Making an IT-Driven SharePoint

Implementation Succeed

MIND THE GAP

April 28, 2012

WITH YOUR HOST…

• Eric Nash

• Project manager, business analyst, trainer and consultant specializing in

SharePoint

• Manage SharePoint (MOSS Enterprise) and Project Server/PWA

implementations for EBSCO Publishing in Ipswich, MA

• Twitter: @SharePointEric

• E-mail: enash@ebscohost.com

• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sharepointeric

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

• We had an outdated, ungoverned wiki platform

• Needed more control and better collaboration tools

• Project Server and PWA were already implemented

• MOSS looked cool!

• But what’s wrong with this picture?

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

• IT had been burned by granting overly generous permissions, allowing the

wiki to turn into information kudzu

• The platform was selected and implemented without a governance or

communications plan

• Executive approval != sponsorship

• MOSS was thrown over the fence to end users as “the new wiki”

• A couple of broadcast e-mails, a couple of public classroom training

sessions

• Missed the opportunity to improve, just mimicked old taxonomy

• Permissions were tightly controlled, giving users the minimum level of access

deemed necessary to their jobs

EBSCO GOVERNANCE MODEL

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?• Users learned that SharePoint is not a wiki!

• Cultural resistance was made worse by limited training and overly restrictive

permissions

• The goals of the implementation weren’t clear

• No executive commitment or directives issued

• Limited resources and a lack of SharePoint expertise led to incomplete solutions

and few best practices

• We’re a publishing company so we must want publishing sites, right?

• The kudzu grew!

IS THIS THE END OF SHAREPOINT?

• Maybe not…• Made the business (vs IT) the owners of SharePoint

• Hired a business analyst/trainer type with expertise in SharePoint

• Re-evaluated the permissions scheme

• Maximum safe vs. minimum necessary

• Began outreach to the most vocal critics of SharePoint in the enterprise

WHAT WORKED?

• Best practices:• Take care of business!

• Solve problems instead of explaining what the platform can do

• Stretch the OOTB box when it’s appropriate

• Themes and branding

• UI improvements

• Third party web parts and solutions

• Give users what they need, not always what they ask for

• Know when to say “No”

• Have your success stories and “elevator pitch” ready

• Pick your battles…

CHOOSING PROJECTS

Find a pain point

Lots of users

Many iterations

Quick deliveryOOTB

features

Demonstrable ROI

Testimonials

EXAMPLE: CHARTING• Using the Google Visualization API

• Alexander Bautz, http://sharepointjavascript.wordpress.com/

EXAMPLE: QUICK POLLS• Using jQuery

• Alexander Bautz, http://sharepointjavascript.wordpress.com/

EXAMPLE: EASY TABS

• Using Javascript

• Christophe Humbert, http://pathtosharepoint.com

WHAT ELSE WORKED?

• Think about Search

• Even without FAST, search is a great alternative to explicit navigation

• Use Best Bets (judiciously)

• Leverage scopes and managed properties

• They don’t call them Enterprise features for nothing

• InfoPath Forms Services for business process applications

• Excel Services for dashboards and BI

• Think about ROI

• There are lots of discussions out there about this, including:

• Ahmed Hafeez has presented on this at previous SPS conferences

• Richard Harbridge (this comes up in his 11:20 session today)

• Paul Culmsee has a great series in his blog

• Rich Blank offers a very thorough example in his blog

EXAMPLE: INFOPATH

EXAMPLE: ROI

• Simplified method using strictly labor savings or other easily measured

sources

• Adapted from work by Sara Haase at Best Buy, presented at Best

Practices Conference 2011

IS EVERYBODY HAPPY?

• Of course not…

• The culture warriors will never be won over

• SharePoint is (still) not a wiki

• Performance doesn’t always match expectations

• No amount of training will make SharePoint intuitive

WHAT CAN WE DO…

… about the culture warriors?• Give them what they absolutely need and no more

• Use SharePoint where it adds value, get it out of their way where it doesn’t

• Be platform-agnostic; if you need a wiki, use a wiki

• Confluence for wiki, Jira for bug tracking, etc.

… about performance?• Make SharePoint mission-critical and you’ll get the resources you need

… about training and adoption?• Funny you should ask…

TRAINING MODELS• What training do we offer?

• Instructor-led classroom training?

• Documentation?

• Self-service online?

• One-on-one?

• Yes, but not in that order…

• Took our cue from Michael Sampson’s findings

One-on-one

Self-paced online

Documentation

Classroom

Classroom

Documentation

Self-paced online

One-on-one

MORE ON ADOPTION

• “Office hours” in our corporate café

• User and Site of the month awards

• Rewards for poll and survey suggestions

• Recognition for high ROI or highly visible solutions

Develop the internal SharePoint community

Lunch and learn sessions

Recognition for early adopters and power users

Promote discussion boards and reward frequent contributors

• You can never stop working on adoption

QUESTIONS?

• Please don’t forget to fill out your evaluations

KUDZU [KOOD-ZOO]

noun

An extremely fast-growing plant imported from Japan and used in the

southeastern U.S. for erosion control. Now considered an invasive species.