tfpl blog

SharePoint 2010: what it means for information professionals and their organisations

I recently made a trip to Microsoft for a workshop on SharePoint 2010 at their campus in Reading.  The picture I took away is of a shift in focus away from development to configuration (and there's a hell of a lot more to configure), illustrated by the following:   

• Complex (or simple) records and document management policies (compliant with DoD 5015.02, amongst other things) can now be configured into the system at and across every level and site location, or simply determined ad hoc.  It looks like a complete EDRMS is on the cards with hierarchical (file-plan like) structuring, automatic document ID numbers and-all with a highly intuitive and attractive browser (any browser) based user interface. 
• Developers will no longer be needed to come in and hack into your SharePoint in order for it to communicate with other databases and systems.  All of this can be configured out of the box without any knowledge of or ostensible use of code.
• As a result of the above and because the development engine, Visual Studio 2010 (sold separately of course), is integrated into the Central Admin area I think that significant investment on bespoke coding is a thing of the past. For example, .NET coding can as easily be published to SharePoint 2010 as a document might be through a standard CMS. In addition to this, the .NET coding language is relatively easy to pick up for quick learners, which systems admins usually are.
• My opinion is that outlay in development will revolve around (app by app) bespoke applications development which has been readily facilitated through the provision of APIs meaning that apps can be built and rolled out through the Central Admin (or the ‘back office’) development tool-kit.

On cost, for organisations that have made a sizable resource commitment to MOSS 2007 already, the prospect of further investment in SharePoint 2010 might initially be a turn off[*].  If however they are persuaded by the additional functionality (particularly in what was formerly business intelligence, the records centre and mySite) then they still face the requirement to upgrade their hardware to x64 (currently it is x32). This x64 backroom hardware is needed to effectively accommodate technologies such as ajax which make for seamless and smooth user operability on the client side but demand significant resources from the servers to that end. This demand scales up with increases in user numbers and user activity, which will be a significant consideration if organisations start adopting SharePoint as a “full featured business platform”, as Microsoft is touting it.

Additionally, upgrade/migration from MOSS 2007 to SharePoint was not something that was readily covered and I suspect 2007 users may be in for a rougher ride, price-wise and technically, than they might otherwise have expected.  This may be a particular issue to those organisations that invested heavily in 3rd party bespoke development of the product.

So, how significant is the advent of SharePoint 2010 to the information professional? Well, we have always known that information architecture, information governance (inclusive of its pillars such as policies, rules etc) and sound information management in general are critical to the success of any electronic information system deployment.  And, with the removal of significant functionality barriers in SharePoint 2010, the continued importance of this cannot be stressed enough in giving systems administrators something to consider before bending to every whim of their users. 

It is therefore critical that the advice of the information professional is heeded at the highest levels of management and engendered into the IT psyche.  The blueprints of a successful implementation should be drawn up, highlighted, championed and followed from the very beginning, lest the onset of “SharePoint Sprawl”, a symptom of poor information architecture and a lack of information management forethought, generally; and one with which many, if not most, MOSS 2007 implementations contend.

If you have information management concerns around your deployment of SharePoint, or any other system, contact us for expert advice and solutions.

Authored by Shooresh Golzari, tfpl consultant.

[*] Recent conversations with clients and SharePoint integrators indicate that this is true.

TFPL Connect International 2009

On 30 November, a large group of information, knowledge and records professionals from UK, Europe and America came together at TFPL Connect International for a discussion with an international panel of KIM experts. The event, kindly sponsored by Alacra got got off to a good start with a glass of champagne and the chance to catch up with colleagues.

The main session had a BBC ‘Question Time’ theme with TFPL Consultant, John Davies, directing questions from the audience to Natalie Ceeney (CEO, The National Archives), Doris Springer (Global Information Services Manager, Bain & Co) , and Morten Nicholaisen (Vice President, Global Sales, Dialog).  The panel demonstrated their ability to handle a wide range of questions with wit, humour, a willingness to share valuable experience and knowledge, and a knack for stimulating discussion.

The first question threw the panel in at the deep end, pointing out the UK’s relative lowly position in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report and asking for the panel’s views on how KIM can help improve this positioning.  The panel advocated improving knowledge sharing at the organisational and national level, suggesting that UK had some way to go making public information readily accessible. Even within the UK, there are differences between England where ‘we make [information] available what is necessary’; whereas ‘the Welsh make everything available’.  Of course, this stimulated discussion about the need to educate people about what is available and the key issue of personal information and data security – the need to keep the private ‘private’.

The theme of demonstrating the impact and value of KIM was touched on several times during the evening – a topic that won’t go away!  The consensus was that the needs of the business must dictate the focus of KIM activity – the challenge is ensuring the KIM skills are used effectively.
 
In discussions that ranged across topics such as social networking, fee versus free information, the change needed for business models in regards to supplying information, reductions in resources and change in working patterns, a number of interesting points were made by panel members and  participants alike.

Natalie Ceeney suggested that the corporate sector, while at a low point in the recession, will soon start to make small steps in to recovery  The public sector, however, are at the starting point of their recession as they anticipate public spending cuts.  The immediate outlook for the public sector is bleak.   Natalie also argued that the new generations of workers will require more flexibility in the way that they work and are likely to have ‘portable careers’.

Morten Nicholaisen predicted that information vendors will need to review their business models to reflect an economy where money is tight and where people feel there are more choices ad more free information.  It will come back to issue of ensuring that  ‘quality and effectiveness’ are explicit; that the fact that ‘free’ may be costly in  resource, time spent and risk is well understood.

Unsurprisingly, social networking, with its advocates and detractors holding, many different opinions about its value and different thoughts about its future, stimulated a lively discussion.  Stephen Fry’s public withdrawal from Twitter, and equally visible rejoining 24 hours later, raised a question from the floor “was he a saint or a sinner?”  The reaction ranged from those who understood the concept but didn’t see the value to themselves, or where the time came from to interact with a variety of networks and communication tools, to others who felt that this is the future (and the present) of work and play.  Discussion around the potential business benefit of social networking tools and their use by individuals to support individual networking was concluded by Hazel Hall, a convinced Twitter user and advocate of its potential for the KIM community.  Hazel made contact via Twitter with someone she wanted to meet, discovered they were on the same train and exchanged seat numbers.  In a very short time she had gone from “I would like to meet this person” to working with him on the train.  

As the chair wrapped up the panel discussion it was clear that this session had only skimmed the surface of some of the key challenges and opportunities facing the KIM community. As we move in to 2010 we are sure that some of these topics will feature in more depth at future Connect events and the TFPL Connect Conference.

It was great to see so many professionals across sectors taking part in the networking that followed and the conversations carried on well into the night over drinks and canapés.

Lucy Frost