The SharePoint Journey
- 1. The SharePoint Journey RobinMcManus: 30 Minutes. SharePoint builds itself (True / False) Askthe Audience fortheircommentsonthe above statementwithashow of hands fortrue and a showof hands forfalse,the same question will be asked atthe endof the session, howeverdonot discusswhatismeantby the questionjustcountthe show of hands andthank the audience fortheir participation. SharePoint complexity andwhat it actually does out of the box. SharePointwithoutpurpose is pointless,andyes,inthe earlydays the challenge toinstall SharePoint was justtootemptingandonce librarieshadbeencreated,calendarshadbeenconfigured to manage the meetingrooms andthe new helpdesksystem hadbeencreated,Ifoundthatnoone actually usedor understoodthis newtechnology anditmade me realise thatdespiteall myefforts and hard work it wasa relatively pointless exercise.The truthis, youare not actually installing SharePoint,youare creatinga systemtodo somethingfunctional andSharePointisthe mediumin whichto achieve thatgoal.It isreallyimportanttoaskyourself the question,canIachieve the requirements byusingSharePointandhow will thisbe accomplished,generally the wordSharePoint isbannedduringRequirementsGatheringworkshops andStakeholdermeetingsasitis bestto describe the processi.e.DocumentManagementSystem, The Intranet,Active SalesPortal, IT Helpdesk Systems,ProjectPlanningPortal etc. You still also needtoask the usual Questions. Why are we changingthe existingsystems Can SharePointactuallydeliverthe proposedsolutionOOTB Creatingadditional features anddowe have the skills Developmentisajourneyintothe unknown sohow longwill itreallytake GAP Analysisandwhatisactuallymissing Don’ttalk aboutgreat lookingsites,talkaboutreallyfunctional Sites Are we even ready for the Cloud Systems? The nextquestionis, where dowe gofromhere,we now have the choice betweenCloudand On- Premises butwhateverthe choice,licensingcostsandyourexistingITandsupportinfrastructure will be a majorinfluence on decidingthe new Systems andwhichOffice 365Plan to purchase. WithOn-Premisesthe followingwill needLicensingorhave existingLicences Server ClientAccess Licence ApplicationSoftware Data Storage Redundancy
- 2. Backup StagingFarms DevelopmentandSandpit WithCloud,Licensingmay include the following 5 licencesforOffice Applications SharePointEnterprise Office 356 Exchange Lync Accessto Yammer(Requires Additional Licence) FederatedServices DiskStorage Bear inmindthe differencesbetweenStandardandEnterprise versionsasevenwiththe Microsoft Office Suite, some of the requiredcomponentsmay notwork withoutafull Enterprise Licence.i.e. InfoPath,the variousI-FilterPlug-ins,“Active DirectoryRightsManagementServices”,InfoPath,MS VisioandBusinessIntelligence etc. Alsothe newcloudsystemsare amazingandwill resolve manyof the ongoingtechnical support problems bysimplycombiningMicrosoftBackOffice Applicationsintoasimple cloudformulabut, youstill have the transitional phase soadditional consultancy maybe requiredforthisstage. Why are the Team Members soimportant? Whichor yoursponsorsare decisionmakers,find outwhoyouare dealing withandtryto understandwhattheyexpectfromthe project,whyare theyinthisrole andhow can youget the bestout of them Findout fromthe Audience the role thatbestfits,DecisionMakers(Financial/Functional),Project Managers,Team Sponsors,Developers,ProductSupport,ApplicationSupport, Architecture, training and documentationanddiscusstheirinputinaSharePointproject. Which methodology? Each team membermayuse a differentmethodologysotrytoestablish whichone they use as attemptingtodiscussa projectusingtwodifferentmethodologiesisliketryingtohave a conversationintwodifferentlanguages,understandinghow the teammembercommunicatestheir deadline ordisciplinemakeslife mucheasierandevenaskingthemtoexplaintheirprocess vison whichclearsany variations withthis process.Alsodonotforget, the teammembermaybe following but notnecessarily fully understand thatparticularmethodology andsimply attempttofollow the processas besttheycan, so,SharePointconsultantsshouldbe wellversedwithall of the following methodologies (ISOisnotreallyamethodologybut still every important). Prince (Projectsin Controlledenvironments) Focuson businessjustification
- 3. Defined organisationstructure forthe projectmanagementteam Product-basedplanningapproach Emphasisondividingthe projectintomanageable andcontrollable stages Flexibilitythatcanbe appliedata level appropriate tothe project. ITIL (InformationTechnologyInfrastructure Library) ITIL Service Strategy:understandsorganizational objectivesandcustomerneeds. ITIL Service Design:turnsthe service strategyintoaplanfordeliveringthe business objectives. ITIL Service Transition:developsandimproves capabilitiesforintroducingnew servicesinto supportedenvironments. ITIL Service Operation:managesservicesinsupportedenvironments. ITIL Continual Service Improvement:achievesservicesincremental andlarge-scale improvements. Agile UnifiedProcess (AUP);DynamicSystems DevelopmentMethod(DSDM) Active userinvolvement. Empoweredteamsthatthe authoritytocan make decisions. A focuson frequentdeliveryof products. Usingfitnessforbusinesspurposeasthe essentialcriterionforacceptance of deliverables. Iterative andincrementaldevelopmenttoensure convergence onanaccurate business solution. Reversible changesduringdevelopment. Requirementsthat baselines atahighlevel. Integratedtestingthroughoutthe life cycle. Collaborationandcooperationbetweenall stakeholders. TOGAF(The OpenGroup Architecture Framework) describe amethodfordefininganinformationsystemintermsof asetof buildingblocks showhowthe buildingblocksfittogether containa set of tools provide acommonvocabulary include alistof recommendedstandards include alistof compliantproductsthatcan be usedto implementthe buildingblocks ISO (International Organization for Standardization) The qualitypolicyisa formal statementfrommanagement,closely linkedtothe business and marketingplanandto customerneeds. The qualitypolicyisunderstoodandfollowedatall levelsandbyall employees.Each employeeworkstowardsmeasurable objectives. The businessmakesdecisionsaboutthe qualitysystem basedonrecordeddata. The qualitysystemisregularlyauditedandevaluatedforconformance andeffectiveness.
- 4. Recordsshowhowand where raw materialsandproductswere processedtoallow products and problemstobe tracedto the source. The businessdeterminescustomerrequirements. The businesshascreatedsystemsforcommunicatingwithcustomersaboutproduct information,inquiries,contracts,orders,feedback,andcomplaints. Whendevelopingnewproducts,the businessplansthe stagesof development, with appropriate testingateachstage.It testsand documentswhetherthe productmeetsdesign requirements,regulatoryrequirements,anduserneeds. The businessregularlyreviewsperformance throughinternal auditsandmeetings.The businessdetermines whetherthe qualitysystemisworkingandwhatimprovementscanbe made.It has a documentedprocedureforinternal audits. The businessdealswithpastproblemsandpotential problems.Itkeepsrecordsof these activitiesandthe resultingdecisions,and monitorstheireffectiveness. The businesshasdocumentedproceduresfordealingwithactual andpotential non- conformances (problemsinvolvingsuppliers,customers,orinternal problems). The business: Makes sure no one usesa bad product; Determineswhattodowitha bad product; Dealswiththe root cause of problems;and Keepsrecordstouse as a tool to improve the system. Askthe differentgroupsinthe audience whichmethodologytheywill use. MindMapping, Taxonomy and Classification. InformationArchitecture,one of the firstwordsIlearntat the beginningof mySharePointjourney, InformationArchitecture will translate intoContentTypeswhich are the buildingblocksforgrouping columnswhichare usedin LibrariesandLists,in realityyounevercreate acolumnat the listor librarylevel yousimplyconfigure acontenttype andadd itto the List or Library andInformation Architecture isthe firststage of the RequirementsGathering process.The various“TopDown”or “BottomUp” approaches come withtheirownpitfalls,withthe “TopDown”approach youneedall the informationpriortothe buildand the “Bottom Up” approach createssiloenvironments,in reality“TopDown” isdifficultto achieve asyouwill neverhave all the information and“BottomUp” isjust as challengingas youare not really sure of the full collaborative environment soyoutendto start the build“BottomUp” andas the farmgrows,introduce the “Top Down”approach. One veryimportantpoint, the consultant must start the project in listeningmode,duringthe workshops I resistthe natural urge to speak,the firststagesof the projectdefine itsoutcome and duringthe requirementsgathering the clientwill look tothe consultant forguidance and suggestions for an immediateproposal toasolution, butresistthe urge,startthe workshopsbyexplaininghow to identify classificationandnavigationalpathswhich leadtotaxonomy,governance andthe all- importantschema(site map),remember;if the clientplansanddesignsthe structure,the project outcome hasa betterchance of succeeding,yourclienthasall the taxonomy answers,theydonot knowit at the time andwhentheystart the planningall youhave todo is watch the structure unfold and gemsstart to appearand SharePointseems tobuilditself,siteheadings popupduring discussions, navigational pathsare accidently defined inrhetoric,keysearchpropertiesmanifest
- 5. themselves, thresholdsare discussed onthe fly, contenttypesmorphintolibrariesandlists, policies and workflowsfill inthe what-ifswhile roughwireframediagramsstarttooutline the page layouts. Justsit back andwatch it take shape butdo not interfere,bythistime the workshopstendtorun themselves,keyplayersandpowerusersare identifiedandall youhave to dois collectthe information,take ithome andanalyse it. Once the structure startsto take form, the contenttypes are builttogetherwiththe sites,listsand libraries.Whenyoudemothe resultswatchthe bodylanguage very closelyandagaindonotsay a word.If yousee foldedarmsor the clientlookingratherperplexed youhave failed,do notexplain how your proposedsolutions worksbutcatchthe moment,findoutwhatisconfusing andwhatthey do notlike about the demo,once youhave thisinformation terminatethe demo andcarryon with the workshopwithanemphasisonnot “what was wrong”but “whattheyexpectedtosee”,donot explainwhatyouwere thinkingwhenyoudidthe demo. Youare lookingforusers tonaturally navigate (withoutyourguidance) andfindwhattheyare lookingfor,youmayhave to explainhow SharePointworksbutthe systemshouldbe relatively self-explanatory,why?Because theydesigned it andyou modelled itintoSharePoint. At an earlystage as eachsectiontakesform, start to introduce Governance asthiscan dramatically change the site structure, sadlythis tendstobe done asan afterthoughtwhich mayimply afull re- engineerwhichnevergoesdownwell inthe closinginitialstages(it’snevergoodtosee SharePoint change from a Verbto a Noun). How is this integratedintoGovernance? You have the Functional Layer(gettingittowork),the BusinessLayer(initiatingcontrol) and governance whichmustbe a part of requirementsgatheringandintegratedinto the design to include. Security Auditing Reliability Usability Supportability At eachstage in the RequirementsGathering process youmustbe clearon governance i.e. security structures,collaborativeelements, policies,workflows etc.thisis the onlytime youleadthe RequirementsGathering stageswhendefininghow thisfitsintogovernance,this sectionisthe most difficultand thisiswhere youuse yourSharePointknowledgeto model the solutions.Inthe beginninganswersare notreadilyavailable andeachstage of the requirementsgatheringneedsa full analysis onhowtopackage thisintoSharePoint,aftereachworkshopyougoback to the SharePointworldandtryto create a designwhichfulfilsthe given requirements,youmayhave to propose varianceswhichrequire changesontheirpartallowingasnugfitintothe SharePointdesign or propose a customsolution.If the Clientbecomedefinitive about acustomsolution the Developer Coststendto be a majorfactor but do notbullythe clientone wayorthe other,your recommendationsmustremainasfactual as possible,rememberthe clientisencouragedto leadthe
- 6. requirementsgathering stage andyourpurpose isto model theirproposalsintoaSharePoint solution. Thispart of the journeycanget frustratingand sometimes veryemotional,remember,keepcalm and try to understandthat,quite often,the clientdoesn’treallywanttodo thisandtheyhave better thingsto do,heavyworkloadsandmeetings etc.Trytoget the clienttounderstandthatthisisthe mostimportantstage of the projectand the workshopsdictate the outcome,make sure there are biscuitsonthe table andplenty of coffee,teaandwater.Bringpens,post-itsandpads,whichare a great mediumtoconveythoughts andbestof all youcan take itall backhome for furtheranalysis. Make thisan enjoyable experience andtrytokeepit as relaxedaspossible, smile,speakslowlyand clearly andmake sure the workshopsare well preparedandeverythingyousayisunderstoodand has a point,restrictthe use of technical jargon or whenyouuse technical jargon make sure youuse it consistently asitisactually a great wayto introduce new wordsandconcepts,graphics are great for demonstrationsbuthumourshould alwaysbe verylimited if notatall,justkeepitprofessional, dresssmartlyand donot waste the clientstime, thiswill paydividends andtheywill lookforward and evenproactivelyarrange the nextworkshop. Finding the artefacts An individual artefactcannotbe describedasanythingin particularbutencapsulates everythingin the workingpartsof yourarchitectural design,the bestwaytodescribe thisistothinkof the Artefactsbucketdescribedinthe TOGAFapproach,basically;youidentifythe artefact, throw itinto the bucketand thendecide whattodo withit when recoveringitfromthe bucket,the main difficultywithunderstandingArtefactsisisolatingandcategorisingthem, large companieslike Microsoft, Oracle and IBMhave spentyearsinvestingandfine tuningthe ArtefactBuildingBlocks whichiscrucial to theirdesignstrategies. Large companiestendnotto publicise theirmetadataas thisbecomesone of theirkey “InvestmentReal-Estate”when providingMetadataStructure Solutions toclients. A goodway to identifyartefactsittoread the white paperbelow andsee how manyindividual artefactcategoriescan be identified. Emma Catignani WhitePaper Pillar1 - Corporate Strategy Once the decisionhasbeen made touse SharePointitisimportanttodocumentwhySharePointwas broughtin. InformationArchitecture ProjectManagement Site Policies Deploymentandconfiguration Code Management Branding Testing InformationManagement
- 7. Operational Concerns Educationand Training Site Taxonomy Pillar2 - Change Management Process In orderfor SharePointtogrowand evolve withthe organization, users/stakeholdersmustbe able to requestchanges. Stopgrowingand remainstatic,or It wouldgrowchaotically andbecome unworkable. Pillar3 - Back Office Administration Once these decisionsare made (andlicensinghasbeenthoroughlyinvestigated)the nextdecision the back officeshave totake isto decide onthe technical implementationandthe specificationof the hardware needed. Pillar4 - Training Trainingisessential forasuccessful SharePointdeployment,withouttraininguserswillnotbe able to use all the functionswithinthe site andthe deploymentcouldface majorchallenges. Pillar5 - ClearOwnership It isimperative thatthe SharePointsiteisownedbysomebody - the questioniswho?Asmentioned earlierthe ongoinggovernance isthe domainof the organization'sSharePointteam Pillar6 - Technical DevelopmentProcess Once the organizationstarts to leverage SharePointtherewillbe anincreasingdesiretoenhance the productby addingfunctionsandconfigurations Pillar7 - OngoingMaintenance Tasks Maintenance toSharePointtakestwoforms,change requests(asmentionedinPillar2) and ongoing maintenance tasks.Ongoingmaintenance taskare definedastasksthat are completedonadaily, weeklyormonthlybasistokeepthe site updated. http://ezinearticles.com/?Seven-Pillars-of-SharePoint&id=4672281 What and how do we Report. Once the Siteshave beenbuilt,Site ownersneedtoknow what’sgoingonandthe needfor reportingarises,theyhave mostlikely seenthe superbandslick promotional material outliningthe great reportsthatSharePointprovidesbutthiscannotbe done onthe fly,BusinessIntelligence isa majortopic andbafflesmostITtechnicians whichrequiresthe enterprise versionbefore youeven start. Reportingmustbe a part of your requirementsgatheringprocessandlicensingdiscussions. How do we actually start the build?
- 8. InstallingSharePointisacomplex processandyoumust be able to documentandreplaythis procedure exactly,youwillalsoaddserversandchange the topologyasyourFarm grows.Two Codeplex toolsAutoSPInstaller(BrianLalancette/Andrew Woodward) andAutoSPInstallerGUI(Ivan Josipovic) whichare twoseparate products thatIuse extensively, AutoSPInstallerare a setof PowerShell scriptswhichfacilitatethe InstallationandAutoAPInstallerGUIeditsthe complexXML answerfile thatthe scriptsrequire fortheiroperation.There isevenaCodeplextool whichwill convertthe AutoSPInstallerGUIsettingsintoaWord Document todocumentthe architecture. Closingthe Project? A SharePointprojectwill neverclose,itjustkeepsgoingonandon whichmakes sense asyouhave actually builtaframework whichfacilitatesolutions foryourclients,sorememberyou have started the SharePointJourney andatsome pointyoumustclose the initial projectandmove to a Change ManagementProcess. Generallythe departmentwhichpaysforthe projectwill looktorecoverthe investmentcostsandyoumust be able to categoricallydefine the end,orwhenthe nextstage starts.This will be appreciatedasonce thishasbeendone abillingstrategyusuallycommences whichfinance furtherprojects.Finallythe biteveryone hatesthe most,confirmingthe licencesare all up to date and correct,as a consultanttheywill looktoyou foradvice andyou mustbe familiar withthe licensingmodels,whichinclude the notoriousSQLServercomplexity orthe different Virtualisationmodels,donotthinkthatthisissomeone else’sproblem andremembereveryServer needsalicence andeveryUserneedsa CAL(Noexcuses,everySharePointserverinthe environment “Test” or “Production”mustbe Licensed). If anauditshowsa licence shortfallthenquestionswill inevitably landby the SharePointconsultant,Microsoftare usually fine withminorerrorsof judgementprovidingyoucanprove sufficientresearchhadtakenplace backedup withthe correspondingemailtrails toshowyouhadfollowedwhatyoubelievetobe correctadvice,that’s quite acceptable,buttohave simplyforgottenorevennotbe botheredaboutlicensing normally turns outto be an expensiveandoften,amessylegal businessandthat’snota goodway to enda project. And finally back to the question SharePoint builds itself (True / False) A showof hands fortrue anda showof handsfor false,youshouldconfirmthatthe questionis purelyconceptual andnotfactual so providingthe requirementsgatheringstage isproperlyco- ordinated,the workshopshave beensuccessful andthe Information Architecture hasbeen correctly defined the buildseemstomagicallyappearwhichgivesthe impressionthatSharePointhas actually builtitself. Thank you for your attendance. Questions