Maximizing Value and Getting the Most out of SharePoint

Scott JamisonChief Architect & CEO, Jornata LLC

About Scott Jamison• Chief Architect at Jornata, a full-

service software consulting form• Former Director at Microsoft• Microsoft Certified Master (MCM)• SharePoint MVP• Author:

– Essential SharePoint 2007– Essential SharePoint 2010– Five whitepapers on SharePoint 2010

• scott.jamison@jornata.com• @sjam

Assumptions• You know what SharePoint is

• You want to know how to deploy it *effectively*

• I’m going to talk fast…keep up!

Getting the Most Out of SharePoint

1. Go All-In or Don’t Bother2. Invest in Governance3. Remember: It’s About the Content4. Get Search Right5. Give Everyone a Profile Page6. Plan for End-User Adoption7. Give SharePoint Ongoing Love

Getting the Most Out of SharePoint

1. Go All-In or Don’t Bother2. Invest in Governance3. Remember: It’s About the Content4. Get Search Right5. Give Everyone a Profile Page6. Plan for End-User Adoption7. Give SharePoint Ongoing Love

Go All-In or Don’t Bother• Many customers

implement SharePoint by dropping it into a team environment with… – Little to no configuration– Little to no end-user guidance– Wishing the users “best of luck”

• Use? Mostly for file sharing

• Problem? Slower, more expensive version of your company file server!

Go All-In or Don’t Bother

Investing the time and effort?• Cost of servers• Cost of storage• Cost of customization

THEN:You owe it to yourself to invest in governance, a good information architecture and training

FACT: Customers who use SharePoint

to its full potential are much happier customers!

The SharePoint Customer Journey

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Business Solutions

Build tailored business solutions that provide insights, improve decisions and increase organizational agility

Initial Deployment

Deploy collaboration sites that connect teams, improve access to information and increase productivity

Broad Adoption

Deliver advanced workloads that broaden adoption, drive compliance and reduce the cost of maintain multiple systems

Getting the Most Out of SharePoint

1. Go All-In or Don’t Bother2. Invest in Governance3. Remember: It’s About the Content4. Get Search Right5. Give Everyone a Profile Page6. Plan for End-User Adoption7. Give SharePoint Ongoing Love

Governance: What’s all the HYPE?

What is governance, exactly?

You know it when you see it.

Without it, you get…SharePoint

Governance Simplified…The Analogy

• GOAL: You want to create an easy way for people to get around

• SO YOU: Create a project called “Highway System”

• You invest heavily in infrastructure (fuel-efficient cars, excellent roadways, gas stations, etc.)

BUT…you neglect to invest in the “rules of the road”–Drive on the right–Stop at intersections

Without them, there’s chaos!

SharePoint Governance• So…in short:– It’s really just guidance

(and rules) that you give to users

– Must be coupled with training and consequences

“Governance without enforcement is merely suggestion.”

Q: Who is your traffic cop?

Getting the Most Out of SharePoint

1. Go All-In or Don’t Bother2. Invest in Governance3. Remember: It’s About the Content4. Get Search Right5. Give Everyone a Profile Page6. Plan for End-User Adoption7. Give SharePoint Ongoing Love

Adoption Does Not 'Just Happen' Reach critical mass to stay in the game

VHS and Betamax: adoption x time

Tipping pointCrossing the Chasm

critical mass

critical mess

It’s about the Content• SharePoint itself isn’t going to do anything for you

without good content. • Designate content owners!• Keep it FRESH

Content Governance ExampleContent Site or Page Content Manager Update/Review Frequency

Intranet Home Page (web parts, lists) Doug S. Daily

News Home Page Phil T. Weekly—Press Releases Scott G. When new releases are generated

—Announcements Scott G. When new announcements are made

—Industry News (none) Self-authored through RSS feedsCommunity Home Page Mary P. Weekly

—Events Dave F. When events are added/removed as needed

—Media Susanne V. When company event or other event takes place with media documentation

—Executive Blog Homer S. Weekly, one per executive member

Teams (none) Search and creation functionality — no content

—Team Sites Mark B. Semi-annually

Search (specifically keywords, acronyms and best bets) John S. Semi-annually reviewed, and as new

keywords, acronyms are added

Audiences Mark B. As user roles change or new users are created/old users removed

Getting the Most Out of SharePoint

1. Go All-In or Don’t Bother2. Invest in Governance3. Remember: It’s About the Content4. Get Search Right5. Give Everyone a Profile Page6. Plan for End-User Adoption7. Give SharePoint Ongoing Love

Common Search Complaints

Really…there’s one:

“I can’t find what I’m looking for!”

Search: Before/After

• two docs…but they don't look like the right ones• no definition…what does it mean?• no best bet for top link• no people who can help me• no way to provide feedback on bad results

Make Search Work• You can get search to work!– INVEST IN IT– Help users help themselves• Example: Title property, content tagging

– Manage search keywords, definitions, best bets– Add acronyms, industry terms– Even if you don’t enable MySites, add user profiles– Add surveys for user feedback– Monitor search queries via reporting

Search: Before/After

• Two docs that look correct• Handy definition• Best bet for top link that can

help me• Person(s) who can help me• A way to provide feedback on

bad results

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Getting the Most Out of SharePoint

1. Go All-In or Don’t Bother2. Invest in Governance3. Remember: It’s About the Content4. Get Search Right5. Give Everyone a Profile Page6. Plan for End-User Adoption7. Give SharePoint Ongoing Love

Provide a Social Identity• Why? Enables Users to:

– Gather insight – Provide social feedback in the form of ratings, comments, and tags– Find an ‘expert’– Provide an accurate organization chart– Target information– Sync to Outlook via the social connector

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About “My Sites”• User Profiles = White Pages/Expert Search• MySites = “Personal” Site Collections• You don’t need to deploy personal sites if you

want profiles!

Getting the Most Out of SharePoint

1. Go All-In or Don’t Bother2. Invest in Governance3. Remember: It’s About the Content4. Get Search Right5. Give Everyone a Profile Page6. Plan for End-User Adoption7. Give SharePoint Ongoing Love

ADOPTION CURVE: EXAMPLE

Getting the Most Out of SharePoint

1. Go All-In or Don’t Bother2. Invest in Governance3. Remember: It’s About the Content4. Get Search Right5. Give Everyone a Profile Page6. Plan for End-User Adoption7. Give SharePoint Ongoing Love

Give SharePoint Ongoing love • Common mistake:

– Invest a lot in the infrastructure– Invest a lot in customization– Maybe even invest in governance & training– BUT…

• Fail to invest in ongoing “love” to keep things happy• YOU MUST give SharePoint care and feeding over time• Plan to have an expert assess SharePoint and give it a tune-up

every six months or so

It’s like your car manual…Frequency Recommended ActionsDaily Review and update homepage content, checking to see any ‘daily’ reminders or announcements are up to

date and content remains fresh. Update purchasing guidelines with any changes for the day.

Weekly Remind an executive team member (or each executive team member) to post a new blog post about the company, community, industry, or other pertinent topic.

Update processes docs (or as changes occur).

Monthly Review and update events and calendar entries for the month (these should also be added or removed as new events and calendar dates are scheduled/cancelled).

Review and update any marketing materials to ensure team members are always using the current branding and other formats for any template materials.

Review and update versions of all forms to ensure proper documents are being used by the team.

Quarterly Update any seasonal promotions Review user audience groups, ensure users are in the right audiences, and modify outdated audiences Evaluate cumulative Windows/SharePoint updates; reboot server machine regardless, each quarter

Semi-Annually Twice per year the content owner of the Team Sites should review what sites haven’t been used in the last 6 months and have little or no page views. They should then contact the site creator or owner of these sites and recommend removing them, keeping team sites relevant and useful.

The employee handbook and other HR resources (forms, reference docs, vacation policies, etc.) should be reviewed and updated as needed by the HR content owner.

Review search keywords, term store, and acronyms, removing any duplicated content, adding new keywords and terms, and updating any new acronyms as needed.

Annually The governance board should review the governance document, updating with any changes that may have taken place in SharePoint policies and processes.

Summary: Getting the Most out of SharePoint

1. Go All-In or Don’t Bother2. Invest in Governance3. Remember: It’s About the Content4. Get Search Right5. Give Everyone a Profile Page6. Plan for End-User Adoption7. Give SharePoint Ongoing Love

Have a great day!

Thank you!• Follow me @sjam• Scott.jamison@jornata.com• www.scottjamison.com• www.jornata.com

• Follow me on Twitter for your chance to win a book!

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@SJAM