If you have read all of the previous chapters and have attempted the recommended exercises, you will now be familiar with SharePoint's functionality and where it can be applied in day-to-day activities. This chapter outlines what SharePoint is not, what is special about SharePoint and why there is considerable value in using this technology, and the User Requirement Challenges that a deployment will cause.
Often, senior level management within an organization has already made a decision to make SharePoint the de facto corporate web platform, and users have to live with this decision and figure out a way for it to work for them. In many ways, this is what is special about SharePoint: the user base can define SharePoint's destiny within the company by embracing it or not.
SharePoint is a platform for the solution, and is not the solution itself, and this is often a challenge for management to understand. We recommend that some kind of SharePoint business architect should be employed to be the SharePoint owner, and a point of contact for its processes and upcoming collaboration initiatives from the business. This person should be accountable to ensure that the technology is working within the organization, and that it is meeting the business needs it was implemented for. This person does not need to be doing everything from the backups to the Site build-outs, but should have the following credentials:
- Some understanding of SharePoint's capabilities and limits
- Good knowledge of the business and its IT requirements
- Ability to speak to senior management about such requirements, and state if SharePoint is a good fit or not
Note
If this person is the Exchange administrator or junior in the organization, there is a high likelihood that the SharePoint deployment process will not be successful because their role is focused not on the business needs of teams, but rather the technology side of the business. This is why business analysts should scope the requirements of a project.
In America, where job title inflation is rampant, the person's job title can be glorified to Internal Collaboration Director, VP of Communications, or CCO - Corporate Collaboration Officer.