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How to Maximize Your SharePoint Investment

mountain climber overlooking mountain peak referencing Sharepoint successful intranet

There is no beating around the bush here, SharePoint is not cheap.

There are some costs that everyone is aware of for sure.  These include licensing, hardware and infrastructure, and the initial costs to deploy the platform.  Depending on your farm size and complexity, these costs can be high in their own right.  What we often see is the spending and funding dry up when the project comes to an end and interest shifts to the next big project.  

But really that’s when things are just getting started.

Now to be clear, I am talking about the SharePoint On-Premise model.  Office 365 is cheaper, but still comes with some tradeoffs.  To be fair, Office 365 is catching up (and quickly), and is a great solution.  However, many of our clients have yet to fully embrace Office 365.  Some are still leery of the cloud, while others have more complex needs that can't yet be met with Office 365.

For whatever the reason, on-premise deployments are still alive and strong, and that’s where this post comes in.

SharePoint is a beast that requires constant care and feeding, and if it doesn't get what it needs, look out, it can get ugly.  What I am going to outline next is nothing new, nor would I consider them to be hidden costs. 

Consider it more of a lack of understanding of the long-term resources needed to maintain and maximize the initial investment in SharePoint.  The following points I am going to touch upon are where many organizations fall short, and where you can lose the value of your intranet. 

1. Governance

As the key to the long term health and viability of the platform, this is often an overlooked area or one that’s comes in only when things start to go bad. In SharePoint, there are several areas that need focus, again mileage may vary based on your setup and organization. Areas to consider are Operational Governance, Design and Development, and Business. These areas help ensure the intent of the platform is being met, rogue use cases are limited, and expansion happens in a measured way to limit risk. Governance should start when the project is started and never end. This doesn't mean it’s a daily or weekly activity, but it does require time and effort.

2. Search

Search is king and the lens though which the success of the platform will be judged. If people can find what they need, life is good. When search starts to break down and users cannot rely on search, the system begins to crumble. A good search experience is bolstered by good governance, because good governance helps ensure content is properly tagged, removed, or not allowed in to begin with. In a large enterprise, search does need someone behind the curtain looking at logs and reports and fine tuning the result sets, rules, bets, and display templates that make search so valuable. While search seems to "just work" when the platform is turned on, the experience will degrade without the proper time commitment.

3. Content Creation

Sounds great in theory. One of the big things we talk about with clients is content. An intranet is only as good as its content (and being able to find that content). When the project launches everyone is always excited, but that fades in time and content creation lags. Some content will be generated organically, but other forms of content require time and thought, time of course being the limiting factor. Plan to designate people to generate content, and give them the time to do it. To be clear, this is not just writing a quick announcement. What I am talking about is getting real content like white papers, policy and procedure, and other IP relevant to you published and updated on a consistent basis. This also entails coordination with the search team (or person) to ensure the content is found or promoted in the right way when searched. New forms of content could also require governance approval to ensure the content is relevant, and properly fits into the site structure and taxonomy.

These are just three areas that will require long-term attention in order to extent the life of your intranet. If you have SharePoint, and it's not working, have you properly addressed and funded these areas? Part 2 on this topic will cover
three other areas just as big, and just as important, and - you guessed it - just as overlooked.

To get an intranet that maximizes the value of your business and employees, talk to a SharePoint consultant today!

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