Navigating the Clouds at Share Conference 2014 South Africa #Share4Biz

From Wednesday, June 18 through Friday, June 20, we’re proud to sponsor Share Conference in South Africa. Taking place in the great city of Johannesburg, the event is touted as the business-centric conference for companies wanting to get more out of SharePoint. Community members from throughout the region will join renowned SharePoint thought leaders from around the globe to discuss important topics including:

• Knowledge management
• Collaboration
• Marketing and communications
• Web and intranet
• Content management
• Information flow
• Document management
• Reporting and projects

Throughout the event, our team will be stationed at booth 18. If you’re there, but sure to stop by to learn how our latest solutions for infrastructure management, compliance, data governance, mobility and productivity, and online services can help solve challenges related to the topics listed above and more. We look forward to discussing ways in which your organization can maximize SharePoint’s business value. At 11:30am on Wednesday, June 18, AvePoint Director of EPG Sales Eric Fransella will present a session with Business Connexion Senior SharePoint Consultant Brandon Botes entitled "Your Pilot License for Navigating the Clouds”. To learn a bit more about the session, we caught up with Eric and Brandon and asked them a few questions. 1. What is your presentation about? Brandon Botes: We want to create an interactive discussion on the different options for utilizing SharePoint in the cloud. Whether businesses are looking to take advantage of SharePoint-as-a-service with Microsoft Office 365 or local providers, or utilizing Windows Azure to host SharePoint, we’ll share advice and solutions to help ensure users experience a seamless quality of service and critical organizational information remains protected. We invite all attendees to be ready to ask lots of questions so we can have a lively discussion. 2. What do you want attendees to take away after the presentation? Eric Fransella: Even though the cloud hasn’t quite taken off yet throughout the South African market, it is without a doubt the future. As businesses plan their roadmap for collaboration, enterprise social, and content management initiatives in the cloud, there are many different factors that need to be taken into consideration. Attendees will walk away with advice in order to make plans that incorporate compliance, data governance, content integration, and mobile access into the process. 3. What do you think will be the hottest topics at this year’s event? BB: I believe that user adoption and social aspects of SharePoint are going to be the hot topics this year. There are many businesses trying to get people to adopt their SharePoint solution by using their social media tools in the platform. Having seen many companies that have been using SharePoint since Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 upgrade to SharePoint 2013 this year already, I believe that enterprise social networking is a great driver for user adoption as the new generation of tech savvy employees will flock toward it like bees to flowers. EF: With the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act coming into effect in South Africa in the near future, compliance will undoubtedly be a hot topic throughout the event. With new conditions for how organizations can process information, businesses are looking to ensure their information systems comply with the new regulations in order to avoid consequences including significant fines and reputational damage. I look forward to speaking with attendees about the act and sharing how AvePoint Compliance Guardian can help. 4. What are you looking forward to most at Share Conference this year? BB:  The food, of course! Share Conference is all about networking, and that is what I love about it. I always look forward to giving and gaining advice. EF: Apart from visiting South Africa for the first time, I am looking forward to meeting everyone in the South African SharePoint industry. I’m excited to hear about the business benefits that SharePoint is delivering to the market place and the challenges that are expected. It’s going to be a great conference! We look forward to seeing everyone at this year’s event!