SharePoint brings peace to the Middle East

Posted on April 5, 2008 by Joel Oleson

SharePoint Brings Peace in 5 Ways

1. It promotes collaboration and social networking. Collaboration brings us closer to each other and can help us work out our differences. Having a single truth can help with BI, but it’s also important to recognize that one answer from another in different views can come from the same source.

2. It promotes peace through self expression promoting understanding. The platform itself provides creative ways of expressing ourselves though blogging, profiles, targeting and my sites.

3. It promotes peace through order and process through workflows. The workflows built into the platform and easily extended are great ways of manging order and recognizing the order of things.

4. It promotes peace through discovery and search. Insight and knowledge help us be enlightened by finding the things we are looking for and often the things that we might not have been looking for, but provide insight and come closer to a more perfect understanding.

5. It promotes peace through usage of a flexible platform. A rigid system would be contrary to promoting mercy and understanding. The flexibility of master pages and solutions make a systematic way of supporting change without impacting the core system. Solutions can bring insight to the administrator and increase the ease of use and at the same time enhance the overall system.

I’ve spent the last week half in Jordan and half in Israel. I’ve had some of the best experiences of my life this last week with some incredible people who are Arabs, Muslims, Jews, Palestineans and Israelis. The thing they all had in common was a passion for SharePoint.

The SharePoint User Group meeting in Jordan was super relaxed. Those guys know how to make a guy feel like a Shiek. Mohammed Zayed and Muhanad Omar are both rock stars in their own right. Young rising super stars in the SharePoint world. I had a blast staying up all night sharing stories and pondering about the mysteries of life and beyond and then going to Petra and almost getting eaten by a camel, or falling off a cliff by an overworked little donkey… Petra is clearly near the top of the list of the 7 wonders of the world and our tour and the company made it the top.

I’ll let you know when I get the videos of me at the dead sea with the dead sea mud all over me properly edited. 🙂

The Jordanians are passionate about SharePoint and what it can do for them. They really are realizing it’s potential.

The Israeli Office System User Group (made up of at least 90% SharePoint people) was a huge treat. Avi (MOSS is his middle name) stole the show with his guitar playing of a western with me and my SharePoint skills. It was extremely flattering. He’s really THE Man. (If you didn’t see this, ask him about it at TechEd Israel. I’d be there if it wasn’t in conflict with the SharePoint Conference in Dubai.) I have to say he went out of his way to really show me the way not just Israelis live, but to help me understand Jewish traditions and ways of life. I have a huge respect for him. Shabat Shalom and a HUGE Thank You (תודה, תודה לך!). You and your family did more for me than anyone could ask.

Meron, thanks for the tour of Jerusalem. Your persistence paid off with the mount of Olives, and going through the muslim quarter right after the call to prayer was an incredible experience physically and mentally. The spirit was strong that day.

In a successful secret operation titled "migration of Joel." Which started from Plane, to Bus, to Car, to finally a mix of Taxi and border bus. I witnessed a first hand miracle with a lot of praying as I was flying across Jordan, Mt. Nebo, Palestine and the occupied territories to then land in the Microsoft office in Tel Aviv in the heart of the promised land from the desert rock city of Petra some 5 hours earlier an impossible feat for even Moses. (Well, if it weren’t for that stick and water incident with Moses, I’m sure he could have reached there, albiet 40 years instead of 5.)

Tomorrow I fly to Dubai and then mid week to Istanbul. What other lessons will I learn?

One thing I do know from being in the Middle east… I’ve found that SharePoint can help assist in bringing peace…