SharePoint Governance

It’s shouldn’t be a big surprise that Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS) is unbelievably democratic and powerful as a basic content secretary. Microsoft claimed $1 billion in revenue from sales of the software in 2007. A recent survey by AIIM (State of the Market: Microsoft SharePoint) indicates that SharePoint is indeed rapidly becoming pervasive within the enterprise. Of those responding to the study, 83% said they either currently use or likely will be using Microsoft SharePoint.

There are also some reports of SharePoint preparation projects being derailed or having less than wanted results. Some of these are related to a lack of features requirement for an organization such as more racy records management or a more controlled deposit, but many are because of the lack of SharePoint governance.

A SharePoint Governance model has the adopting elements put in place to lead the development and use of a solution based on SharePoint:

• People – roles and responsibilities
• Policies – a collection of principles and guidelines on what is and isn’t allowed
• Processes – a how to guide for common processes, such as site creation, changing site themes

Here are some things you need to know about SharePoint governance:

There is no easy button.

Unlike the popular office supply company commercial where you press the button and get the message of comfort: "That was easy," one can not easily press the button and SharePoint government suddenly appears. Although there are tools and templates available (from Microsoft and others) to help guide the process, which takes resources - people and time - to create a management model of SharePoint in your organization.

One size does not fit all.

A SharePoint Administration model for an organization of the Fortune 25 is different than one for a small business. A governance model must be adapted to the size of the organization. There is no "home methods" for the development of the governance model. Of course you can reuse a model of governance for an organization of different sizes on your own, but again takes people and time.

It’s not rocket science.

Furthermore, the creation of a governance model for SharePoint is not an impossible task or one that will take months of effort and armies of consultants. You simply need to treat it like any other project - sufficient resources are devoted to it and then decide what needs to be guided in their organization and how it wants to govern it.

You can do it now, or you can do it later – but you will do it.

SharePoint Governance is like the old TV commercial where the greasy mechanic says I can pay can pay me now or later, implying that the time you pay me. The SharePoint governance model can be created at the same time has a new set of pristine or SharePoint site collection or you can do after you have hundreds of web sites and document libraries without any clear indication of what the existing content in the different places, or why. It will take more resources required to do so later.

Some options don’t have an “undo” button.

Creating a SharePoint governance model will check the system has thought through the various options and capacities available in SharePoint and made intelligent selections based on their goals for the software. An system has only one shot at several installation and configuration options unless a total reinstall is executed.

Less silos instead of more.

Many organizations implement SharePoint for basic content services and to better control the content of their shared disks. The same previous reference AIIM survey indicates that 60% of respondents use SharePoint for file sharing. Without governance of SharePoint, there are no clear rules on the creation and use of sites and document libraries. Organizations can find more information silos after SharePoint rather than less than expected.

It’s not just about the technology.

The new application technologies is undoubtedly hard work, but the hardest job is to change the way they work. A model of governance help from change management and point of view of usability of SharePoint application.

You can have governance or you can have chaos.

Chaos in SharePoint is similar to what many have called the expansion content - sites, subsites and document libraries with trash and no clear ownership. They can also resemble the types of content itself with slightly different names or different metadata. A model of government with a basic information architecture can help ensure consistency throughout the SharePoint site and guide the operation of the sites are responsible, operated and decommissioned when no longer needed.

Resist the temptation of the IT department just install like any other Microsoft application - Insert CD and install with default settings. You need a governance model.

• Ensure the system is used as intended and aligns with business objectives
• Reduce or eliminate replication and duplication of content and SharePoint sites.
• Leverage existing content and promote reuse
• Ensure the system is sustainable and scalable over time
• Define responsibility for system management, administration and use from individual users to roles and groups