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