-- DRAFT WHITE PAPER --

Maximizing Business Value from SharePoint:A Management and Governance Perspective

Revised December 2008

Originally presented by

Gary L. VaughanSharePoint Governance Advisor

Worldwide Information Network Services, Inc.

At the SharePoint Users Group of Northern Virginia’sRegional SharePoint Users Conference

Dulles, VirginiaJune 27-28, 2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Topic Pages

Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………….iiIntroduction…………………………………………………………………………… 1

A. Technology Governance………………………………………………………….1-2

- Information Architecture- Reinforcing Governance Elements

B. SharePoint in a Management Context…………………………………………..2-3

- Challenge of User Adoption- A Need for Many “Cooks”- Cost and Benefit

C. A General Management Approach…………………………………..................3-7

1. Strategic Planning………………………………………………………..….3-5

- Articulate a Vision- Focus on Target Applications and Audiences- Know your Culture- Assess your Supporting Infrastructure- Check fit with Legacy or Alternative Software

2. Communications and Training ……………………………………………..5-6

- Forge your Team- Make the “Pitch”- Take a “Test Drive”- Train to Task

3. Management Engagement ………………………………………………….6-7

- Enlist Executive Support- Target Limited Resources- What to Roll Out and When?- How to use Management Tools- Share your Success

D. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….…..7

Attachments:1. A Road Map for SharePoint Implementation……………………………………………...82. A Real World SharePoint Case Study: the American Red Cross…………………………93. Bibliography of Online Resources in SharePoint Management and Governance…..........10-124. About the Author, SUGNOVA and the Regional SharePoint Users Conference………...135. End Notes…………………………………………………………………………………14-16

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Executive Summary:

With the surge of interest in web collaboration and Microsoft Office SharePoint Services 2007 (MOSS), enterprise implementations need to focus more on good governance. The challenge is not just technological, but managerial and cultural. This paper hopes to assist SharePoint managers, administrators and developers in complex public and private sector bureaucracies as they grapple with various stages of SharePoint implementation: still assessing SharePoint, in mid-deployment, or recovering from a false start.

Recent reports by Forrester Research, Gartner Group and CMS Watch all attest to the power and popularity of the MOSS platform. But they also indicate that ease of use and chaotic implementation can derail SharePoint deployments. Enthusiasm with the technology by IT departments and power users can distract us from more disciplined planning. Hence, a structured management perspective, including an objective weighing of deployment and adoption costs and benefits, is badly needed.

Microsoft’s SharePoint Governance and Checklist Guide is one good source of key technical governance for a well planned deployment: project and operational management; development and configuration; infrastructure; operational concerns; education and training; and navigation, taxonomy and search. Yet this document and most governance literature focus mainly on technological aspects. SharePoint differs from a traditional IT software implementation in engaging employees and sparking cultural change throughout the enterprise. A general management approach is essential to win policy, resource and rank-and-file support.

This paper offers the following tips for maximizing SharePoint business value:

(1) Strategic Planning (vision, audience, culture, infrastructure, software);

(2) Communications and Training (teamwork, marketing, pilots, methods); and

(3) Management Engagement (executive support, resources, management tools).

Executives should stop looking at IT such as SharePoint as a technology installation, but rather as “periods of organizational change that they have a responsibility to manage”1. Likewise SharePoint developers and administrators need to work from this broader managerial and governance perspective if they are to bring their installations to life.

Attachments to this white paper include a four-phase implementation road map, an extensive bibliography and notes on online resources, a short case study, and notes about the SharePoint Users Group of Northern Virginia’s regional conference at which the paper was originally presented in June 2008.

1 Mastering the Three Worlds of Information Technology, by Andrew McAfee, Harvard Business Review, November 2006.

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Introduction:

Recent reports by Forrester Research, Gartner Group and CMS Watch all attest to the power and popularity of the MOSS platform.2 However, they indicate that ease of use and chaotic implementation can derail SharePoint deployments. Enthusiasm with the technology by IT departments and power users can also distract organizations from more disciplined planning, and an objective weighing of deployment and adoption costs and benefits.

Indeed, it is not unusual for organizations to rush into implementation, and unleash a proliferation of sites with inconsistent branding, support and backup. SharePoint deployments can often begin as “guerrilla” deployments by departments or users without the full knowledge of the IT Department.

A model SharePoint deployment, however, differs from a traditional IT software implementation in that it necessarily engages employees and sparks cultural change throughout the enterprise. Good technology governance, coupled with a broader strategic, communications and management approach, can keep a SharePoint deployment under control and help maximize business results.

A. Technology Governance

← SharePoint governance is “[using] people, process, technology and policies to define a service, resolve ambiguity and mitigate conflict within an organization.”.3 It needs to

2 Various sources on SharePoint from CMS Wire, Gartner Group and Forrester Research: Put a Stop to SharePoint Sprawl., Summary, by Alan Pelz-Sharpe, AIIM Magazine

Article, 02/04/2008. Topic Overview: Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 by Kyle McNabb, Rob

Koplowitz with Erica Driver, Diana Levitt, Forrester Research, 4/24/08 Q&A: How Governance of Microsoft SharePoint Can Be Useful For Content

Management, by Mark R. Gilvert, and Karen M. Shegda, Gartner Group, 6/1/07. How to Prevent WSS Services Anarchy, by Matthew W. Cain, Gartner Group, 6/28/06 SharePoint for Content Management Revisited, by Karen M. Shegda, Mark R. Gilbert

and Kenneth Chin, Gartner Group, 8/17/07

In addition, other sources analyzing SharePoint in a content management context:

The Forrester Wave: Enterprise Content Management Suites, Q 4 2007, by Kyle McNabb, Forrester Research, November 9, 2007

Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Content Management, by Karen M. Shegda, Toby Bell, Kenneth Chin, Mark R. Gilbert, Mick MacComascaigh, Gartner Group, September 23, 2008

avoid the chaos of proliferating MOSS sites, servers and duplicate technologies. In other words, governance is the “ability to manage risk, cost and adoption.”.4

Figure 15

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The challenge in any governance regime is to balance the right amount of guidance (on a centralized or decentralized basis) so growth is properly channeled, while not being so restrictive as to “lock down” the application and strangle user initiative. Typically at the lower level of the pyramid in Figure 1 above, users can self-provision MySites and informal work spaces. At the upper level control is reserved to the IT Department.

Microsoft’s SP Governance and Checklist Guide sums up key technical governance areas for a successful managed deployment: project and operational management; development and configuration; infrastructure; operational concerns; education and training; and navigation, taxonomy and search.

Information Architecture: One definition of this over-arching governance concept is “how information is created, structured and labeled to ensure a user experience that facilitates the users in achieving their goals: finding information or, completing a task in the most efficient manner.”6 Under this architecture, a classification taxonomy gives overall consistency, branding and searchabilty to a deployment. Organizations should follow simple business taxonomies vs. more complex (and labor-intensive) scientific data structures.7 Recommended federal resources to support good taxonomies are WebContent.gov and the CIO Council’s Inter-agency Council on Government Information. Enterprise site directories or “yellow pages” are a useful adjunct to a good taxonomy, and they can track and publicize sites’ existence for IT administrators and users.8

Reinforcing governance elements: It is important that various governance elements complement and reinforce rather than conflict with one another. For example, a taxonomy’s general framework, as well as standardized templates or content types should be communicated in training courses, and monitored through periodic audits. These standards, in turn, provide a baseline against which customized web parts are allowed, which also depend on an efficient change management process. The nature of the enterprise’s supporting infrastructure may dictate the breadth of the SP deployment and extent to which it needs mesh with other legacy applications.

B. SharePoint in a Management Context:

Challenge of user adoption: As with many IT applications, there is a fundamental challenge “crossing the chasm” between early pioneer users and getting SharePoint adopted by the organization as a whole.9 The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) SharePoint expert Ron Simmons cautions that the enterprise may “lose” 30% of users at the initial file share replacement stage if SharePoint is not deployed and adopted properly.10 It is essential to the successful adoption of any new technology or system to get users involved early and empower them to promote change.

A need for many “cooks”: Many specialists are required to make SharePoint a success. Three general groups are managers, users and network administrators. 11

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There may be as many as 10 different roles, ranging from Data Base Administrators and Search specialists to user business owners.12 Unlike traditional software, key drivers of the shape and output of the new system will come from empowered users…and not the IT Department.13 Enterprises face another choice in whether to develop specialized SharePoint IT staff in-house or resort to outside consulting services. For example, they might internally customize migration tools and web parts, or buy them from a vendor.Interactive design processes such as Agile and general “road maps” (see further below) can also help coordinate actors across the enterprise to make a SharePoint a success.14

Cost and benefit: It is crucial to “get a handle” on costs, both to guide implementation and defend the program before management and auditors. The cost/benefit process itself has value in clarifying options and communicating them to

12 Four Essentials for Building Your SharePoint Strategy, March 31, 2008, (abstract), a White Paper by David Waugh, Quest

13 The FAA’s successful Knowledge-Sharing Network (KSN) deployment illustrates the need for a broader array of actors to engage the entire enterprise in SharePoint deployment and adoption. At the executive level these include senior sponsors, government responsible individuals. At the working level are a KSN program manager, working units’ administrators and facilitators, and technical support.

14 “Agile Software Development”, Wikipedia, http://en/wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development

stakeholders and executives. MOSS software licensing, fees and related implementation can approach bids of $500,000 to $1,000,000 for a large enterprise. Another way to look at this is Gartner Group’s Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model. Gartner estimates that MOSS software constitutes less than 15% of TCO over a 5 year life cycle.15

Income or cost savings from IT administration consolidation can also be quantified, yet in the long term SharePoint is likely to increase the volume of data and traffic on the organization’s network, and drive a need for more servers and storage capacity. SharePoint replacement of file shares alone can almost triple the requirement for storage space given versioning control. Other cost savings may flow from SharePoint’s replacing a less efficient legacy system or in reducing email volume and Exchange overhead. More intangible knowledge management type returns (ease of use, collaboration, data integrity and retention) can also be factored in.

Fee-for-service or chargeback schemes, where users pay the IT Department for custom development, can also generate income. However, experts debate the wisdom of charging an organization’s users for all or part of a MOSS installation. Proponents say it rations pent-up demand, makes users more accountable for using the software, and helps pay for MOSS administrative overhead. Detractors say it artificially restricts demand for what should be a free enterprise “utility” such as Word or Outlook.

C. A General Management Approach

1. Strategic Planning:

- Articulate a vision: What is your organization trying to accomplish with MOSS functionality as per the pie chart in Figure 2?: Is it seeking to maintain a competitive position in the marketplace, cut costs by stream-lining processes, or

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better motivate and retain personnel? Is compliance reporting or record retention important? How do existing reengineering, policy, or technology initiatives fit in?

In crafting a SharePoint vision, an enterprise should try and maximize the “findability” of information for users by offering various options: portals, search, and expertise directories.16 In one example, a “virtual office environment” informs FAA’s SharePoint vision. Using SharePoint to standardize multiple enterprise collaboration systems and yield resulting economies of scale might be another driver in one’s vision.

Be mindful that SharePoint is not the right tool for everything. For example, its out-of-the-box CMS capability is limited, and extensive custom coding would be needed to

Figure 2 Source: Microsoft

provide CRM contact management functionality. Be prepared to try to fit in legacy applications (perhaps by partially integrating them via MOSS’s Business Data Catalogue) for such unmet needs, or consider other COTS or open source products.

- Focus on target applications and audiences: Think how best to marry SharePoint capability and specific business functions by creating business templates. The American Red Cross, for example, applied Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 2.0 to replace Excel spreadsheets emailed by field managers for project relief reporting during Hurricane Katrina (see also the case study in Attachment 3).17 DOD’s HarmonieWeb is making use of the advanced features of MOSS to share information and coordinate international disaster relief via a password protected portal on the Internet.18 Del Monte Foods applies MOSS to connect research experts and sales staff, thus expediting the time to market of new product ideas.19

- Know your culture: How receptive is your organizational culture to SharePoint web-based information sharing? If work flow appears more efficient, but personnel resist reengineered business processes, no “automating of cow paths” will improve productivity! The Red Cross’s branded “Neighborhoods” have grown so rapidly, largely because of volunteers’ positive, independent, and “can-do” attitude.20 SharePoint has likewise taken off at Mitre, whose engineering culture and “Community Share” service have made for a willing user base to apply and tinker with the technology.21

- Assess your supporting infrastructure: Does MOSS mesh well with existing hardware, software and network infrastructure? Do latency and bandwidth issues over your WAN call for additional technology or engineering fixes? Are user desktops configured with a consistent Office software to interface with SharePoint, with plans to migrate to the more MOSS-compatible Office 07 in future? In some cases, given limited budgets, it is best to accept network limitations on SharePoint, and adapt your rollout strategy accordingly. The Pan American Health Organization, on the other hand, has procured accelerators to dramatically improve the performance of its SharePoint network in Latin America,22 and Christian Aid in the UK has applied a mix of replication and peer-to-peer technology to support its disaster relief work overseas.23

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- Check fit with alternative software: Other simple collaboration tools such as Mediawiki (wiki), Movable Type (blogs) or Google Apps (document sharing) are also available. They are bandwidth light, inexpensive, and easy to install and use. They may quickly fill basic enterprise-wide collaboration needs. Another is Microsoft’s Groove, a peer-to-peer, rich client that facilitates decentralized collaboration. It is especially appropriate for small, ad hoc teams, and can be integrated with SharePoint as various case studies attest.

Such applications may complement a MOSS deployment by readily supplying simple collaboration solutions while a more complex SharePoint rollout is evolving. An organization might also use the free (with Windows Server 2003 or above) WSS 3.0 team

application vs. a full-scale and more costly MOSS enterprise installation. Many organizations have used WSS (Windows SharePoint Services) to test business processes and departmental applications in preparation for a future rollout of MOSS with its broader enterprise administration, search, work flow, and other capabilities.

2. Communications and Training

- Forge your team: A SharePoint manager’s job is to try and bring together various conflicting or isolated parties and share expertise and perspectives vital to implementation. For example, knowledge management, human resources, reengineering, public affairs, financial management, business users and various parts of IT (servers, desktop, network) all have a role to play. Informal meetings with these players can start forging a sense of trust, common purpose and teamwork, all of which is vital to implementation success.

- Make the “pitch”: A “soft-sell” approach with little technical jargon is best, especially at the early stages. According to McKesson, SharePoint is very much an “extend as you learn” process driven by end users, but people first need to understand basic concepts.24 Tactics include lessons learned studies, outside expert presentations, SharePoint demonstrations, trade fair type exhibits and inter-action with users, and governance workshops with early adopters. Some planning, architecture, and business case resources may be tapped from Microsoft (see their Gear-up site.). However, be selective in adapting this technology-focused material to your unique enterprise environment.

- Take a ”test drive”: It is difficult to assess SharePoint in the abstract, and best to test it against a real business process and actual user and network conditions. Such early trials can either be formal pilots subject to a supervised (and political) process of selection and evaluation, or informal tests where users try out SharePoint on their own. Pilots are valuable in developing early principles of user governance, reusable templates for business functions, and building user interest.

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- Train to task: In general, training should not just focus on SharePoint functionality, but on how it will be used in the organization. Ranging in length from 1-2 hours to a few days, such training should be geared to the various levels of users/administrators who will be applying the software. It is a mix of classroom, online and informal instruction (McKesson, for example, sponsors a “collaboration café”,25 and the Red Cross hosts periodic conference calls to exchange site administrator best practices).26 Experience shows that training and retraining is a continuing process. Peer-based coaching through users groups can also be a productive part of adapting and institutionalizing SharePoint to the enterprise.

3. Management Engagement

- Enlist executive support: At a minimum, you will need a CIO commitment to buy the software, and ideally his or her engagement in key aspects of governance, rollout and legacy migration. Middle management can take a lot of initiative in steering SharePoint deployment, typically through a central governance committee (this is admittedly a more complex undertaking for public sector enterprises, whose processes are often less transparent, and who lack the private sector’s sharper cost/benefit discipline). As the scope and politics of SharePoint implementation evolve, other levels of management (department heads, personnel chiefs, financial managers, etc.) will need to get engaged. Incentives by management for IT staff and users in applying SharePoint for business results are also important. These can take the form of web recognition, cash awards or special web part developer workshops and competitions.

- Target limited resources: SharePoint costs tend to escalate as implementation proceeds (up to 80% of an implementation’s cost is in continuing operations and maintenance, vs. only 20% in upfront design and installation, although these figures may vary) . Thus it is important to have a good understanding of cost/benefit to justify budget outlays for software, hardware, network upgrades, training and consulting services. This analysis will also help managers guide an evolving deployment toward areas of greatest return (a human resources portal? standardized sites for all field offices? cross-functional research and development teams?).

- What to roll out and when?: Given likely pent-up demand for sites, the IT Department needs to roll out SharePoint in “chunks” over time. Questionnaires might be used by IT to initially screen for motivated and sustainable users who are likely to add business value. Simple SharePoint sites built from templates could be provisioned first, with more customized, complex sites supported later. Release of specialized SharePoint functionality such as advanced work flow/custom site design (Designer) or personal web pages (MySites) might be deployed later, thus avoiding chaotic usage or overloading of IT support and help desk. Distribution of third party software or MOSS upgrades also needs to be scheduled, as well as migration of legacy applications.

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- How to use management tools: Metrics on how many sites are launched and used (or unused and retired), volume of content shared, and number of users trained are some important indicators. Automated tracking is “baked into” MOSS’s central administration, and other key performance indicator (KPI) tools can be developed in SharePoint. Bechtel, for example, applies a quarterly audit to all enterprise SharePoint sites.27 In addition, anecdotes and case studies on practical use of the application can help guide deployment.28

- Share your success: As your SharePoint implementation matures, it is useful to compare your experience and learn from other organizations. A lessons learned study or an information-sharing workshop can frame such cross-fertilization. Alternatively,

you might share experience in local SharePoint users groups (such as the Northern Virginia SharePoint Users Group) or through membership in such knowledge management organizations as the American Productivity Quality Center (APQC) or the Knowledge Management Institute. Microsoft itself can be a resource either by posting a case study of your experience (several are noted at the end of this paper), or through interaction with a regional Microsoft Technology Center which monitors customer experience and feedback.

D. Conclusion:

Sound technical governance, coupled with a broad strategic, communications and management discipline, are essential for MOSS implementation success. Executives should stop looking at IT such as SharePoint as technology installations, and rather as “periods of organizational change that they have a responsibility to manage”29. Likewise SharePoint developers and administrators need to work from this broader management perspective if they are to bring their installations to life.

Various road maps are available to help guide your SharePoint deployment and adoption. One of the most helpful is McKesson’s presentation at the March 2008 Microsoft SharePoint Conference on “How SharePoint can make you a rock star”.30 Here SharePoint is treated as its own “business”, with marketing, financial, integrated IT and other goals. Government Computer News provides a more generic Collaboration Software RFP Checklist that is also useful.31 You might also consult deployment and adoption strategies by other similar web-based operations within your enterprise. Finally, Attachment 1 presents a 4-step SharePoint road map based on the author’s experience.

Attachments:

1. A Road Map for SharePoint Implementation2. A Real World SharePoint Case Study: the American Red Cross3. Bibliography of Online Resources in SharePoint Management and Governance4. About the Author, SUGNOVA, and the Regional SharePoint Users Conference5. End Notes

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Attachment 1: A Road Map for SharePoint Implementation Success

1. Get organized: Clarify your vision and strategy Canvass comparable organizations’ lessons learned Learn from conducting informal and formal pilots Assess your users’ skills and experience, and their collaboration needs (requirements) Engage stakeholders (team-building) Specify and “fit” user requirements to SharePoint (or alternative applications) Standardize inefficient work processes Complete a cost/benefit analysis Mobilize resources (IT and staff)

Plan a timeline with key milestones, project prioritization, and sign SLAs Develop initial governance guidance (FAQs, templates, quotas, taxonomy) Set SharePoint’s scope: for headquarters, specific departments, or enterprise-wide Decide on network priorities (Intranet, Extranet, Internet and/or mobile) Decide on one or multiple site collections Communicate and measure early results

2. Get off to a good start: Upon installation/provisioning, announce governance & configuration guides Do training (classroom, online, demos) Delegate more to users, and involve an enterprise users group Showcase pioneer early adopters (incentives) Document enterprise case studies and best practices Engage other levels of management (demonstrations, briefings) Migrate legacy applications, and procure vendor web parts, if need Form a local governance committee(s)

3. Learn by doing: Hold early adopter workshop to refine governance and best practice Evolve your way to successful adoption Retain legacy systems where practical Involve more traditional offices Fill in placeholder “stubs” with SharePoint sites in enterprise taxonomy Extend SharePoint to other networks (Internet) Do quarterly audits of site quality

4. Take it to the next level: Tackle more complex implementations Migrate remaining legacy software and systems Customize applications (Designer, .NET) Introduce upgrades, add-on software Share your lessons learned, with best practice entities, inter-agency fora

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Attachment 2.

A Real World SharePoint Case Study: the American Red Cross

Source: Kevin Hans, Knowledge Management Office, American Red Cross

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Attachment 3:

The American Red Cross (ARC) is a humanitarian organization of one million volunteers. It provides relief to victims of disasters, and helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. In 2003 the ARC’s interest in launching communities of practice and strengthening collaboration in the field led its small knowledge management office (with IT Department support) to champion the release of WSS 2.0 to interested users. The application grew from 5,000 users to some 60,000 today, at times stretching ARC’s ability to manage and support such dramatic growth. ARC’s “can-do”, federated and volunteer culture was well suited to replicating SharePoint among its dispersed and user-driven “Neighborhoods”. In one example, beginning with Hurricane Katrina SharePoint replaced a cumbersome paper and spreadsheet process for tracking media inquiries. This reduced training time for the volunteers who manage/perform this process, and improved the dissemination of information in terms of time, reach and reporting efficiency to staff and top management. ARC recently migrated from WSS to MOSS, and is now looking to apply MySite, blog, wiki and work flow functionality.

Key governance and management lessons learned:

A need, from the beginning of deployment, for a more formal IT Department involvement in SharePoint rollout and adoption, esp. re backup, load-balancing, and security, all of which features have since been implemented by ARC; A ground-up, organic implementation approach worked best for ARC, with basic training, peer-support and governance. More hierarchical or complex organizations may need more extensive governance and training programs; Value of good project management in guiding the migration from WSS to MOSS.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ONLINE RESOURCES ON SHAREPOINT MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE

Online articles, blogs, websites:

SharePoint Governance Checklist Guide, Microsoft Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog : Groove vs. SharePoint?, Abbott Lowell,

Microsoft/Groove, 3/31/2008 Put a Stop to SharePoint Sprawl., Summary, by Alan Pelz-Sharpe, AIIM Magazine

Article, 02/04/2008. SharePoint 2007 – Site Collections and When to Use Them, Bob Mixon, 4/15/2008, ,

www.bobmixon.com The accidental benefits for cost-benefit analysis, and Creating a cost-benefit analysis:

building blocks and basic steps, Marty Chakoian, Microsoft, 10/19/05 Managing Technical Change in Organizations, by David Capocci, SAFECO, 2/03.

Case studies:

Communication & Collaboration: Building an Emergency Operations Center on Groove and SharePoint, by John Morello.

FAA’s Virtual Office Puts the Agency a Jump Ahead in Preparedness - June 2006. FDIC’s Telework Program

USJFCOM SJFHQ MOSS 2007 Project (HarmonieWeb) Case Study, MicroLink Microsoft Office System. Customer Solution Case Study. “Collaboration Solution for

Christian Aid Tested in Tsunami Releases Help for Victims in just 24 hours,” Christian Aid, UK, 2004

Microsoft Office System. Customer Solution Case Study. “Improves Help Desk Responsiveness with New Automated System” (INEGI in Mexico), March 2007

White papers:

Topic Overview: Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 by Kyle McNabb, Rob Koplowitz with Erica Driver, Diana Levitt, Forrester Research, 4/24/08

Four Essentials for Building Your SharePoint Strategy, Mar 31, 2008, (abstract) a White Paper by David Waugh, Quest

Is A SharePoint-Based Solution Right For Your Organization?, a Solution Paper by SpringCM, 2007

SharePoint: How It's Leveraged and How It Works, from Global Knowledge, by Gail Pomper , 2007

White paper: Chaos no more: Steps for building governance into Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007., Microsoft, Tech Net

Learning Tree - Resource Library, SharePoint Empowerment: Making Document Management and Organizational Collaboration Easier.

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Deploying Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 for Team Collaboration, by David Mario Smith, Gartner Group, 8/30/07.

Q&A: How Governance of Microsoft SharePoint Can Be Useful For Content Management, by Mark R. Gilvert, and Karen M. Shegda, Gartner Group, 6/1/07.

How to Prevent WSS Services Anarchy, by Matthew W. Cain, Gartner Group, 6/28/06 SharePoint for Content Management Revisited, by Karen M. Shegda, Mark R. Gilbert

and Kenneth Chin, Gartner Group, 8/17/07 2007 Excellence.Gov Awards White Paper: Lessons Learned to Leverage Technology to

Enhance Collaboration, 2007, by David G. Cassidy, TCG. The Forrester Wave: Enterprise Content Management Suites, Q 4 2007, by Kyle

McNabb, Forrester Research, November 9, 2007 Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Content Management, by Karen M. Shegda, Toby Bell,

Kenneth Chin, Mark R. Gilbert, Mick MacComascaigh, Gartner Group, September 23, 2008

Presentations on Governance:

Regional SharePoint Users Conference, “Enforcing Governance by Provisioning Sites with. WorkFlow…The Importance of. Taxonomy for SharePoint. Deployments”. Mack Sigman, InfoReliance, Dulles, Virginia, October 2007

2008 SharePoint.Org Conference Agenda and Summary Presentations, 3/ 9-11, 2008, Tremont Hotel, Baltimore, MD, sponsored by Susquehanna Technology.

If you build a portal solution, will users come?, Susan Hanley LLC, Regional SharePoint Users Conference, Dulles, Virginia, October 2007.

Best Practices SharePoint Conference, Mindsharp, Washington D.C., 9/15-17, 2008. Slide Presentations at Microsoft SharePoint Conference, Redmond, WA, 3/8/08:

- DM:200 MOSS 2007 Deployment Planning, Matt Passannante, SharePoint Experts, Inc.- Collaboration & Social Networking in the Enterprise, Jonathan Wynn, Del Monte Foods- From Chaos to Corporate Governance: 10 Steps for Success, Joel Oleson, Microsoft- Harmonizing people, processes, and business systems, James Lee and Mark Peters of MTS Allsteam, and Gregory J. Momaniuk, The Alberta Teachers Association- Making Information So Easy to Find, It's Impossible Not to Use it!, Lori Garcia, Chesapeake Energy- Consolidating Enterprise Information, Adam Woodruff, Quest Software- Driving Business Value: Real Solutions for Real Challenges, Dan Naselius, Larry Roshfeld, CorasWorks- Deploying Performance Point Server 2007 and MOSS 2007 for Performance Management, Michael Tejedor, Microsoft, Parick Husting, Extended Results, Inc.- MOSS 2007 meets DOD certification, Sean Dillon, Microsoft- Information Architecture for MOSS 2007, Jonathan Stynder, Microsoft- Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Ed Hild, Microsoft- How SharePoint can make you a rock star, Paul Miller, Aaron Rafus, McKesson Corp.- Buzz: Build end-user excitement and proficiency, by Bob Sutton, Microsoft

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Journal articles (online summaries):

Mastering the Three Worlds of Information Technology, by Andrew McAfee, Harvard Business Review, November 2006.

Radically Simple IT, By David Upton, Bradley R. Staats, Harvard Business Review, March 2008

Books (online summaries):

Crossing the Chasm, by Geoffrey A. Moore (Harper Business Book), 2001 Essential SharePoint 2007, by Scott Jamison, Mauro Cardarelli and Susan Hanley

(Addison Wesley)

3 “From Chaos to Corporate Governance: 10 Steps for Success,” Joel Oleson, Microsoft Slide Presentations at Microsoft SharePoint Conference, Redmond, WA, 3/8/08

4 Robert Bogue, Microsoft MVP, www.thorprojects.com/blog

5 Ed Hild, Microsoft Technology Center, presentation at Regional SharePoint Users Conference, June 27-28, 2008, Dulles, Virginia

6 Information Architecture for MOSS 2007, Jonathan Stynder, Microsoft. Slide Presentations at Microsoft SharePoint Conference, Redmond, WA, 3/8/08

7 Regional SharePoint Users Conference, “Enforcing Governance by Provisioning Sites with work flow…The Importance of. Taxonomy for SharePoint. Deployments”. Mack Sigman, InfoReliance, Dulles, Virginia, October 2007

8 A key early decision in a SharePoint deployment is whether to use one or multiple “site collections.” A site collection is a hierarchy of sites, at a minimum a single top level site with many sub-sites. It typically refers to a unique content data base, and sets standardized controls, templates and features inherited by “child” sub-sites. Tasks associated with site collection administration may be another way for top management and the IT Department to involve business managers in SharePoint implementation and support. 9

? Crossing the Chasm, by Geoffrey A. Moore (Harper Business Book), 2001

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? Ronald Simmons, Federal Aviation Administration, in presentation before the Federal Military SharePoint Users Group, Washington D.C., May 2007

11 SharePoint: How It's Leveraged and How It Works, from Global Knowledge, by Gail Pomper, 2007

15 Q&A: How Governance of Microsoft SharePoint Can Be Useful For Content Management, by Mark R. Gilvert, and Karen M. Shegda, Gartner Group, 6/1/07.

16 Presentation by Peter Morville, “Information Architecture and Findability” at 2008 SharePoint.Org Conference - Agenda and Summary Presentations, 3/ 9-11, 2008, Tremont Hotel, Baltimore, MD, sponsored by Susquehanna Technology.

17 Kevin Hans, Knowledge Management Office, American Red Cross, presentation at Regional SharePoint Users Conference, June 28, Dulles, Virginia

18 USJFCOM SJFHQ MOSS 2007 Project (HarmonieWeb) Case Study, MicroLink

19 Collaboration & Social Networking in the Enterprise, Jonathan Wynn, Del Monte Foods. Slide Presentations at Microsoft SharePoint Conference, Redmond, WA, 3/8/08

20 Ibid. Note 17.

21 Beth Pabisch, Information Tecnology Department, Mitre Corporation (interview, August 2007).

22 Charles Anstrom, Information Technology Department, Pan American Health Organization (interview, May 2008)

23 Microsoft Office System. Customer Solution Case Study. “Collaboration Solution for Christian Aid Tested in Tsunami Releases Help for Victims in just 24 hours,” Christian Aid, UK, 2004

24 How SharePoint can make you a rock star, Paul Miller, Aaron Rafus, McKesson Corp. Slide Presentations at Microsoft SharePoint Conference, Redmond, WA, 3/8/08

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? Ibid. 24.26

? Ibid. 17

27 Sherry Grayson, SharePoint Administrator, Bechtel Corp. (Interview, April 2008)

28 Other program management tools may help. These may be as simple as GANTT charts to gain clarity and agreement on key implementation milestones. More elaborate, Microsoft Office Performance Point Server 2007 provides scorecards, planning, budgeting, forecasting and other reporting functionality. Additional tools noted by Microsoft’s Ed Hild at the June 2008 Regional SharePoint Users Conference included open sourced software to plan system capacity, manage asset inventory and move around site collections (see www.codeplex.com for some of these tools). Another conference speaker, Erin O’Connor, uses custom work flows to automate site provisioning, registration and training.

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Attachment 4About the Author:

Gary L. Vaughan is a consultant with World-Wide Information Network Systems (WINS) on contract as a Senior SharePoint Advisor to the Office of eDiplomacy at the Department of State in Washington D.C. WINS is a privately-held, global information technology company with more than 100 IT professionals delivering solutions that allow government to increase productivity, enhance performance, and control costs. Mr. Vaughan advises foreign affairs organizations on how to launch, govern and maximize the business value of Microsoft SharePoint and related technologies, and is an active member of SUGNOVA. Prior to consulting in SharePoint, he was a career Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development until 2006, with 27 years experience in managing overseas development projects, as well as expertise in information technology programs and knowledge management. He has graduate degrees in computer science, business and international relations, and may be contacted at vaughang@winsnetworks.com.

About the SharePoint Users Group of Northern Virginia (SUGNOVA):

29 Ibid. 1.

30 Ibid. 24.

31 Drew Robb, “RFP Checklist: Collaboration Software,” Government Computer News, November 6, 2006.

The purpose of SUGNOVA is to provide a forum for the learning and knowledge exchange for the Microsoft product SharePoint and its related technologies. Under president Gary Blatt, the group sponsors monthly expert presentations, networking and discussions on various aspects of SharePoint in Northern Virginia. These meetings are free and open to anyone with an interest in SharePoint, whether administrators, developers or newcomers to this new technology. Meetings are held the 2nd Thursday evening of each month in Reston, Virginia. For our next meeting topic and venue, check out www.sugdc.org. Our group SharePoint site, which requires a login, can be found at www.sugnova.org. To request a login, please send an email to access@sugdc.org.

About the Regional SharePoint Users Conference:

June 27-28, 2008 marked the second SharePoint Users Conference sponsored by SUGNOVA in the Washington D.C. area since the first event held in October 2007. This conference brings together expert presentations on SharePoint, exhibits by leading industry vendors, and over 150 attendees with manager, developer and administrator interests in this platform. It is also a forum for information-sharing such as this draft white paper. The next conference is tentatively scheduled for Spring 2009, with details to be provided at www.sugdc.org. The conference chair (and founder of SUGNOVA) is Gary Blatt, and conference program committee members are Dale Clarke, Harold Brangman, Janice Brangman, Manuela Costescu, Vladimir Costescu and Gary Vaughan.

Acknowledgements:

Gary Vaughan and SUGNOVA would like to acknowledge inputs of the following individuals who helped to conceptualize, outline, edit or otherwise review this white paper: Gary Blatt and Dale Clarke of SharePoint Resources; Harold Brangman of PHE; Fitz Stewart, Ebony Washington and Greg Valentine of WINS; Susan Hanley of Susan Hanley LLC, and Kevin Hans of the American Red Cross.

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END NOTES (Attachment 5)*