Finding What You Need in This Book
SharePoint governance covers a lot of ground because SharePoint is such an extensive product line. Fortunately, not everyone involved in the governance of a SharePoint solution needs to be intimately familiar with the technical details of the platform. This book is divided into different parts that are targeted to different audiences.
Part I: Establishing Governance
The first part of this book will introduce the concepts and processes involved in creating and implementing a governance strategy for your organization. Anyone involved in the governance of the system should be familiar with these concepts. These are general business concepts that do not include a great deal of technical detail.
Chapter 2: SharePoint Governance Overview
This chapter introduces the conceptual framework used throughout the rest of the book. It will define key terms and divide the process of governance into manageable pieces. We will start by defining a set of terms and establishing what our goals are in creating a governance plan. SharePoint implementations often encounter similar challenges. We will look at these and consider ways to overcome them. Finally, we will discuss the need to match the policies used in your situation to the purpose of the site and the culture of your organization.
Chapter 3: The Planning Process
This chapter covers the steps required to set the scope of the governance effort and develop a high-level governance plan. This includes identifying the roles and responsibilities of everyone involved and establishing a team to ensure that the plan is implemented effectively. This team will need to include management, IT, and end-user personnel to ensure that all plans are realistic, supported, and targeted to the needs of the users.
Chapter 4: Implementing and Maintaining Controls
This chapter covers the process of implementing a good governance plan. This involves mapping the services to be provided to the features of the SharePoint platform. Creating a robust system requires taking the end user's goals and feedback into account before, during, and after deployment of the solution. Implementing a sustainable, flexible, long-term solution requires planning for security, upgrades, enhancements, and any other changes that may affect the organization's use of the system.
Chapter 5: User Training and Adoption
SharePoint sites are designed to be very intuitive out of the box, but to fully leverage the power of SharePoint, some end-user training is required. Users can be classified into three distinct groups: casual users, power users, and site owners. Each of these groups requires a different level and type of training. One of the most common reasons for failed SharePoint deployments is a lack of understanding on the part of the end users. People will not use features they do not understand or are not aware of.
Part II: Information Technology Governance
This section covers governance from the point of view of the IT organization responsible for implementing and maintaining the system. IT Governance is centered on controlling the installation and maintenance of the servers and software that make up the solution. This includes configuring and securing all of the services to be provided to end users. Effective IT governance prevents the proliferation of unmanaged sites and services and provides for a stable user experience.
Chapter 6: Types of SharePoint Sites
The level of governance required for a site depends on the purpose of the site and the nature of the information to be created and managed. This chapter examines the common types of sites deployed in a SharePoint environment and discusses the policies and controls that are appropriate to each.
Chapter 7: Services and Deployment
This chapter discusses the techniques used to deploy and manage services in a SharePoint environment. Services such as Search and Content Management are discussed in some detail. We also discuss the use of asset classification taxonomies, security, and quotas to protect the system from chaos and outside intrusion.
Chapter 8: Managing Operations
Once a system is deployed it is critical that it be monitored and managed effectively. This chapter discusses the different types of SharePoint farm configurations along with the types of monitoring that need to be performed. Planning for security and capacity requirements is also covered.
Part III: Information Management
This section examines information management (also known as information architecture) as it applies to SharePoint. Information management is concerned with organizing the information stored within the SharePoint sites so that it can be used to generate the greatest value. Concepts covered include taxonomies, audiences, legal and compliance issues, search, site navigation, and the user interface. The purpose of information management is to classify, protect, and deliver business data in a way consistent with the goals of the business.
Chapter 9: Information Architecture Overview
Information architecture refers to organizing and categorizing the information stored in the SharePoint content databases. This chapter provides a primer on the concepts associated with designing and managing the information within a set of SharePoint sites. Topics covered will include site hierarchies, metadata, and taxonomies.
Chapter 10: Delivering Information
Once data has been created, classified, and stored in the site, the users need the ability to find and access that information. This chapter discusses the features in SharePoint that support the creation of metadata used for audience targeting and finding information with Search. There is also a discussion of the social media features in SharePoint and a detailed conversation of security as it relates to information discovery and security trimming.
Chapter 11: The User Interface
This chapter deals with the presentation of information within SharePoint sites. SharePoint content is organized into hierarchies of sites, each consisting of several pages and other types of content items. Navigation controls (also known as Menus) are used to traverse this hierarchy. Designing rich navigation and a pleasing overall site appearance often drives the user's perception of the site. This chapter covers the design aspects of branding sites including themes, master pages, and page layouts.
Part IV: Application Management
While SharePoint comes with many sophisticated features, any major SharePoint implementation will require some customization or enhancement. This can include anything from minor changes such as creating custom lists or color themes to extensive rebranding or code development. Application management allows the organization to control the way potentially harmful functionality is tested and deployed without threatening the stability of the system. Applications to be managed can include SharePoint itself, other Microsoft Server products, non-Microsoft SharePoint enhancements, and custom developed functionality.
Chapter 12: Customizations and Tools
Customizing SharePoint sites consists of many facets that all need to be managed. From the branding of the site to the introduction of new content and functionality, these updates must be created and deployed in a way that maintains the look and stability of the system. This chapter discusses several of these tools and when they are appropriate. Establishing policies and controls around customizations is a key to proper governance.
Chapter 13: Packaging Solutions and Sandboxing
When developing new functionality for deployment on the SharePoint platform, there are different means for packaging the artifacts involved. This chapter discusses the best practices around deploying custom features to SharePoint and managing the updates to these packages. One of the most important features involved in the deployment of custom functionality in SharePoint 2010 is the sandbox service that runs such code in a protected environment. We discuss when use of the sandbox is and is not appropriate.
Chapter 14: Application Lifecycle Management
This chapter discusses Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) as it applies to custom SharePoint solutions. We discuss source and configuration control as well as the environments used to develop, test, and deploy these solutions. Topics covered include best practices for source control, test environments, issue tracking, and upgrades.
Part V: Appendixes
The final section contains a set of resources you can use to jumpstart your organization's SharePoint governance effort. This includes online resources, document templates, and checklists.
Appendix A: Online Resources
This appendix contains numerous links to business, technical, and product information on the Internet. Links to valuable sites and blogs devoted to IT, Information, and Application architecture on the SharePoint platform are also provided.
Appendix B: The Governance Plan
This appendix contains an outline for a comprehensive governance plan that includes all of the concepts covered throughout the book. You are encouraged to use this outline as a starting point for your own governance plan document. This template can be customized to your organization's needs by adding or removing sections as appropriate to your situation.
Appendix C: Governance Checklists
This appendix contains a set of checklists that IT and business professionals can use to ensure that each of the concepts discussed is addressed in the final implementation plan. These checklists are split up using the same conceptual framework used to structure the rest of the book:
- Governance Planning Checklist
- IT Management Checklist
- Information Management Checklist
- Application Management Checklist