Demystifying SharePoint Governance and Adoption

GTA204Wes Preston – MVP

Outline Governance and User Adoption continue to

be hot topics in the SharePoint community and are still adapting as the community matures. So, what do these buzzwords mean to you and your organization? In this session we'll explain what they mean, why they shouldn't be something to fear or over-think, and how to approach these topics as a part of your SharePoint planning, implementations and ongoing management.

Wes Preston Owner / Principal Consultant - TrecStone

Based in Minneapolis, MN MVP – SharePoint Server MCITP – SharePoint Administration 2010 MCTS - SharePoint 2010, Configuration MCTS - WSS 3.0 and MOSS Configuration http://www.idubbs.com/blog Twitter: @idubbs

Before we get started…

Why are we here?Why do we need one more session on

governance and user adoption topics?

Governance is necessary, but doesn’t have to be daunting

Before Governance and User Adoption there were…

Business and User Needs

Illustrated by Dux’s keynote and his Feature Mapping Assessment

Deploying SharePoint doesn’t mean turning on and implementing everything on the platform. Business priorities will define what gets implemented and during which phase of deployment

This is often referred to as a…

“SharePoint Roadmap” New SharePoint implementation: Where do

you start and where are you going?Should be defined and guided with an

approach like Dux’s Feature Mapping Assessment

Scope may vary… Building on an existing deployment: What is

the current situation and what comes next? Review readiness of existing environment

Crawl, Walk, Run… Don’t forget to take the Crawl, Walk, Run

approach into mind when reviewing your feature mapping assessment

When looking at a feature assessment type of document, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done

Once you have business needs and priorities identified you can start to talk about…

GovernanceThe buzzword everyone needs to have an answer for…

Keep in Mind:

Governance is something that will evolve and be refined over time as the organization and staff resources go through the SharePoint ‘maturity model’ and as more features and solutions are implemented

Ground Rules

How are you documenting your governance decisions and documentation?

Who are you sharing the information with and how are you communicating it?

…Using a SharePoint site I hope…

Different focus for each stage…

Different stages have different governance needs:Pre-implementation – More planning,

less operational focusOperational – Less planning, more

day-to-day needsEffective communication

throughout…

Governance = Planning

The strategic componentPlanning: Really, it’s that simpleHOWEVER… SharePoint is big and

complex, so there are a lot of angles to address

Lots of sessions, tools, and approaches available for guidance

Reference Resources

There are a few ‘old’ tools that are useful for getting you thinking about topics

Yep, it’s from 2007 Project Plan template Lots of other community

resources out there

Some Decisions will be easy

Compliance may be dictated by regulatory rules (SOX, HIPAA, etc…) or existing internal policies

Infrastructure methodology may already be defined in your organization (SQL management, AD, etc…)

SharePoint is just another app/platform that needs to follow the rules

Others will take time… What will you name your environment? On Premises, in the cloud, or hybrid? Virtual, physical, or both? Is AD ready?

Profile importsSecurity groups

Search? Just the beginning…

Governance = Operations

The tactical/operational componentDependencies are derived from your

SharePoint Roadmap and planning outcome

This space has a number of 3rd party vendors addressing the management needs

Operational Tasks

Server health and maintenanceDay-to-day requests and support(New) Project work vs. Support efforts

Staffing and resource managementClarity and transparency in

communication

Operational Policy Examples Site request and provisioning

TemplatesPermissions

Who to contact for questions Resources for assistance with solution

development. Out of boxSharePoint Designer.NET Development

Staffing and Committees

Assigning roles and responsibilitiesSteering Committee, Governance

Committee, etc. Server support, User support,

Development, etc. Defining new roles and required skills

Staff and Resource Skill Sets SharePoint teams are commonly built from internal

resources that are new to SharePointServer admins Business AnalystsSupport techsSite AdminsEven users…

Must have a plan to ramp up the skills they will need to support the features and solutions specific to your organization

Are you Ready? If you’ve defined the business priorities and

user needs… If you’ve addressed the necessary

governance topics for your initial solutions… If you’ve established communication

channels with the users…

… then user adoption should be fairly straight-forward

User AdoptionIn other words – getting users to actually use the solution you’ve built…

User Adoption

It comes down to meeting user needs. If you aren’t doing something to meet a need, they won’t be driven to use it.

If IT is just handing over a solution that the business has not been involved in developing, they may be more resistant to the change – even if it benefits them

Requirements Gathering, Prioritizing Involve the users, not just

management If you build something users want –

something they’ve been asking for, they’ll be waiting for implementation and eager to use it.

Tips, Tools and Effective Practices

Document, deliver and trainWhere can users find documentation

and help?What training options have been made

available to users to enable them to be successful with the solution?

Communicate clear timelines and expectations

SharePoint ‘Center of Excellence’ Create a site that is established as the go-to

place for SharePoint (or a specific solution). Provide information and resources that are

kept fresh FAQsInstructions and documentationSystem status and update schedulesContact names and/or methods to provide

feedback and ask questions

Identify and Leverage Advocates

Find people on the business side that are excited about the solutionBring them up to speedGive them a chance to provide

feedbackHave them sell the solution to their

teammates

Review

User adoption comes down to delivering a solution that meets user needs, communicating clearly and ensuring users have the tools they need to be successful.

These are not a one-time shot, but need to be fed and nurtured over time even after the solution has been deployed

Questions?

Good luck !!

References @meetdux Resources from the SPFest Chicago

Keynote (yes, the link is from an earlier post…)http://sp.meetdux.com/archive/2012/06/30/sharepointfest-denver-2012.aspx

Richard Harbridgehttp://www.rharbridge.com/?page_id=726

Oldie but a goodie: SharePoint (2007) Governance Checklist Guidehttp://office.microsoft.com/download/afile.aspx?AssetID=AM102306291033

Another Oldie – MS Sample Project Plan for SP Deploymenthttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262825(v=office.12).aspx

Housekeeping Check slides out on http://www.idubbs.com/blog

Provide session feedback with comments

SharePoint Saturday – Twin Cities – November 3, 2012

Minnesota SharePoint User Group – MNSPUGLive meetings, lots of historical content availablewww.sharepointmn.com

Thank you!