Trying to explain that age old question "What IS SharePoint"????

1. Wrapping Your Head Around the
SharePoint Beast
(for the rest of us)
SPTechCon Boston 2012
Mark Rackley
mark.rackley@summit7systems.com

2. About Mark Rackley
• Solutions Architect & Developer
• 17+ years software architecture and development experience
• Blogger, Writer, Speaker
• mark.rackley@summit7systems.com
• @mrackley
• http://sharepointhillbilly.com

3. Agenda
• Why is understanding SharePoint so hard?
• What is SharePoint?
• Why SharePoint?
• Tips for avoiding SharePoint Pain
• The importance of the SharePoint Community

4. WHY IS
UNDERSTANDING
SHAREPOINT SO
HARD?

5. Why is understanding so hard?
• Hard to know where to begin
– Lots of paths to take

6. Why is understanding so hard?
• Hard to know where to begin
– Lots of paths to take
– So much information
– Conflicting information
– SO MUCH NOISE!

7. Why is understanding so hard?
• Hard to know where to begin
– Lots of paths to take
– So much information
– Conflicting information
– SO MUCH NOISE!
– Easy to fall into analysis
paralysis

8. Why is understanding so hard?
• Lots of concepts to grasp
– Governance
– Information Architecture
– Composites
– BI
– Collaboration

9. Why is understanding so hard?
• It’s not a “program”
– You don’t install it
– It does MANY things
– It can do many more
– It is a platform

10. Why is understanding so hard?
• No man/woman is an island
in SharePoint
– You can’t “do it all”
– It’s easy to get it to work…
incorrectly
– There’s no “one size fits all”

11. Why is understanding so hard?
• You have to change the way you work
– Stop emailing attachments
– Stop emailing!
– “Do it yourself”
– But follow the rules

12. Why is understanding so hard?
• Fear of the unknown
– “But that’s not the way we
used to do it”
– Developers perceived loss
of job security

13. 5 STAGES OF LEARNING
SHAREPOINT

14. 5 Stages of Learning SharePoint
• Denial

15. 5 Stages of Learning SharePoint
• Denial
• Anger

16. 5 Stages of Learning SharePoint
• Denial
• Anger
• Bargaining

17. 5 Stages of Learning SharePoint
• Denial
• Anger
• Bargaining
• Depression

18. 5 Stages of Learning SharePoint
• Denial
• Anger
• Bargaining
• Depression
• Acceptance

19. Pick your analogy…
WHAT IS
SHAREPOINT?

20. What IS SharePoint?
• SharePoint is a platform
• SharePoint can be many things
– It creates sites on the fly
– It stores your data
– It allows you to easily manage permissions
– It gives you alerts and workflows

21. What IS SharePoint?
• SharePoint is many things
– It Integrates with other systems
– It helps you find stuff
– It helps you to “do it yourself” “out of the box”
• 80/20 rule

22. What IS SharePoint?
• What do you want it to be?

23. What IS SharePoint?
• Read the directions

24. WHY SHAREPOINT?

25. Top 10 things SharePoint can do for
you
10. Give you a great starting
point
9. Connect to the right people
8. Find what you need
7. Replace other expensive
products

26. Top 10 things SharePoint can do for
you
6. Give you insight
5. Remind you
4. Centralize your data
3. Make you more productive

27. Top 10 things SharePoint can do for
you
2. Keep you organized
1. Make you look like a rock star

28. SharePoint may not be
THE best tool for any one
job, but it does MANY
jobs well.

29. TIPS FOR AVOIDING
SHAREPOINT PAIN

30. SharePoint is a woman…

31. SharePoint is a woman…
Treat Her That Way!

32. Don’t Expect the Error Messages To
Make Sense

33. Sometimes, Even when you’re right,
you’re still wrong

34. Don’t try and control her, get to know
her and do it the way she wants…

35. Accept her for who she is…

36. “SharePoint is a Man. You
have to beat him into
submission” – Lori Gowin

37. Don’t be so hard on yourself
• There is no easy button
– It IS different
– It takes time
• SharePoint is MASSIVE
– No one understands it all
– Befriend the gurus
• Accept that “It Depends”

38. Learn the correct Terminology
Farm
Elevated Privileges Safe Control
CAML Feature
Site Column STSADM Declarative Workflow
Site Collection Persisted Object Application Page
Solution Package Content Type Site Definition List Definition
Scope
Content Database Event Receiver List Instance
Central Administration
Publishing Page ONET
Web Application
List View Feature Receiver Theme
Field Control Client Object Model
Team Site
Timer Job

39. Beware the SharePoint “Expert”
• Be skeptical
• Ask for references
• Learn some basic
interview questions
• You get what you pay
for

40. The SharePoint Community

41. A Word (or two) About Community

42. To Avoid SharePoint Fail…

43. You Gotta Drink the Kook-Aid!
• Join the community
• Read Blogs
• Read Books
• Play around in your site
• Attend events
• Build relationships
• DON’T BE AFRAID TO DO SOMETHING!

44. SharePoint Saturday Ozarks
Sept. 8, 2012
Chateau On The Lake
Branson, MO
http://www.chateauonthelake.com/
http://www.sharepointsaturday.org/ozarks

45. I have an answer, let’s see if they match?
QUESTIONS?