| Introduction | | | | contain a complete set of instructions including screen |
| Several months ago I wrote a white paper titled Stop - | | | | grabs of how to bring the system back following a |
| Don't be the Next SharePoint Disaster. Judging by the | | | | complete outage. This document should be a complete |
| feedback and downloads it was definitely well | | | | step by step guide that can be followed by a |
| received, with many readers out there telling us they | | | | non-technical member of staff. |
| had come up against some of those problems | | | | Pillar 4 - Training |
| themselves. | | | | Training is essential for a successful SharePoint |
| However, not all readers were happy, some | | | | deployment, without training users will not be able to |
| commented the white paper was too much about | | | | use all the functions within the site and the deployment |
| what not to do and not enough about actually to do. | | | | could fail. Getting users comfortable with SharePoint |
| They knew there SharePoint deployment was a | | | | and familiar with the site will improve user participation |
| disaster (they didn't need us to tell them that) what | | | | and increase the likely success of the site. Detailed |
| they did need was some advice on how to turn it | | | | training analysis is required to decide on the levels of |
| around and make it a success. In response to this | | | | skill within your organization and how this maps on to |
| feedback I decided to write second white paper to | | | | SharePoint. Training is typically split into the following |
| outline the steps needed to take to make your | | | | areas: |
| SharePoint deployment a success. I call this plan for | | | | Server Administrator- This training is aimed at the |
| success the Seven Pillars of SharePoint. | | | | person(s) responsible for maintaining the servers |
| Creating a successful SharePoint deployment is like | | | | SharePoint is located on. |
| building a house - before we start picking wallpaper | | | | Super User- The super user is responsible for 70% of |
| and HD TVs for the inside we have to build the house, | | | | the configurations of the site. This person should be IT |
| and before we can build the house we need to dig the | | | | literate and should be a proficient user of Microsoft |
| foundations. The Seven Pillars of SharePoint are the | | | | Office. The super user should also have the ability to |
| foundations of the house - if they are strong and | | | | take business problems and map them onto |
| robust the house will last for years, if they are shaky | | | | SharePoint - this role is perfect for a business analyst |
| and incomplete the house will come tumbling down | | | | End Users- End Users account for the majority of |
| around our ears. | | | | SharePoint users; end users interact with the site most |
| Pillar 1 - Corporate Strategy | | | | regularly and use information on the site to complete |
| Once the decision has been made to use SharePoint it | | | | their job. It is important that this group feel comfortable |
| is important to document why SharePoint was brought | | | | with the site as they will generate the most traffic, |
| in, where it will sit within the organization and the | | | | without their interaction the deployment is put in |
| functions it will provide. This document should be | | | | jeopardy. |
| agreed by all involved and kept for future reference, | | | | This breakdown covers the majority of SharePoint |
| this will become your SharePoint Strategy Document. | | | | users found in most organizations. If your organization |
| As simple as this sounds without proper | | | | has the skills to develop in-house then the following |
| documentation it can be easy to forget what | | | | two areas of training will also need to be addressed. |
| SharePoint was supposed to do for the organization | | | | SharePoint Designer Developer - As we can see from |
| and why you even had it in the first place. The | | | | the role of the super user 70% of the organizations |
| SharePoint Strategy Document should provide | | | | bespoke needs can be configured by this function. A |
| continual guidance as to what information is to be held | | | | further 20% can be customised by using a tool called |
| in SharePoint, and how that information needs to be | | | | SharePoint designer. This tool allows for codeless |
| managed. | | | | customisation. SharePoint designer allows the |
| It is also essential to decide on the scope of | | | | organization to create more complex workflows, |
| SharePoint at this stage, without clear guidance on | | | | non-standard data sources and much more. |
| what functions can be contained in SharePoint and | | | | The SharePoint Designer Developer is required to |
| which functions can't, scope creep can set in. Scope | | | | have a high level of technical IT skills but does not |
| creep can lead to the project growing without | | | | need to have code. |
| guidance and can end up in disaster. The group | | | | Visual Studio Developer - The final 10% of an |
| responsible for creating the strategy document and | | | | organizations needs has to be developed using Visual |
| ongoing governance are called the SharePoint | | | | Studio. Developers can create even more complex |
| strategy team; this team should consist of | | | | workflows, they can surface highly intricate data |
| representatives from the stakeholder groups affected | | | | constructed from many disparate legacy systems - in |
| by SharePoint. This team will be responsible for | | | | fact just about anything that an organization needs to |
| creating the corporate strategy, implementing, | | | | happen can be created by the Visual Studio developer. |
| managing and maintaining it. | | | | The person for this role should already be a software |
| The strategy team should also cover the following | | | | developer with knowledge of Visual Studio. |
| areas in the SharePoint Strategy Document: | | | | Pillar 5 - Clear Ownership |
| Information Architecture | | | | It is imperative that the SharePoint site is owned by |
| Project Management | | | | somebody - the question is who? As mentioned earlier |
| Site Policies | | | | the ongoing governance is the domain of the |
| Deployment and configuration | | | | organization's SharePoint team. Therefore it would |
| Code Management | | | | seem logical that this team owns it. |
| Branding | | | | The problem arises when we consider ownership of |
| Testing | | | | content, who is responsible for what, who owns the |
| Information Management | | | | documents, who owns the various sites and sub-sites, |
| Operational Concerns | | | | who's responsible for deleting content etc. All of the |
| Education and Training | | | | above can be resolved by clear usage policies, from |
| Site Taxonomy | | | | the start of the deployment users need to be clear on |
| Pillar 2 - Change Management Process | | | | what they own, what they can delete and when. |
| In order for SharePoint to grow and evolve with the | | | | The cornerstone to this is the ability to create and |
| organization users/stakeholders must be able to | | | | deletes sites; the business will need competent |
| request changes. The first step in this process is | | | | guidance in this area. Users will need to be absolutely |
| setting up a mechanism for users to request a change; | | | | sure under what circumstances they can create a |
| this could be done through the site as a survey or list. | | | | sub-site. Once created the guidelines need to be very |
| The strategy team should convene regularly to | | | | clear about how long the site can stay open if there is |
| analyse the change requests. Initially they should check | | | | no activity - remembering that the person responsible |
| that the requested change is aligned with the overall | | | | for creating it may no longer be in post. |
| objectives of SharePoint Strategy Document as | | | | Pillar 6 - Technical Development Process |
| discussed in Pillar 1 - The Corporate Strategy. | | | | Once the organization starts to leverage SharePoint |
| If the change request does not fit in with the strategy | | | | there will be an increasing desire to enhance the |
| the team must feedback to the stakeholder and | | | | product by adding functions and configurations. To do |
| explain why the change was not implemented. If the | | | | this safely the business will need a safe, efficient and |
| requested change fits with the corporate strategy | | | | repeatable process. Microsoft has enabled this in |
| then the request needs to be passed onto the | | | | advance by including the notion of features into |
| technical team for them to conduct a resource | | | | SharePoint. |
| analysis on it. Once strategy team have a business | | | | Once a widget has been created for the SharePoint |
| case for the request with the resource information | | | | site it is uploaded by a designated person, this then |
| they are in a position to decide whether to implement | | | | becomes a feature available to the site. Once the |
| or not. | | | | feature has been uploaded it can be turned off or on |
| This process must be in place from the start of a | | | | with a click of the mouse from the Site Settings page. |
| deployment to make sure all changes are analysed | | | | This is important as if there are errors in the feature a |
| and implemented properly. Without this process the | | | | non-technical user with the correct permissions can |
| site would either: | | | | switch the feature off and it will no longer be active. |
| 1) Stop growing and remain static, or | | | | This reduces the amount of time the feature is |
| 2) It would grow chaotically and become unworkable. | | | | available and reduces the need for technical |
| This process must be applied to all change requests | | | | involvement. |
| no matter how small or large. The process control | | | | It is also important for the organization to implement a |
| works best if applied consistently to all suggestions, | | | | Develop-Test-Deploy procedure for new features and |
| without proper guidelines a perceived small change | | | | site designs. This procedure should take place on a |
| could result in a major headache for the strategy | | | | completely separate set of hardware from the main |
| team. | | | | deployment. This hardware can also be used as a |
| Pillar 3 - Back Office Administration | | | | backup to the main server as part of the disaster |
| Prior to implementing the SharePoint deployment the | | | | recovery plan. |
| back office team will need to decide which version of | | | | Pillar 7 - Ongoing Maintenance Tasks |
| SharePoint to install Windows SharePoint Server 3.0 | | | | Maintenance to SharePoint takes two forms change |
| (WSS 3.0) or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server | | | | requests (as mentioned in Pillar 2) and ongoing |
| 2007 (MOSS). If MOSS is selected a further | | | | maintenance tasks. Ongoing maintenance task are |
| consideration is which version to go for Enterprise or | | | | defined as tasks that are completed on a daily, weekly |
| Standard. | | | | or monthly basis to keep the site updated. These |
| Once these decisions are made (and licensing has | | | | maintenance task do not affect the structure of the |
| been thoroughly investigated) the next decision the | | | | site, its functions or the overall look and feel, if they do |
| back offices has to take is to decide on the technical | | | | then they are classified as a change request and must |
| implementation and the specification of the hardware | | | | go through that process. An example of a |
| needed. These decisions are all based firstly on the | | | | maintenance task would be adding announcements to |
| expected traffic. Once the back office team has | | | | a team site, or adding a column to a list. |
| installed SharePoint there next task before any work | | | | These smaller everyday tasks are the very tasks that |
| begins on the SharePoint environment is to test the | | | | keep the site alive and relevant. It is important to take |
| backup and restore procedures. Without a tested | | | | these task into account when planning for a |
| backup and restore the entire SharePoint deployment | | | | SharePoint site, the strategy team must consider who |
| is put at risk. Only proceed with further developments | | | | is going to complete these tasks and at what |
| when the backup and restore procedure works | | | | frequency. SharePoint works at its best when ongoing |
| successfully. | | | | maintenance tasks are delegated to multiple End |
| The final task the back office staff must complete is | | | | Users within each site. This allows site owners and |
| to create a disaster recovery document; this | | | | participants to have more control over their site; it also |
| document will detail exactly what to do if a disaster | | | | stops a bottle neck forming when the responsibility for |
| should occur. A disaster recovery document should | | | | these tasks fall to one person. |