Effective Portal Governance

© 2001-2009 Neudesic, LLC. All rights reserved.

Effective SharePoint Governance

Successfully Empowering Users to Maximize the Potential of SharePoint

Jeff Block, Director of Consulting Services

Neudesic, Midwest Region

[email protected] | 630-743-5617

mailto:[email protected]

2 © 2001-2011 Neudesic, LLC. All rights reserved.

Agenda

Introduction

Why Governance?

What is Governance?

Making Governance Actually Work

Some Ancillary Issues / Topics

Next Steps

Q&A


Agenda

Introduction

Why Governance?

What is Governance?



Next Steps

Q&A


• Jeff Block

– Director of Consulting Services, Neudesic Midwest Region

– Consulting for 16 years

› Experience with many competing technology platforms

› Business Intelligence

› Strategic Partnership between the Business and IT

– A number of governance-related engagements for global companies

– http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblock

• Neudesic

– Pure-play Microsoft consultancy, with seven practices:

› Portals and Collaboration (SharePoint)

› Mobility (Windows Mobile 7, iPhone/iPad, Android, Blackberry, etc)

› Connected Systems (BizTalk)

› Custom Development (.NET)

› Business Intelligence (SQL Server, SSR/A/IS, PerformancePoint, Office)

› CRM (Dynamics)

› User Experience (Information Architecture, Visual Design, etc)

Who Am I? Introduction

http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblock

http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffblock


Agenda

Introduction

Why Governance?

What is Governance?



Next Steps

Q&A


Newton’s 2nd Law of Thermodynamics:

The entropy of an isolated system always increases

in the course of any spontaneous change.

• Translation: Unless you add energy to the system, the system will

tend from order to disorder

• Your Intranet infrastructure, corporate culture, and software

development processes are no different

– Unless you intentionally invest in them, they will tend toward chaos as well

The Universe Tends Toward Chaos Why Governance?


• Site (and Content) Proliferation

– Sites with no ownership, responsibility, accountability, plan, vision, etc

– Sites with unusable or obsolete “junk” in them

– Retention policy? Consistent approach to content management?

• Server Proliferation

– IT doesn’t meet needs rapidly enough, so set up an additional system

– Avoid “throwing another server at the problem”

• Technology Proliferation

– Inconsistency in technology usage

› Desktop storage, file servers, public folders, document management systems, email

attachments, external drives, online SkyDrives, etc.

• All resulting in User Confusion

– Where do I post a discussion or document?

– How do I find the information I’m looking for?

Information Technology Chaos? Why Governance?


Defining SharePoint...

• What is an application?

– A tool to accomplish a specific, pre-defined task

• What is a framework?

– A platform on which to build tools to accomplish many as-yet-undefined tasks

• SharePoint is a framework, not an application

– As such, it is very powerful and must be accompanied by human support,

standards, policies, processes, etc in order to prevent the natural decent into

chaos

• Applications require…

• Frameworks require…

With great power comes great responsibility Why Governance?

Training

Governance


Effective Staff + Governance = Maximum Return on Investment

The Key to Maximizing SharePoint Why Governance?

Good People Good Plan

Increased productivity and efficiency

Reduced cost

Faster time-to-value

Increased, accelerated adoption

Greater predictability

Improved morale

Etc


Agenda

Introduction

Why Governance?

What is Governance?



Next Steps

Q&A


• Intentional Vision and Strategy

– High-level strategic objectives

– Initiative success criteria / key performance indicators

– Organizational values and priorities

– Target focus areas (where SharePoint can return the greatest in the least time)

› Business Intelligence

› Business Process Management / Automation

› Collaboration

› Communication (internal and/or external)

› Knowledge Management

› Project and/or Task Management

› Relationship Management (customers, vendors, etc)

– Target business units

› Who will drive adoption?

› Who will provide thought leadership?

› Who is funded?

› Who is politically connected?

Governance is… What is Governance?


Common Business Case Elements What is Governance?

Reduce TCO

Optimize

Remove legacy

Drive Efficiency

Encourage Standards and Consistency

Brand

Reduce redundant technology

Provide best

practices

Provide Service and

Solution

Empower Business

Empower Teams

Empower End Users



• Intentional Plan (Roadmap)

– Strategic roadmap for first year or two

› More than that is just silly in today’s world

– Focus on first six months for details; leave the rest high-level

– Must deliver significant value with first release, and at least quarterly thereafter

– Interview stakeholders to understand business priorities and requirements

– Central representative governing body (with C-level authority) juggles priorities

and adjudicates conflict

› The “Governance Board”





– Strategic roadmap for first year or two

– Focus on first six months for details; leave the rest high-level

– Must deliver significant value with first release, and at least quarterly thereafter

– Interview stakeholders to understand business priorities and requirements

– Central body (with C-level authority) juggles priorities and adjudicates conflict





• Intentional Marketing, Training, and Communication Plans

– First, call your initiative something! Market it. Make it trendy.

– How will the organization become aware of SharePoint and how to use it?

– How will detractors be identified and converted to active supporters?

– How and when will users be trained on new functionality?

– How and when will new capabilities be socialized within the organization?

– How will business priorities be gathered, prioritized, and expectations managed?

– A few recommendations for delivery vehicles:

› Webinars

› Newsletters

› Promotional items – Hats? Shirts? Pens? What else?

› Lunch-and-learn sessions

› Launch parties






• Intentional Authority, Roles, and Responsibilities

– A governing body or steering committee who provides leadership

› Owns and maintains vision, strategy and roadmap

› Comprised of representatives from business units and IT

› Prioritizes projects and other tasks in the context of overall business objectives

› Manages the budget and schedule

› Ensures availability of Intranet services

› Enforces processes, adjudicates conflict – the final arbiter of decisions related to Intranet

– Establish who does what when and how

› Ownership

› Organization structure, span of care

› Security and user access

– Works with (does not replace) IT steering committee







– A governing body or steering committee who provides leadership

› Owns and maintains vision, strategy and roadmap

› Comprised of representatives from business units and IT

› Prioritizes projects and other tasks in the context of overall business objectives

› Manages the budget and schedule

› Ensures availability of Intranet services

› Enforces processes, adjudicates conflict – the final arbiter of decisions related to Intranet

– Establish who does what when and how

› Ownership

› Organization structure, span of care

› Security and user access

– Works with (does not replace) IT steering committee







• Intentional Standards, Policies, and Processes

– Security and user access – identifying users playing admin, owner, contributor,

approver, and reader roles in SharePoint

– Site provisioning – delegation of authority to provision new sites and components,

including team sites and MySites

– Site management – backups, site expiration, data retention, quotas, etc.

– Content management and discovery – storing, browsing, and searching for

content, including metadata strategy

– Design, Development and Deployment – frequent, successful, repeatable delivery

of powerful, manageable, intuitive SharePoint solutions by multiple teams

– More? Others? – What is necessary in your unique environment?



User Access Matrix What is Governance?


Inherited Security Hierarchy What is Governance?


Physical Deployment Model What is Governance?


Software Development Lifecycle What is Governance?






• Intentional Standards, Policies, and Processes

• Intentional Design

– Information Architecture

› Defines the structure of web applications, site collections, and sites in the enterprise

› Formalizes how content will be stored and organized

› Metadata strategy

– User Experience

› Formalizes how content will be discovered, presented, and consumed

› Visual design, site templates, page layouts, etc



Intranet Portal

Global Department Portals

Regional / Entity Portals

Collaborative (Team / Project) Sites

Personal MySites

Controlled Tightly governed

Content approved

Content pushed from HQ

More Ad-Hoc Loosely governed

Few approvals

Collaborative

Permanent Dashboards, BI, BPM, Applications

Permanent Knowledge Management, Info Sharing

Transient Collaboration

Permanent Personal profiles / info

General Information Architecture What is Governance?


• Can anyone tell me what the theme of governance is?

• This means three things: planning, executing, and measuring

– Take the time (energy, money, focus) to develop a plan

– Plan includes definition of success (KPI’s) and metrics to guide you

– Execute the plan; don’t wander off the path

– Frequently evaluate if the plan is working

– If not, change the plan

Did I mention Intentionality? What is Governance?


Agenda

Introduction

Why Governance?

What is Governance?



Next Steps

Q&A


• If my Aunt Ruth used SharePoint, she’d need a governance model

• We already agreed that the universe tends toward chaos

• So, you have a choice:

The natural evolution toward chaos

– or –

An intentional governance model

Who Needs Governance Anyway? Making it Work


Five things to consider when rolling out a governance plan…

1. Practicality

2. Making it accessible

3. Supporting it

4. Engraining it in the Culture

5. Proving it

Where the rubber meets the road Making it Work


Who’s heard of the “Goldie Locks Principle”?

Governance must be Practical Making it Work


Process Balance

• Too much process

– We bog down in bureaucracy, and implementation team wants to find a new

habitable planet

• Too little process

– We bog down in chaos, and support staff wants to find a new habitable planet

• In either case, management wants to switch their focus to discovering

warp drive

• One size does not fit all; must be personalized to your culture

• Rule of thumb

– In order to be institutionalized, every process, policy, standard, process, etc must

include stated goals which can be mapped to top-level KPI’s (key performance

indicators)

› If it doesn’t, then it shouldn’t be allowed to become “law”



Process Balance

• Too much process

– We bog down in bureaucracy, and implementation team wants to find a new

habitable planet

• Too little process

– We bog down in chaos, and support staff wants to find a new habitable planet

• In either case, management wants to switch their focus to discovering

warp drive

• One size does not fit all; must be personalized to your culture

• Rule of thumb

– In order to be institutionalized, every process, policy, standard, process, etc must

include stated goals which can be mapped to top-level KPI’s (key performance

indicators)


IT Control User

Empowerment


Vision Balance

• Too short-term

– We wander aimlessly, because we have not defined a big picture to shoot for /

against which to measure success

• Too long-term

– We try to create a grand vision without making concrete progress, and never get

off the ground

• Rules of thumb

– Avoid extremes; for every objective, ask what the short- and long term returns are

› Value delivered in 30-60 days?

› Value delivered in 9-12 months?

– Identify 3-4 quick wins for every year of strategic roadmap



• Intentional communication, marketing, and training plans are not

optional

• If people don’t understand it or know how it works, it will fail

• If people can’t find resources they need, it will fail

– Metadata strategy? Information architecture?

– How will content be consistently and effectively stored, searched, browsed?

• Highly recommend building a governance site into SharePoint, not

just delivering some Word document

– Will be out of date the second it’s published

– Will sit on a shelf and not be read

– If you’re delivering knowledge management, shouldn’t the governance model be

included?

Governance must be Accessible Making it Work


• Executive sponsorship mandatory

– The right person will self-identify

– Would he say in mixed company that SharePoint and related governance are “necessary” and “critical” or “nice to have”?

– What has he/she done (not said) to lend support to the initiative?

• Direct involvement from someone at the C-level

– If not direct, then strongly endorsed

• Initiative sponsored by someone who cannot be overruled

– Don’t underestimate their golf game

• SharePoint and related governance cannot be an IT initiative

• Avoid silos and the domination of a single business unit

– Sales, Marketing, Finance, Operations

– All are critical; none are an island or the only game in town

• Make sure policies, processes, and technology will receive the proper care and feeding

– Neither SharePoint nor your governance model will maintain itself

Governance must be Supported Making it Work


• Won’t be enough for a couple people to be really excited

– Intentionally enact policies which drive adoption broadly and deeply

• Identify champions early and involve them

– They will naturally get others on-board

• Also intentionally target the nay-sayers

– Do what it takes to turn them into advocates

– Even if it’s a one-off, label it “SharePoint” or “Governance”

• Communication, marketing, and training plans are crucial

• Strike the delicate balance:

– Make everyone you can feel involvement and ownership

– Don’t get too many cooks in the kitchen

Governance must be Engrained in the Culture Making it Work


• Develop key POC’s in parallel with governance model development

– Wins over detractors

– Mitigates risk / eliminates unknowns

– Gives you demo fodder

• Identify pilot projects as governance comes online

– Proves the governance model

– Drives adoption

• Select pilots / target business units based on

– Business value

– Political influence within the organization

› Don’t underestimate!

– Technical feasibility / Level of effort

› Hard enough to offer value / prove some things

› Easy enough to accomplish quickly with fairly low risk

– Level of support a quick win in this area will secure for the initiative

Governance must be Proven Making it Work


Agenda

Introduction

Why Governance?

What is Governance?



Next Steps

Q&A


• Broad and deep adoption are the signs of success (duh!)

• Governance first helps drive adoption by not being in the way of it

– Overly complex or inaccessible models are their own worst enemy

• Communication, training, and marketing are key

– Nobody will dive into something they don’t understand or don’t know how to use

• Pilot projects are also very important

– Ask the business what they need (again, duh!)

– It’s almost certain SharePoint can help solve their problems; the question is

whether or not you truly understand their problems

• Remember, you have to sell it

– The default behavior is to not adopt (or fund) something new

– There has to be a legitimate business case

Driving Adoption of SharePoint Ancillary Topics


• On-prem and cloud deployments require you to consider: – How will environment be supported?

– What are the QoS requirements / SLA’s to your users?

– How will you ensure availability, scalability, performance?

– Etc

• Both require unique / specific governance considerations

• If on-premise, then you need – Significant knowledge / skills in-house to maintain environment

– Protective process “walls” to prevent cowboys in your IT group from making unwanted, unauthorized changes

• If BPOS / Office 365, then you need – Experts to liaise with Microsoft

– Non-trivial to know all the ins and outs of what you can and cannot do in the constantly changing BPOS environment

– Preparing High-Level Design (HLD) documentation – actually quite complicated

– A LOT of extra time / room in the schedule for changes to make it to production

• Managed hosting services is the compromise between on-premise and BPOS

What if it’s SharePoint in the Cloud? Ancillary Topics


Agenda

Introduction

Why Governance?

What is Governance?



Next Steps

Q&A


1. Learn more about SharePoint governance

– http://www.sharepointgovernance.org

(SharePoint User Community, focusing on governance)

– http://office.microsoft.com/download/afile.aspx?AssetID=AM102306291033

(Microsoft SharePoint 2007 Governance Checklist)

– http://governance.codeplex.com/

(CodePlex SharePoint Governance and Manageability)

2. Call in Expert Assistance

– Governance Assessment – In a one-week engagement, Neudesic can evaluate

the state of your existing SharePoint governance model, and deliver a plan for

improvement and implementation of best practices

– Governance Model Development – In a 4-to-8 week engagement, Neudesic can

assist you in establishing the right governance model for your enterprise

– Feel free to shoot me an email or chat with me afterwards

Two Concrete, Immediate Next Steps Next Steps

http://www.sharepointgovernance.org/

http://www.sharepointgovernance.org/

http://office.microsoft.com/download/afile.aspx?AssetID=AM102306291033

http://office.microsoft.com/download/afile.aspx?AssetID=AM102306291033

http://governance.codeplex.com/




Agenda

Introduction

Why Governance?

What is Governance?



Next Steps

Q&A

© 2001-2009 Neudesic, LLC. All rights reserved.

Thank you!

Jeff Block, Director of Consulting Services

Neudesic, Midwest Region

[email protected] | 630-743-5617

mailto:[email protected]

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