
36. 8 ways mobile computing can make you more collaborative and connected
37. 8 Things to Consider when Aligning with Today’s Growing Corporate, Legal and Regulatory Standards
38. 8 ways to enhance knowledge worker productivity
39. 8 Features in SharePoint 2010 That Rock
40. 8 Factors To Consider When Preparing To Implement A Data Capture System
41. 8 Ways Your Organization Can Collaborate and Stay Safe
42. 8 Hot Trends in Document Imaging, Scanning and Capture
43. 8 Essentials to Consider for Social Computing and Collaboration in Business 
44. 8 reasons why privacy will be an increasingly important compliance concern 
45. 8 Benefits of a Digital Mail Process 
46. 8 ways to kill your ECM project
47. 8 reasons SharePoint looks like a true ECM system
48. 8 things you can't afford to ignore about eDiscovery
49. 8 things you need to know about cloud content management
50. 8 reasons to consider a Center of Excellence
51. 8 Reasons Why You and Your Organization Should (NOT!) Be Afraid of Social Computing
52. 8 practical steps to ECM adoption
53. 8 Things You Need to Know About Integrating Content Management With Enterprise Processes
54. 8 ways to make sure that collaboration adds business value
55. 8 Ways to ensure Return on the Investment with Enterprise Content Management initiatives
56. 8 benefits of an ECM solution
57. 8 Ways to Make Things Easy for Your SharePoint Development Team
58. 8 information management security predictions for 2010
59. 8 reasons why a "big" ECM solutions isn't always better
60. 8 ways to get started on your Enterprise Content Management initiative
61. Another 8 things that make SharePoint a true ECM system
62. 8 Ways IT Politics Can Wreck a SharePoint Project
63. 8 Reasons to Consider a Document Management Service Company as Part of Your Information Strategy
64. 8 things you need to know about information risk 
65. 8 things you need to know to build an ECM strategy 
66. 8 things you need to know about developing an ECM information architecture 
67. 8 things that changed the history of document management 
68. 8 things you need to know to manage the explosion of information  
69. 8 things you need to know about workflow and business process engineering   
70. 8 things small businesses need to know about document management 
71. 8 things you need to know about using ECM for regulatory compliance  
72. 8 things you need to know about content classification and ECM  
73. 8 ways to increase user adoption in an ECM project  
74. 8 things to look for in a document management service provider 
75. 8 ways to reduce your storage and bandwidth costs for document imaging solutions  
76. 8 things to consider when looking for ECM consultants  
77. 8 Steps to Avoid Process and Organizational Problems when Implementing an ECM System 
78. 8 things to remember when managing ECM applications 
79. 8 things that always worried you about legacy content, but were afraid to ask 
80. 8 things you need to know about SharePoint governance 
81. 8 things SharePoint 2010 needs to be a true ECM system 
82. 8 more things you need to know about Sharepoint
83. 8 things to consider when implementing SharePoint with another ECM engine 
84. 8 ways to use SharePoint for social computing 
85. 8 things you need to know about automatic classification and metadata tagging in SharePoint 
86. 8 things to do to make content more findable in SharePoint
87. 8 ways SharePoint help in Enterprise Governance, Risk and Compliance 
88. 8 things to consider when selecting an application to scan or capture into SharePoint 
89. 8 Ways SharePoint 2010 moves toward "ECM for the Masses" 
90. 8 Things You Should Know About Transactional Processing in SharePoint 
91. 8 Ways To Benchmark Your Collaboration Strategy
92. 8 steps you can take to better manage your inbox
93. 8 things you need to know about Twitter and business
94. 8 things vendors need to know about selling document management to small businesses 
95. 8 reasons why information governance makes sense   
96. 8 steps to the ISO 15489 Records Management methodology   
97. 8 steps to consider when starting an ECM project    
98. 8 document management practices that are cost-effective and eco-friendly
99. 8 key e-mail trends 
100. 8 things to try when marketing ECM projects
101. 8 things you need to know about mergers and acquisitions in the ECM, BPM & BPO technology sector
102. 8 fast facts about the state of the document management industry 
103. 8 things you need to know when using ECM technologies to go green  
104. 8 reasons to take advantage of AIIM Certificate programs 
105. 8 steps to getting started with Twitter  
106. 8 things to consider in selecting the right scanner  
107. 8 things you can do with an enterprise wiki 
108. 8 perspectives in ECM projects that can make me see double  
109. 8 things you need to know about preservation of e-documents for litigation and regulatory investigations 
110. 8 things you need to remember about e-discovery 
111. 8 things I learned about OCR from small and mid-sized organizations 
112. 8 things you need to remember about message/email archiving 
113. 8 secrets of an effective content or records management implementation 
114. 8 things we learned along the way to Twitterville 
115. 8 things to consider when developing an information retention policy 
116. 8 steps to an effective ECM archive migration 
117. 8 things to remember when implementing an e-mail policy 
118. 8 reasons Google Wave may (or may not!) kill e-mail 
119. 8 reasons you'll wish your hospital had ECM and EHR 
120. 8 Ways Your Organization Can Improve Efficiency, Increase Productivity, and Reduce Risk 
121. 8 things you need to know about automating document indexing 
122. 8 things to consider when decommissioning legacy data to your ECM Suite  
123. 8 Tips for Selecting a Digital Signature Solution 
124. 8 Things That You Should Know About Open Source ECM 
125. 8 steps to going green with ECM
126. 8 reasons why CMIS will transform the ECM industry

And don't forget our e-books, located HERE.

 [Sidebar from JM -- If you are a Document Management reseller or integrator or service bureau, you should plan RIGHT NOW to attend our annual Document Management Service Providers Executive Forum in Nashville.  It is THE event and slots are going fast. Click on the above link for details.]

Below are eight strategic benefits of using a document management provider:

8 Benefits to Gain by Outsourcing a Document Management Provider

1 -- Improved Company Focus.

A document management provider provides companies with more time to excel and focus on its core company initiatives. Businesses can save money and reduce excess staff by not having to facilitate and support processes such as document shredding, storage and imaging on a daily basis.

2 -- Peace of Mind. 

The cost of poor document management is continuously on the rise and can potentially cost your business millions of dollars. According to the Pomenon Institute, the average cost per information security breach in 2009 was $6.75 million. Data breaches not only cost money but cost public trust, which often makes it hard for businesses to recover. The right provider will provide an unbroken chain of custody throughout the entire lifecycle of all your documents. Further it will ensure your company complies with government regulations to remain compliant and credible.

3 -- Access to World-Class Technology Capabilities.

When handling document management needs internally, companies tend to buy lower-end technology to save on cost.  However, issues can arise if your company experiences rapid growth. Many companies have to quickly hire and train additional staff and potentially deploy new hardware or software to support the growth, which can be costly and time consuming.  By partnering with a secure document management provider, your company can gain instant access to world-class technology capabilities that traditional in-house operations may not have the financial ability to support–at a cost-effective price.

4 -- Enhanced Data Security.     

It is critical to proactively protect private business and customer confidential information.  With identity theft and data breaches on the rise, partnering with a provider that is AAA NAID certified and PCI-DSS compliant is imperative. NAID certification verifies that your provider adheres to stringent security practices and standards defined by the international trade association for the information destruction industry.  PCI-DSS compliance certifies that the organization follows the comprehensive requirements set by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council to ensure data integrity.  A proper document storage facility is equipped with 24-hour security systems, alarm systems and complete fire protection to safeguard your documents at all times.  Further, an imaging service will house files in a secure environment and provide complete backup, redundancy and disaster recovery to ensure your files are never lost or compromised. Lastly, all documents that need to be shredded are constantly monitored and protected until destroyed. You will also receive a certificate and destruction for a legal audit trial.

5 -- A Customized Solution.

Every business has unique challenges when it comes to document management needs. Your provider can offer customized solutions to meet the needs of your business. For example, if your company requires long term record retention but has a low volume of retrieval, it will most likely not be feasible or cost effective to convert every single file. A viable alternative is to partner with a provider that can store and manage large volumes of existing files off-site, yet deliver paper records in an “on-demand” electronic format. This enables employees to work with electronic records on a daily basis and saves the company significantly in converting years of physical records. No matter the size of your organization or what processes need support; your provider can create a customized solution to complement your business needs.

6 -- Increase Productivity and Streamline Staff.

Many companies have a group of employees managing and maintaining the process flow for an abundance of internal documents such as human resources files. By using a document management provider, your staff will be able to focus on their core job responsibilities instead of tending to endless imaging and filing or wasting time trying to locate lost records. 

7 -- More Space. 

Don’t waste valuable building space for file storage. A document storage provider is ideal if your company has a large volume of records with long retention rates but limited space. Using a secure storage provider will not only free up space, but will offer a secure storage facility equipped with 24-hour security cameras, alarm systems and complete fire protection systems to protect records from catastrophes such as floods and fires.  Your files will be stored safely and it’s an efficient alternative to in-house management expenses.

8 -- Regain Control.

Is locating a document like trying to find a needle in a haystack? Managing large amounts of data internally can be difficult to control and often becomes a logistical nightmare.  By using imaging and storage solutions, you can locate and gain access to any file at a moment’s notice. For example, with imaging, once files are uploaded into the secured database, they are organized to your specifications, simplifying the retrieval process and providing you with a user-friendly system for filtering and analysis. In the storage environment, all documents are tracked with a barcode system and can be located immediately.  This instant access takes guess work out of locating files and lets employees focus on their core job responsibilities.

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• Back to School with AIIM and EDSF
• Discounted Online Certificate Courses 
• www.aiim.org/training
• EDSF Code: EDSF9HB

This is the time of year when parents and students are frantically getting ready for school.  Whether it’s the first day of kindergarten or the first day of college, it can be an exciting time. 

Just as it’s important for our children to continue their education, it’s also critical that we keep our skills up-to-date, and this is the opportune time for us to consider “going back to school”.  To help make continuing education fit easily within busy schedules, EDSF is pleased to partner with AIIM to offer their online Certificate Programs to EDSF supporters.

EDSF supporters can take these courses at the AIIM Professional member price of $600 instead of the usual rate of $750---a $150 savings. A portion of the registration fee goes directly to EDSF’s Document Management and Graphic Communications Industry Scholarships, which support the industry’s future generation. Registration is available at www.aiim.org/training. Use EDSF discount code EDSF9HB.  

Everyone that registers prior to September 30 will have their name placed in a raffle for a prize to be announced on October 5, at EDSF’s Scholarship Night at Graph Expo.

The Certificate Programs are designed from global best practices from among AIIM's 65,000 members. The Certificate Programs cover the following areas:

• Enterprise Content Management: Learn how to take control of your information assets.
• Electronic Records Management: Learn how to take control of your electronic records.
• Business Process Management: Learn how to improve your business processes.
• Information Organization & Access/Enterprise Search: Learn how to optimize findability and enterprise search.
• Email Management: Learn how to improve the control of corporate emails.
• Enterprise 2.0: Learn how to use Web 2.0 technologies to improve collaboration and innovation across the enterprise.
• SharePoint: Learn best practices for sharing and managing information on the SharePoint platform.

How do the online programs work? Each program is broken into 60-minute modules with online audio and PowerPoint. Students may start, pause or stop the module at any time to review materials at their own pace. They may also view a module multiple times to ensure mastery of content. Downloadable handout materials and additional links and resources accompany each course. At the end of each module there’s a quick exam (15 to 20 questions) that reviews the previously covered content.

Students have unlimited access to the online courses and handouts for six months, with a maximum of three attempts to pass the online exam, which is accessible from the AIIM Web site. Participants need 70 percent correct answers to pass the exam. Once they’ve successfully passed all the exams for the program, participants will receive a Certificate of Completion and will be awarded the designation of Practitioner or Specialist, which can be used in conjunction with the associated logo and title on a business card, e-mail signature, Web page, etc.

To receive the EDSF discount, Certificate Program participants must enter code EDSF9HB when registering. For more information on AIIM’s Certificate Programs and to register, please visit www.aiim.org/training. Questions? Contact AIIM Training at training@aiim.org or 301-755-2631.

In addition, it is published under Creative Commons, so if you want to post it on you web site and use it for SEO, lead gen, etc., feel free. Just note where you got it from. Contact me if you have any questions what you can do and what you can't.

Download SharePoint e-book

Also, here's a link to all the "8 things" e-books.

There is a solution that fits the needs of designers, developers, their clients and their end-users: Enter the SP2010 Ribbon Toggler! Toggle it with a keystroke, querystring, or a button. Let’s implement it:

How to do it

1. Open an editor of your choice to create a new .js file and paste the following code into it:

2. Save your .js file as SP2010_RibbonToggler.js.
3. Open up SharePoint Designer and browse to your root site.
4. In the left tool pane called “Site Objects” click on “Site Assets.”
5. In the top tool bar, select “Import Files” and import the .js file you created. (If you’d like to create a separate “scripts” folder within Site Assets, or organize it in any way you’d like, now’s the time.)
6. In the left tool pane again select “Master Pages.”
7. Open the Master Page that you’re using for your Site. In most cases you’re probably using v4.master.
8. In the HTML markup, find the section and place the following JavaScript references within the head section:

Note: We’re first here referencing the jQuery framework. Our code uses this framework to easily and quickly access the Document Object across differing browers. We then reference our SP2010_RibbonToggler.js file. Remember to change the reference path if you put your SP2010_RibbonToggler.js file in a different location than instructed to at the beginning of this tutorial.

We now have two functions in our SharePoint site for turning on and off the ribbon! Now we just need to implement some Javascript code to use these functions. The sky’s the limit for how you want to accomplish this. At Concurrency, we like to use a keystroke combination (ctrl+shift+r) to pop up the ribbon. Here’s how to do that:

In your SP2010_RibbonToggler.js file, at the following code to it:

Additional ways to toggle

Another way to turn on and off the ribbon now is by passing a query string to the page. If we append ?ribn=1 to our site address at any time, the ribbon will show. This is how to do that:

In your SP2010_RibbonToggler.js file, at the following code to it:

Or perhaps you only want to show the ribbon if the user has authenticated to SharePoint? Here’s how to do that:

In your SP2010_RibbonToggler.js file, at the following code to it:

In fact, you can add all of these examples to your SP2010_RibbonToggler.js file and they will all work together for you. Wouldn’t if be nice if you could download a fully functional .js file with all this working? It would…

There's a lot of speculation in the wake of shuttering Google Wave about where Google will go next, especially with regards to Facebook-like functionality and the extendability of Facebook into realms beyond our immediate personal networks.

Gina is scary smart about all things Google, so check out her post, What to Expect from "Google Me".

Here's the original Google presentation that Gina references.  Worth looking about in terms of Google's vision...

The Real Life Social Network v2

View more documents from Paul Adams.

Also, check out my posts on the E20 Community blog...