Fast Search, Gamification + other cool new features in SharePoint 2013

Book Adam Now
Adam Cogan sat down with Aaron Saikovski of Microsoft Australia to talk about SharePoint 2013

Aaron Saikovski of Microsoft Australia shares some great tips and best practices in this video.

But to start the interview, Aaron shared some of his pain-points of SharePoint 2010, which included:

Custom code
Fast search – in particular the claims based authentication bug that stops the thumbnail preview
Sandbox solutions not becoming popular

Then they moved onto the highlights of SharePoint 2013:

The new awesome search feature
The social features (aka gamification)

Aaron also talks about when you should install the latest Cumulative Update (CU). His practice for updating SharePoint servers (2010 and 2013) is that you take the latest CU – 1 (aka CU is n-1)

Finally Adam asks “what investment would you make if you were the boss of SharePoint?” (Jeff Teper)

Enjoy!

About the speakers

SharePoint Guru

Aaron Saikovski is a Microsoft certified technology specialist, consultant, developer, trainer and architect with over 20 years commercial information technology experience.

His core skills are centred on SharePoint technologies primarily focussed on architecture and infrastructure deployments and best practices. He has been involved in some of the largest SharePoint deployments in the world.

Aaron is also a member of the APAC SharePoint Online community and is seen as an SME in assisting with customer’s transition to cloud based services, specifically Office365 and SharePoint Online.

His blog can be found at: https://blogs.msdn.com/aaronsaikovski/

Treat Your Code Like Uranium | Adam Cogan

Adam Cogan shares a striking story comparing two World War II factories—one ordinary, one handling uranium—and the surprising lesson that the uranium workers lived longer because they followed disciplined, risk-aware practices. He connects that idea to software teams: the best outcomes come from careful habits like automated tests, telemetry, pull requests, retrospectives, shared rules, and good tools. The message is simple: treat software delivery with the same respect as dangerous work, and you’ll reduce stress, avoid chaos, and get better results.

3 Tips for Better Video Recordings | Adam Cogan

Great coaching can dramatically improve how you present, communicate, and learn. In this video, Adam Cogan shares 3 practical coaching tips that SSW uses every day—from onboarding and role plays to improving video delivery. He explains why having a coach matters, why immediate interruption beats delayed feedback, and how repeating corrections helps lock in better habits.

TinaCMS + Fumadocs: Bring Visual Editing to Your Docs | Hark Singh

Discover how to connect Playwright with AI agents and unlock powerful workflows.

Stop Using 👍 Wrong in Teams | Adam Cogan

A quick communication tip from Adam Cogan: don’t use 👍 as a catch-all response when someone assigns you a task in Teams, Slack, or Google Chat. In the example Adam gives, if a task will take about five minutes, a thumbs up is too ambiguous because it does not clearly say whether you’ve read it, agree with it, are doing it now, or will do it later. Instead, use 👍 for agreement, 👀 to show you’ve seen the task and are actively working on it, and then replace 👀 with ✅ once the task is done. It is a small change, but it removes ambiguity and cuts down unnecessary follow-up messages.

How to record a done video in SSW | Sylvia Huang | SSW Rules

Sylvia Huang from SSW shares her SSW Cultural Exchange experience from Hangzhou, China to Australia

4 Essential Sales Tips for Engineers | Adam Cogan

Not a salesman? No problem. Adam Cogan shares 4 practical tips to help engineers navigate sales meetings with confidence. Learn how to stop “selling” and start solving, how to talk numbers without the awkwardness, and why being transparent about your process wins more clients.

Do you explain why you’ve deleted or updated an appointment? | Adam Cogan | SSW Rules

Ever wonder why a meeting was moved or cancelled? Adam Cogan explains the “Secret Ingredient” to professional scheduling: always include a version history and reason for change at the top of your appointments. Improve clarity, keep a record of changes, and hold participants accountable with this simple SSW Rule.

Chat first before changing others’ code | Adam Cogan

Changing someone else’s code? Don’t just dive in! Adam explains why it’s important to check the source history and talk to the original developer before making changes. A quick chat can save headaches and keep everyone on the same page. Perfect advice for devs working in teams!