SharePoint is a powerful product and can be many things to its many customers allowing each to customize it for their own unique business needs. Over the past 9 years I've worked with SharePoint, I've learned some valuable lessons and insights into key areas of the product that should come with warning labels to handle with care. Some choices made in SharePoint can have detrimental side effects and end up to costing organizations time, rework and money to resolve. In this talk I'll share a few common ones I've learned and you will benefit by being able to recognize some of these before they become a problem in your own environment.

1. If SharePoint had Warning Labels
By Joanne Klein

2. About Me
- SharePoint Architect at Conexus Credit Union
- Independent SharePoint/O365 Consultant
- Saskatchewan SharePoint User Group
- Worked with SharePoint 2007/2010/2013 and Online in O365
- Hats: End-User, Power-User, BA, Dev, Administrator, IT-Pro
- Certifications:
- MCITP, SharePoint 2010 Administration
- MCTS, SharePoint 2010 Developer
Most importantly… the school of hard knocks!!!

3. Work like a Network
- SharePoint Community www.skspug.ca
- Twitter: @JoanneCKlein #SPHelp
- Blog: JoanneCKlein.com
- Slide deck will be posted on JoanneCKlein.com

4. About You
What size of organization do you work in?
What version of SharePoint do you use?

5. About this talk
• My "Pay it Forward" SharePoint talk
• Mostly non-technical
• Comes from personal experiences

6. The Promise of SharePoint
• Intranet/Extranet
• Collaboration
• Content and Document Management
• Regulatory Support Features
• Business Process Automation
• Business Intelligence
• Leverage data outside of SharePoint
• 3rd party products

8. My "Warnings"
Benefit
Warning
Examples
Remediation

9. “Installing SharePoint is easy”
- Wizards make it easy
- No Training? You can still get SharePoint up-and-running!
- Use existing staff to install
- Windows Server Administrator, SQL Administrator, .NET
Developer
Benefit

10. “Installing SharePoint is easy”
• Farm topology?
• Hardware/Software requirements
• Least-privilege permission model
• Database GUIDs
• SQL setup
• Enabled features
Warning

11. “Installing SharePoint is easy”
Installing SharePoint is just the beginning!
• Patch Strategy
• Back-ups
• Performance monitoring/tuning
• Dev/Test/QA environment
Warning

12. “Installing SharePoint is easy”
• Training
• Learn PowerShell
• SQL Alias (on SharePoint servers)
Remediation
• AutoSPInstaller: https://autospinstaller.codeplex.com/
• Happy SQL = Happy SharePoint
• Best Practises for SQL Server in a SharePoint Farm:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh292622.aspx
• Service Accounts: 10 for SharePoint farm, 5 additional for BI

13. “You can customize SharePoint almost any way you want”
Benefit
…given enough time, money, and resources!
• You have a business process that needs automating?
• You have a business requirement you would like automated?
We can build a solution for it in SharePoint...

14. “You can customize SharePoint almost any way you want”
Levels of Development
Level 1: SharePoint UI
Level 2: SharePoint Designer, InfoPath, Workflow
Level 3: Visual Studio: .NET code, javascript, HTML, CSS

15. “You can customize SharePoint almost any way you want”
Comes with a "tax" the company must be willing to pay
• On-premises version upgrade?
• Maintenance and support
• Available expertise
• O365 updates
Warning

16. “You can customize SharePoint almost any way you want”
Microsoft quote:
"Be thorough in custom web design, development and testing –
We know many SharePoint sites are published portals or custom
web apps and we are excited about the new features we
designed for these scenarios. We encourage you to review the
new features and guidance to reduce the amount of custom
work you need to do."

17. “You can customize SharePoint almost any way you want”
• Following recommended Microsoft guidelines
• Add-in model rather than farm solutions.
• New SharePoint Framework for doing client-side customizations
• Office 365 Development Patterns and Practices Guidance
• SPCAF – analyze your customizations!
• Understand the out-of-the-box capabilities!
• Twitter Poll
Remediation

19. “You can make SharePoint look like it's NOT SharePoint”
- You can brand SharePoint so it doesn't resemble the out-
of-the-box look of native SharePoint.
- Important for external-facing sites.
Benefit

20. Out-of-the-Box SharePoint Site

21. SharePoint Home (New for O365)

22. Branded SharePoint Sites

23. “You can make SharePoint look like it's NOT SharePoint”
Microsoft quote:
“Use SharePoint as an out-of-box application whenever
possible -- We designed the new SharePoint UI to be clean,
simple and fast and work great out-of-box. We encourage you
not to modify it which could add complexity, performance
and upgradeability and to focus your energy on working with
users and groups to understand how to use SharePoint to
improve productivity and collaboration and identifying and
promoting best practices in your organization.”

24. “You can make SharePoint look like it's NOT SharePoint”
• Not branding in a supported way
• Interfering with SharePoint functionality
• Branding “Tax”
Warning

25. “You can make SharePoint look like it's NOT SharePoint”
• Engage skilled expertise to brand SharePoint.
• Consider doing light-weight branding first. (fonts/colours)
• Intranet versus Extranet versus Public-facing site
Remediation

26. “Power Users can build their own solutions”
- Self Serve
- Removes IT bottleneck
- IT can focus on complex deliverables
2
Benefit

27. “Power Users can build their own solutions”
There are fewer controls over what is built.
• No standards!
• “In the wild” - SharePoint V-Next?
• Who supports them?
Warning

28. “Power Users can build their own solutions”
• Governance to guide/monitor what’s being built.
• Train Power Users!
• Company standards defined.
Remediation

29. “Users can control their own site”
- Users can have their own space in SharePoint to
collaborate with others and to use in any way they want to
meet their own goals.
- By delegating site ownership to the individuals who control
the content of the site they become self-sufficient.
Benefit

30. “Users can control their own site”
Watch that users don’t shoot themselves in the foot!
• Exceeding URL lengths
• Treat document libraries as network shares
• Threshold limits
• List/library setting changes
• Deleting the site
• Removing their own access
Warning

31. “Users can control their own site”
• Governance plan
• Training material and options:
• Video tutorials
• Documents
• PowerPoint presentations
• Targeted webparts
• Train your site owners!!!!
Remediation

32. “Granting permissions is ultra flexible”
- Granular permissions: site, library, list, folder, item level.
- Permissions can utilize:
- Active Directory groups
- SharePoint groups
- Individual accounts
Benefit

33. “Granting permissions is ultra flexible”
Left unchecked, this can become a support nightmare.
• No way to see "Employee x” all access
• Breaking inheritance and performance
Warning
• Employee leaves
• Beware of Item level permissions

34. “Granting permissions is ultra flexible”
• Governance
• Standardize groups (visitors – members – owners)
• Invest in 3rd party product
• Break permission inheritance as infrequently as possible
• Assign permissions at highest-level possible
• Permissions can drive layout (segment by security level)
• Centralize security administration
Remediation

35. “Granting permissions is ultra flexible”
Active Directory Groups
• Administered by IT Staff
• Can Nest AD groups
• SharePoint Owners can’t see who’s
in an AD group
• Can’t use with Person/Group
column
Remediation
SharePoint Groups
• Administered by SP Owners
• Cannot nest SharePoint groups
• SharePoint Owners can see
who’s in a SharePoint group
• Can use with Person/Group
column
HYBRID APPROACH!

36. “It’s a great place to store documents”
- Drag-and-drop
- Versioning
- Check-in/Check-out/Approval/Publish
- Familiar folder structure
- Record declaration
- Real-time co-authoring
- Browser-based office documents
Benefit

37. “It’s a great place to store documents”
Lack of planning results in a terrible end-user experience and
can leave end-users frustrated with SharePoint.
• No Information Architecture
• No Corporate Taxonomy
• Expensive network share!
Warning

38. “It’s a great place to store documents”
• Define Information Architecture
• Decide on IA Features
Remediation
Site Collections Sites & Subsites Libraries & Lists
Metadata Managed Metadata Content Types
Content Organizer
Content Hub
Information Management Policies

39. “It’s a great place to store documents”
Information Architecture
Corporate Portal
Division Areas
Project Sites
Team/Committee Sites
Personal Sites
Structure &
Governance

40. “It’s a great place to store documents”
• Governance for Information Architecture above the line
• Configure search – “Findability”
• Train content owners - "Putability"
Remediation

41. “Just use search to find what you’re looking for”
- Display search results from across your organization
- Customize search webparts
- Show federated search results
- Preview Office documents
Benefit

42. Custom Search Results

43. Search
Preview

44. “Just use search to find what you’re looking for”
Search is only as good as Information Architecture
• No metadata/No content types - search results will
definitely suffer.
• OOS required for Document Preview
**On-Premises
Warning

45. “Just use search to find what you’re looking for”
• Define Information Architecture
• Customize your search results
• Install Office Online Server (previously Office Web Apps) in your
on-premises environment
Remediation

46. “Build it and they will come”
- Leading-edge capabilities in O365
- Frictionless collaboration
- Work from any location on any device
- Both inside and outside your organization
- Easy to sign-up for an O365 Tenant
Benefit

47. “Build it and they will come”
• Don't assume your employees will embrace the new
features and know how to use it effectively.
• No guidelines and governance? Confused staff
• The “Wild West of collaboration”
• What features are available and what to use when?
(individual, group, and organizational level)
Warning

48. “Build it and they will come”
• First Release program – sign up!
• Don't just rely on a one-time training event
• Executive-level support is critical
Remediation
• Organizational Change Management
• Engage the early adopters and innovators in your organization

49. “Build it and they will come”
Remediation
• "When to Use What in O365" whitepaper
by Richard Harbridge and Kanwal Khipple from 2ToLead
• SharePoint
• OneDrive for Business
• Yammer
• Outlook/Exchange
• Skype for Business
• O365 Groups
• Delve Boards
• Video Portal
http://www.2tolead.com/whitepaper-when-to-use-what-in-office-365

50. Extra: How do I Resource a SharePoint team?
SharePoint Architect *
Information Architect
Search Architect
SharePoint Back-end Developer
SharePoint Front-end Developer
SharePoint Administrator
Business Analyst
Beware of Multiple Hats!
Power User
Org Change Manager
Business Intelligence Analyst
Windows Server Administrator *
SQL Administrator *
Security/Identity Administrator
Network Administrator

51. Extra: What’s in a SharePoint Governance Plan?
• Site Creation
• Permission Management
• Information Architecture
• Site Lifecycle and Retirement
• Customization
• Navigation
• Search
• Roles & Responsiblities

52. Even with these warnings, SharePoint is still Awesome!
• Future of SharePoint event – Microsoft has stated SharePoint is a
focus for them – there WILL be another version of on-premises
SharePoint!
• Flexible and powerful product that does many things VERY well.
• "Feature Packs" - O365 capabilities will be brought down to On-
Premises SharePoint!!!

53. Thank you and Happy SharePointing!
Slides posted at JoanneCKlein.com
@JoanneCKlein
JoanneCKlein@outlook.com
SK SharePoint User Group: www.skspug.ca
@SKSPUG

54. Reference Links
Todd Klindt’s service account recommendations
http://www.toddklindt.com/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=391
Best Practises for SQL Server in a SharePoint Farm
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh292622.aspx
AutoSPInstaller
https://autospinstaller.codeplex.com/
O365 Developer Patterns and Practices
http://dev.office.com/PNP
SPCAF (SharePoint Code Analysis Framework)
https://www.spcaf.com
When to Use What in O365 whitepaper
http://www.2tolead.com/whitepaper-when-to-use-what-in-office-365