Use pilot projects to gauge success
By Eric Riz
I’m often asked for advice on how to ensure that a SharePoint project is completed and implemented successfully. Following some pointed questions, I provide some tactics to try, but the reality is that there is no single tip or strategy that will provide such an insurance policy.Even with the most finely tuned adoption or governance plan, your project can still fail for a variety of reasons: mismanaged requirements, development errors or simply the wrong training. It takes a perfect storm in order to get everything rolled out and implemented correctly. Though it’s impossible to identify just one item that can save you from such issues, a pilot project is a great way to measure twice and cut once with your rollout of SharePoint. A pilot project is a soft launch that puts your deliverables into the hands of a subset of your user community. Following a shortened cycle of design, development and delivery, a pilot runs for a defined period of time in order to review and obtain feedback on the rolled-out functionality. Once a corporate perspective has been obtained on the rollout, the project team can then begin developing for a wider deployment to the business. Possibly the best advice I can give is to take your pilot project as seriously as you would a full deployment. Staff your project with A-Team players and make sure that everyone who needs to know about the project does. What you are limiting is not functionality, but the distribution of the product in order to get the feedback you need to ensure corporate rollout success. Once you have made the decision to roll out a pilot, you must next decide who will be involved in it. Depending on who brought SharePoint into the organization, this may be an easy choice. For example, if HR is responsible for SharePoint coming into the business, they are also an easy choice to be in the pilot. They will provide strong, user-defined requirements, honest feedback, and a keen interest in its long-term success. If IT is responsible for SharePoint, look for business units or user groups that will provide the same strong requirements driven by business needs. You can also start backwards when defining your pilot group by choosing a business problem that you know SharePoint can solve, then define which user group can best be affected by its deployment. Define your success measurements by thinking about what will make this project an internal “win.” What will users say or do in the pilot environment that will establish a credible baseline for the functionality to “work”? Will users be able to complete their tasks easier and more efficiently than before? Will they go to SharePoint first in order to send a document or search for information? As you read these suggested questions, develop some that are relative to your business environment and corporate situation. Don’t forget to communicate your success as the pilot becomes reality and people are using the functionality you have deployed. Don’t overlook the importance of documentation, training and setting the robust policies required in order to support the project. Support is critical to success, and typically the most overlooked component of an implementation. I have seen many projects fail due to lack of support. Project teams feel that because they have matched requirements with deliverables, the functionality will be adopted, and this is not the case. Your documentation should highlight the importance of the pilot, functionality to be rolled out, and how users can ask for help if required. Also plan on staged feedback sessions in order to receive the feedback you need. Depending on your project schedule for the pilot and full deployment, this can take place biweekly or monthly to gather feedback and mark changes for the deployment. Upon completion of the pilot project, you will have an instance of SharePoint in production that serves a particular niche set of requirements and user community. At this point in your project, great strides will have been made in developing the expertise required to roll out your pilot. Once the system is up and in the hands of your users, you can move your focus from rollout to feedback. Have an area on your pilot environment to gather feedback from your user community. Remember, feedback is everything at this stage, as it validates what you have built and allows you to obtain honest perspectives on what has been deployed. Eric is the EVP of Systems Integration for Concatenate, a software firm focused on maximizing SharePoint through product innovation and systems integration based in Toronto. You can reach Eric by e-mail at or on Twitter at . Read his other SharePoint thoughts on his blog at www.ericriz.com.
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Are you or your client SharePoint self-centered?
By Peter Serzo
If you have a teenager, then you already know what it is like to have SharePoint in your organization. Teenagers represent potential, hope and drama. We could delve into all of these characteristics and find easy comparisons when implementing or supporting SharePoint in an organization.The one characteristic that many (though not all) teenagers have is the belief that the world revolves around them. For those of us who are parents, we see this and must cope with it while helping our child grow into a contributing member of society. When implementing and supporting SharePoint, we must do the same. How to put an end to SharePoint self-centeredness? One way is to realize that this is not your client's problem. It is your problem as the implementer of the technology. You may not even realize that you set up the self-centeredness.I have been creating software for 20 years now, the last 10 mostly with SharePoint. I can definitely say that SharePoint is blamed for many things. Some expressions that I have heard over and over through the years:"I can't log in. It's SharePoint's fault.""SharePoint is not user-friendly.""I can't find anything in SharePoint."These are all valid points to the client. SharePoint's strength and weakness is that is that it does so much and can touch so much. On top of this, just like any proud doting parent, you have Microsoft touting this software as the very manna from Heaven. It's no wonder that we become SharePoint self-centered.What this means is that you have to be smarter when talking SharePoint. Here are a few points that will help:1. SharePoint branding. It is not just branding, it is usability. A majority of SharePoint users I've encountered don't like it because usability was not taken into account. This is not SharePoint's fault. Don't blame the ribbon because a user cannot see how to add documents to a library.2. Security. I love it when users complain about this, and then you ask them about Active Directory, trusts, forests, etc. The point is SharePoint's security is innately tied to a much bigger infrastructure, and this should be discussed up front.3. Technical folks. Just because I do application development does not mean I can come over to my uncle's house and fix his computer hardware. The line from the great Bill Murray movie “Groundhog Day” comes to mind. Bill is asked how he got so good at piano, and he says, "My Dad was a piano mover so..."So it is with SharePoint and technical folks. There are disciplines, and it is your job to educate your clients—your users—on this subject. Just because you "code" in SharePoint (a.k.a. use SharePoint Designer) does not mean you are able to write jQuery client object model code.#!Another way to eliminate SharePoint self-centeredness is to properly educate users on the role of SharePoint in an enterprise ecosystem. The best way to educate users is to push the onus back with a few directed questions. You have got to stop doing some things for your client or users, even if you know the answer and can "fix" something in five minutes.You must stop and get out of the way, so your users/clients can grow. If you don't do this, the product will not mature in the enterprise. It will be deemed a failure.How do you do this? Proper questioning. When customers complain or ask questions about SharePoint, always start with a positive without sounding patronizing:“That is a great question, John. Is search not working at all, or just not working the way you would like it to? What type of functionality would you like to see out of search?"Your client may think for a bit, but direct focused questioning spurs growth. Questioning puts the responsibility back on the other person. Leading that person to the solution through logical analysis will make them self-sufficient. They will develop new pathways. You will be seen as a trusted advisor, no longer an enabler.Finally, the third way to stop SharePoint self-centeredness is to broaden you and your client’s viewpoint. Understand what other technologies are doing with business intelligence, content management and social media, to name a few aspects. Being able to speak to these technologies while specializing in SharePoint will ease the frustrations and potentially make a difficult circumstance bearable.SharePoint is a great technology that is always part of a bigger picture. We all know users or organizations who are impeding their own growth by being SharePoint self-centered. Are you also impeding them?Peter Serzo is a published author of the “SharePoint 2010 Administration Cookbook,” a founder of the SouthEastern SharePoint group, a speaker, and SharePoint Architect for High Monkey Consulting. Peter has been in the IT industry for 20 years. He has extensive experience with SharePoint implementing business solutions for several enterprise organizations over the past seven years.
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Securing SharePoint for Internet sites
By Russ Basiura
SharePoint 2010 has provided users with the ability to take their companies where very few had gone before them: the Internet. In the release, Microsoft addressed several limitations that made it challenging to leverage SharePoint for an Internet site, including changes to the licensing model that make it a more cost-effective and competitive solution.Many standard security principles have always applied when deploying SharePoint to the Internet. Use a defense-in-depth strategy with multiple security zones to isolate networks and your farm; harden your servers (including SQL Server); apply the latest cumulative updates with all security patches; utilize SSL; and leverage an application layer firewall like Microsoft’s Unified Access Gateway. The SharePoint 2010 platform, including enhancements made in IIS and ASP.NET, have helped greatly to resolve other challenges existing around authentication and authorization.Publishing sites will typically be used as Internet-facing sites and are commonly configured for anonymous access for the majority of the site. Opening a SharePoint site for anonymous users adds several challenges to secure your SharePoint Internet site.One of those challenges is that, by default, all SharePoint sites have a permission level named "Limited Access," which is granted to all users who have access to a SharePoint site. The Limited Access permission level grants the "View Application Pages" right, which enables users to view all the SharePoint system pages for items, such as lists. This is not desirable for Internet sites because publishing sites are usually very structured and controlled. Content owners want to control what the users of a site can see.To control this type of access, site administrators need to remove the "View Application Pages" right from the "Limited Access" permission level. Unfortunately, the "Limited Access" permission level is not editable through the browser interface. However, Microsoft has provided a feature named "Restrict Limited Access Permissions" (found in the path [...]\12\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\ViewFormPagesLockdown) that programmatically removes the "View Application Pages" right from the "Limited Access" permission level.Anonymous access is the most common form of authentication for Internet sites. Sometimes, however, you may want to authenticate a user. In this case, you can use forms-based authentication.ASP.NET forms-based authentication enables you to redirect unauthenticated users to a custom form or page where they are prompted to enter their credentials. For example, you can use forms-based authentication to authenticate users against a database, such as SQL Server. When users are authenticated, they are issued a cookie that identifies them for the remainder of their session. This can enable a site to present personalized information to registered users.If you do want to use forms-based authentication with client integration, users must select "Sign me in automatically" when they log in to SharePoint. This creates a persistent cookie that is available to Microsoft Office applications rather than a session cookie that is constrained to the browser. However, forms-based authentication may still cause client integration to perform unpredictably, and it is recommended that you leave client integration disabled.This article was originally published on March 13.Russ Basiura is founder and CEO of RJB Technical Consulting, Inc.
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Planning for SPTechCon Boston
By Eric Riz
The beginning of June signifies many things: The weather is finally getting nice, the end of school is near, summer vacations are being finalized, and SPTechCon is right around the corner. Before you know it, the calendar will say July 15, and the second and final installment of the 2012 BZ Media SharePoint conferences will be upon us.Though some of you may be wondering why this article is coming out now and not a week before the show as in previous years, the answer is simple: planning ahead. When you begin a SharePoint project, it’s all about planning information and data, functionality and usability—and a conference is truly no different. Beginning your planning now will allow you to collaborate with your teams in order to make the conference more beneficial to the company overall.I’m going to make the general assumption that most of you will “plan” in the following way: opening up the SPTechCon website, or brochure, scanning down the list of sessions, and checking off the one that interests you most, exactly the same way that I did my research when I attended my first SPTechCon. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there are some steps you can take to plan for a great experience:#!1. Sit down with your team (or boss) and, based on where you are in your project, plan out what your goals are for the conference. Remember that you are likely attending the conference on behalf of many in your organization, so be open to attending a session that may not be your favorite. Perhaps you implemented SharePoint 2010 last year and you are only interested in some hands-on training. Others may be midway through their project and interested in the business tracks, which feature consulting-level sessions and workshops. Be realistic and holistic in your approach to the sessions. Know where you are in your project and be sure to attend the sessions that you get the most value from, whether that’s going to be an overview, intermediate or advanced session. Attending an advanced-level course may not be best if you are only starting out on your SharePoint path.2. Create a OneNote notebook and publish it to your SharePoint site, then share the details with your team members before you leave for the conference. You may want to test this out before you go to make sure everyone knows how to access the information. This will allow others back at the office to view your notes, thoughts and comments during the show, provided you’re committed to updating it at each session you attend. We have used this tactic in the past, and it’s a great tool for people back in the office to stay connected.3. Print cards! I can’t stress this enough; it may seem like a little thing, but communication is obviously very important at a conference. Many of the speakers and vendors on the trade-show floor will collect cards for draws to win great prizes, so make sure you order some new cards if you’re out. You will also want to connect with other attendees you meet while in Boston.4. Each of the speakers has spent time creating the content that you will learn from at the conference, and we are all looking forward to sharing our expertise. Feel free to contact any of us if you are looking for some information ahead of the conference. Asking your question ahead of time may aid in your session selection or open your mind to something you weren’t previously aware of. Most of us have easy-to-find blogs, and contact information is ready and waiting. 5. Following the speakers is another great way to prepare for the conference. The SPTechCon site has the addresses for most speakers. This provides a unique opportunity to see what’s being planned and what the speakers are talking about leading up to the show. For example, most speakers are currently talking about various discount codes that are available, as well as some ideas and topics for their sessions. Finally, prepare to have a great time in Boston. There are many social activities, parties and events for all attendees to take part in. The conference is also right in the heart of downtown Boston, so be sure to do some research on the location and the great restaurants and attractions that are within walking distance. See you in Boston!Eric is the EVP of Systems Integration for Concatenate, a software firm focused on maximizing SharePoint through product innovation and systems integration based in Toronto. You can reach Eric by e-mail at or on Twitter at . Read his other SharePoint thoughts on his blog at www.ericriz.com.
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Pulling in content with a Content Editor Web Part
By Ryan Keller
We all know how useful the Content Editor Web Part (CEWP) can be. It is often called the Swiss Army Knife of SharePoint Web Parts: You can use it to add text, images, scripts and styles to a page, and even display content from external files. It’s this last point that we’ll be diving into in this article.One way the CEWP can be used is by entering HTML or scripts into the HTML source. In SharePoint 2010, click inside the CEWP, and in the Format Text ribbon, click the HTML dropdown and select Edit HTML Source. Here, you can paste your HTML or script into the CEWP source and call it a day. Note that not all kinds of scripts will work properly when using this method.An alternative to pasting a script or HTML into the CEWP’s HTML editor is pointing the Web Part to an external TXT or HTML file stored in a document library and have it display the contents of that file on your page. One benefit of this is method of displaying content is that you don’t have to edit the SharePoint page in order to change the content of the CEWP. Even better, if you use this same content on multiple pages, you only need to edit the source file to make the change to more than one page.Let’s take this concept one step further and look at adding a CEWP to a page layout or master page. In SharePoint Designer, you can open a custom page layout or master page and simply drop a CEWP right into the page. More specifically, with the page layout or master page open, you would position your cursor where you want the CEWP to go (either in the code view or designer view), click the Insert tab in the Ribbon, click the Web Part dropdown, and finally select Content Editor from the list. This will drop code for the CEWP right into your page layout or master page.The next step is to right-click the Web Part and choose Web Part Properties. This opens a properties box that is almost identical to the one you see when you edit a Web Part in the browser. In the Content Link section, type the URL for the content you’d like to pull in, and the CEWP will seamlessly integrate that content into your page. This is particularly useful for adding content that could potentially be changed to every page in a site, without the headache of having to make a change to hundreds of pages. Why is this method superior to simply including HTML or scripts directly in your master page or page layouts? For starters, it can put control of the contents of these areas back in the end users’ hands. This way, a site owner can make changes to content without having to edit a page layout or master page, since they typically wouldn’t have access to do that anyway.The Content Editor Web Part is definitely one of the most useful and flexible Web Parts you have in your arsenal for SharePoint.Ryan Keller is a consultant at SharePoint911, a Rackspace company.
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