Presented at the Triangle SharePoint User Group (TRISPUG.com) on October 7, 2014.
While many people see the intranet as a pretty (hopefully) homepage, in reality the modern enterprise intranet is a complex animal of many moving parts. Structuring of the information within the intranet, how that information is presented to the user, how the user interacts with it, how the organization manages it, and the physical branding that sits on top of all of it are all critical conversations to have if an intranet is going to be effective. In this session we’ll explore the building blocks of a successful intranet and discuss common intranet pitfalls to avoid on your next intranet roll-out.
2. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Introduction
B&R Business Solutions
•SharePoint Solution Architect
•Based in Raleigh, North Carolina
Professional Experience
•Microsoft SharePoint Stack since 2007
•Consulting and Professional Services since 2010
•Public Web Design since 2003
Hobbies
•SharePoint Saturday & User Group SpeakerRIC, VB, ATL, AUS, TPA, RDU
•Leadership Council, Triangle SharePoint User Group
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4. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Agenda
•What is an Intranet
•Requirements Gathering
•Goals of Your Intranet
•Governance Plan/Committee
•Information Architecture
•Branding, UI/UX
•User & Content Owner Training
•Deployment & Rollout
•Adoption
•Intranet Checklist & Tools
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5. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
What is an Intranet
•Corporate website accessed only by internal users/employees
•Corporate news, information, alerts, forms
•Department information, contacts
•Document sharing and collaboration
•Company-wide social (Yammer)
•Enterprise search
•Employee self-help, FAQs, discussions
•Employee directory
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Intranet
Internal Users Only
Corp. Communications
Employee Collaboration
Enterprise Search
Internet
Public Website
Product Information
Sales Conversions
Marketing
Extranet
Internal/External Users
Suppliers, Vendors, Customers and/or Business Partners
9. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Define Measurable Goals
Short Term Strategy
Identify initial deployment goals, such as migration from an existing migration platform, upgrade of an existing intranet, or rebranding exercise.
Define Intranet Roadmap for initial and follow-on releases.
User & Content Owner Training Strategy
User Adoption Strategy
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Information Architecture
Content Strategy
Enterprise Search Strategy
Collaboration
Social
User Experience
Governance
Adoption
10. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Define Measurable Goals
Long Term Strategy
Most Intranet deployments follow the software lifecycle of their platform.
Define a strategy to continuously grow, develop and build on your Intranet throughout its’ lifecycle.
Think Maturity Curve, ie: Crawl, Walk, Run
Business Solution platform of choice.
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Initial Rollout
Decentralized Management
Business Solution Buy In
User Self Service & Enterprise Wide Decentralization
Continuous Improvement & Business Solutions
12. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Governance Committee
•Bipartisan Group Charged with:
•Maintaining & Enforcing Governance
•Platform Evangelism, Motivation of Use
•Business Solution Positioning & Process Enablement
•Addressing Open Issues/Concerns
•Ensuring Business Value is Realized
•Mix of Technologists, Stakeholders, Sponsors & Power Users
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Governance Committee
Platform Goals
Corporate Strategy
Department Needs
Business Processes Automation
Collaboration
End User Needs
15. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Core Information Architecture
•Site Topology
•Web Applications
•Site Collections
•Subsites
•Site Navigation
•Content Types
•Content Type Hub
•Enterprise Content Strategy
•Content Databases
•Managed Metadata & Enterprise Keywords
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16. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Information Architecture Benefits
•Standardized Data Types
•Better Content Discoverability
•Search Refinement
•Dynamic Rollups
•Intuitive Navigation Context
•Prioritized System Restore/Recovery
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Policy
Procedure
Form
News
Report
Contract
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@webdes03
Content Strategies
Corporate Communications
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Empower Social & Collaboration
Business Process Enablement
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@webdes03
Content Strategies
Corporate Communications
•Company, Product, Industry News
•Benefits Information
•Alerts
•Upcoming Events
•Leadership Blogs
•Stock Ticker
•Current Weather
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Empower Social & Collaboration
Business Process Enablement
19. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Content Strategies
Corporate Communications
•Company, Product, Industry News
•Benefits Information
•Alerts
•Upcoming Events
•Leadership Blogs
•Stock Ticker
•Current Weather
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Empower Social & Collaboration
•New Employee, Birthday & Award Announcements
•Employee Directory
•User Self Service
•Office Web Applications
•OneDrive
•Distributed & Delegated Management
Business Process Enablement
20. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Content Strategies
Corporate Communications
•Company, Product, Industry News
•Benefits Information
•Alerts
•Upcoming Events
•Leadership Blogs
•Stock Ticker
•Current Weather
10/7/2014 Anatomy of an Intranet 20
Empower Social & Collaboration
•New Employee, Birthday & Award Announcements
•Employee Directory
•User Self Service
•Office Web Applications
•OneDrive
•Distributed & Delegated Management
Business Process Enablement
•Content Rollup
•Popular Content
•Document Ratings
•Records Management
•Forms
•Workflow
•Enterprise Search
•Search Driven Applications
•Business Intelligence
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@webdes03
Branding Components
•Master Pages
•Page Layouts
•Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
•JavaScript
•Content Types
•User Controls
•Custom Web Parts
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24. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Branding for User Adoption
•Branding (UI/UX) is a Critical Component to User Adoption
•Consistent Look & Feel
•Enhanced User Experience
•Organization Specific Customizations
•Device Strategy
•Gamification
•Dynamic Content Driven Homepage
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26. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Device Strategy
•What Types of Devices?
•How will Users Connect?
•Responsive Design?
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27. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Branding Process
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Capture Requirements
Corporate Branding Guidelines
SharePoint Platform Requirements & Dependencies
User Experience Expectations
Navigation Strategy
Low Fidelity Wireframes
Sketches focused on User Experience
•Navigation
•Page Layout
•Content Structure
•Key PageElements
•Usability
Used for Internal reviews Only
High Fidelity Comps
True to Life Representation of Finished Product
•Accurate Colors
•Sizing
•Page Features
•Element Design
“Pixel-perfect”
Solution Development
Develop Solution Package
If Selecting a Design Firm:
•Review their Processes & Methodology
•Check Relevant SharePoint Experience
•Review Previous Work
•Ensure Wireframes & Comps are Carefully Reviewed
User Acceptance Testing
Develop Testing Plan
Deploy Final Solution to Staging Environment
Select Beta Users for Testing
Test Common Use Cases & Exercise Testing Plan
Deployment & Rollout
Communicate Rollout & Go- Live Strategy
Deploy Solution to Production
Continuous Improvement
28. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Customization Guidelines
•Defined by Governance Plan & Overseen by Governance Committee
•What Forms of Customizations are Permitted (ie: No Code, Sandbox, Full Trust Farm Solutions)
•Leverage Out-of-the-Box (OOTB) Solutions Ahead of Custom Solutions
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30. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
User & Content Owner Training
•Many Organizations Overlook Importance of User Training
•Training & Empowering Users Leads to:
•Better Content Lifecycle Management
•Better Adoption of SharePoint as a Platform
•Cleaner & More Consistent Data
•Better Information Discovery
•End User Self Service
•Decentralized Management of SharePoint
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31. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Common User Roles
End User orConsumer
•Browses Intranet
•Consumes News
•Reads Documents
•Authors/Edits Documents
•Completes Forms
•Performs Searches
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Content Owner orSite Administrator
•Manages Permissions
•Authors/Edits Pages
•Power User
•Identifies Business Process Enablement Opportunities
•Evangelizes SharePoint
•Level 1 or 2 EndUser Support
SharePointAdministrator
•Level 3 Support
•Topology Management & Oversight
•Solution Implementation
•Solution Management
•Overall Platform Maintenance & Health
33. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Deployment & Rollout
•Must Have Communications Strategy
•Must Have User Training
•Content Authors
•End Users
•Implement Initial Quick Wins
•Short Duration, Low Risk, High Visibility Efforts to Promote SharePoint & Drive Adoption
•Early Adopters
•12-18 Month Roadmap
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34. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Server Topology
•Plan for Scalable Architecture
•Never Use a Single Server
•Scale Up & Out As Necessary
•Plan for Three Environments
•Development/Test
•Staging
•Production
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36. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Adoption
•Set the Vision; What Will SharePoint Do?
•Grassroots Focus on Specific Business Areas/Units
•Relevant Use Cases
•Educate and Demonstrate Value
•Empower People
•Build Relationships; Support Champions
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37. mike-greene.com
@webdes03
Intranet Checklist
Formal Requirements
Device & Content Strategy
Measurable Success Criteria
Governance Plan & Bipartisan Oversight Committee
Enterprise Content Strategy
Training Plan & Strategy
Implementation Team
User Adoption Plan
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