Over at CMS Wire, Scott Jamison (@sjam) has posted an article about SharePoint 2010 titled: The Executive Perspective: Top 7 Things You Must Consider for SharePoint 2010. Aimed at those companies looking to implement SharePoint 2010, Scott explains the following 7 things to consider:
- Go All-in or don’t bother. I echo that. I’ve seen too many companies try to stick their toe in the water when implementing portals and collaboration software.
- Invest in Governance. In a previous blog post (SharePoint governance vs Portal governance), I talked about how most SharePoint implementers use the term governance to describe administering the platform, including backups, setting up libraries, etc. Scott uses the term governance with respect to guiding users in the best way to use SharePoint by providing guidelines and rules. I’d expand this governance concept to include guidelines for IT when building and deploying applications on SharePoint.
- It’s about the Content. You need to define the overall structure of your SharePoint implementation and not let it develop on its own. Scott rightly suggests identifying content and site owners, and putting in policies to help manage the growth of the portal.
- Invest in Search. Out of the box search is good, but often not adequate once you get beyond a basic site. Make sure you evaluate the need for an Enterprise-level search system and don’t try to skimp on search.
- Give Everyone a Profile Page. I see in many implementations, that creating a profile for each user is usually the last item on anybody’s mind. SharePoint is intended to be a social tool, so you must include social features at the beginning.
- Plan for End User Adoption. Scott writes,”You can’t just ‘turn on’ the new portal or collaboration environment and expect users to show up at the door in droves. Your adoption plan (yes, you need one) needs to capture the hearts and minds of the user community to ensure that the solution will be successful”. I blogged before about how to measure portal effectiveness (see How to Measure Portal Effectiveness). Your adoption plan should include how you measure success.
- Give SharePoint Ongoing Love. Here Scott is talking about what traditional SharePoint implementers call Governance – its the operational support for the system. Don’t forget that SharePoint 2010 is part of your Windows ecosystem. If your current Windows administrators are overburdened, you’ll exacerbate the situation by adding SharePoint to their workload.
Scott goes into more depth on each of these seven points. I hope my two cents help the discussion.
