SharePoint: The Reality Series 2
On the hook: the SharePoint ownership imperative

Here are some cases in which a SharePoint deployment could prove useful:

• Mergers and consolidations—The ease of acquiring and deploying SharePoint is a fantastic excuse to kick-start a difficult but necessary integration effort. The SharePoint banner flies high in calls to unify a fractured enterprise. Think of it as a two-for-one sale. The task of content migration is made easier knowing that SharePoint deployments can dovetail nicely with complex mergers, pending re-orgs and consolidation of redundant systems.
• Onboarding new employees— Another simple and powerful use of MOSS is the social media component for training new employees. My Site in MOSS is a prime showcase for learning the certification ropes, monitoring list distribution status, posting current resumes, critical skill-sets and the ability to match those talents with new project requirements through searching My Sites.
• Event planning—Logistical maestros like Gavlick champion SharePoint for supporting the complexities of travel management. Her team created a meeting workspace with a custom list allowing each attendee to register his or her arrangements and aoXUBF enabled a central coordinator to create catering orders and seat charts, and schedule ground transportation from the airport. Best of all, the workspace was customized to allow employees direct access to their itineraries.

Familiar ground, new heights

Self-styled “change managers” can try to rewire human nature or comport SharePoint to operational realities. For most of us that is not a hard decision.

SharePoint provides straightforward and painless integration for familiar workplace tools. The MS Office integration of SharePoint enables users to leverage what they already know and do it in ways that speed the process and expand the knowledge:

• Local control—Can’t assume the definitive status of a group undertaking? Import your Excel file as a SharePoint list, and your version of events is no longer “local,” but rather the definitive status report for your team to be updating.
• Inbound e-mail—Can’t log in to SharePoint? E-mail your attachments to the right library (and we embed those addresses in the group e-mail contact directory).
• Project histories—Can’t figure out client status? Run reports out of your accounting systems that update bookings. You can then showcase project status and client histories in SharePoint team sites.

The key question isn’t about which application does what. It’s about staging all those stovepipes in one place so that your users can gain the perspective they need and the transparency they deserve. As straightforward as those examples are, your own priorities can vary as widely as the tool’s capabilities.

The key is connecting single operations to the larger organization. Reaching outside the immediate project circle is as essential as the most unwavering sponsorship. Then everyone’s on the deployment hook—and no one’s left holding the bag.