Training is one of the most critical components to a successful SharePoint Server 2007 deployment. It is essential that your architects and administrators be trained before starting the design process. More importantly, your end-users and Service Desk must be trained before deployment. Because SharePoint Server 2007 is an end-user product, the long-term success of deployment greatly depends on the level of training provided them. You should create customized training when customizing SharePoint Server 2007; otherwise, your end-users will not be able to apply the training they receive. What follows in the next few sections are some groups that we believe you should strongly consider training as part of your SharePoint Server 2007 deployment.
Administrators should probably be trained first, if you must decide an order. Your administrators will learn how to install the farm, design for success, and learn the overall technical functionality of SharePoint Server 2007. It is almost an impossible task to properly design SharePoint Server 2007 without training. At a minimum, your SharePoint Server 2007 administrator training should include the following:
Logical architecture and supporting dependencies
Installation best practices
Farm operations and application management
Shared Services Providers installation and configuration
Content aggregation
Search and indexing configuration and administration
Enterprise content management including document management and content types
Disaster recovery
If your SharePoint Server 2007 installation will include custom Web parts, branding, or customization of the look and feel, then your developers should receive training as well. Their training should take place very early in the design process because items such as custom site definitions, list definitions, workflows, and master pages are more easily applied before you begin deployment. At a minimum, your developer training should include the following:
SharePoint Server 2007 authentication and authorization
Building features and solutions
Custom site definitions
Learning the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and SharePoint Server 2007 Object Model
Building custom Web parts
Working with SharePoint Server 2007 events and workflows
End-user training doesn’t need to be as rigid as administrator and developer training, but it is just as important. If possible, classroom training of end-users has proven to be the best learning technique, when the classroom includes a competent instructor and hands-on labs. You could provide a short classroom experience and extend end-user training through computer-based training (CBT) sessions. Many times, organizations will encourage their end-users to take these training modules by offering incentives. Additionally, organizations require users who will become site collection administrators to complete training before they are allowed to create and manage site collections. Here are some foundational components to look for in an end-user training product:
How to navigate and search SharePoint sites
How to work with document libraries and lists
How to add and modify content
How to use the document management features
How to use the new Outlook integration features
How to use the Recycle Bin
How to set and manage alerts
How to manage lists
How to use workflows
How views are used in SharePoint
How to contribute to Wiki and blog sites
How to create and manage lists, libraries, and views
How to manage users and groups
How to create and delete sites, workspaces, and Web pages
How to customize a site
How to administer a site
One special set of SharePoint Server 2007 end-users are those who will customize sites using SharePoint Designer 2007. It is a very powerful product and extremely useful for branding and building customized workflows, but if used improperly it can cause negative effects. For example, you should never open master pages in the _Layouts folder, or it can cause site outages. Because of issues such as this, always train users before giving them SharePoint Designer 2007 access. It should be considered a power tool and users trained as such.
Your Help Desk, or Service Desk, will probably receive a combination of the previous training. Depending on the level and depth of your Help Desk, you should provide training that aligns with their responsibility. For example, if your Help Desk only forwards requests by end-user calls, then they should at least have end-user training. In addition, you can compile a frequently asked questions list to assist end-users and the Help Desk with common problems. You could even create and manage this knowledge base via SharePoint Server 2007!