Read me
• Practical examples or SharePoint governance issues
• Audience includes architects, consultants, developers, administrators
• Holistic view of SharePoint Governance
• This is not a product review – products will be mentioned but only fraction of the solution
• This topic isn't for the meek – that’s why so many get it wrong
• Several topics covered – people, process, policy and technology
• Recommended reading and other materials provided
• 40 minute presentation time – 20 slides
BIO
Ron CharityA published Technologist with 20 + years in infrastructure and application consulting.
Experience working in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe. Has worked with SharePoint technologies since 2000.
Currently he is responsible for a large global SharePoint environment consisting of several farms that service 140 countries.
Plays guitar in a band, rides a Harley Nightster, owns a Superbird and enjoys travel especially beaches.
Summary
• Practical SharePoint governance
• The intended audience is IT
• The examples are common problems experienced - when governance isn’t in place or not functioning properly.
• I’ll highlight roadblocks my clients have experienced and a prescriptive approach with references to further study.
• Upon completion, attendees will have practical examples they can apply to their circumstance.
Agenda
• Stakeholder alignment
• Roles and responsibilities
• Fostering communities
• Governance controls
• Customizations
• User Interface Consistency
• Page load performance
• Large lists
Agenda
• Provisioning
• Compliance
• Infrastructure problems
• SQL Server health
• Capacity management
• Additional reading
• Q&A
Before we start…
• This is a complex topic
• You shouldn’t tackle it on your own
• Its about people, process, policy and tools
• Organizational structure and politics will be a major obstacle
• There are quick wins but they depend on what resources you have available to you and buy in
• Don’t get discouraged
• Perseverance wins
Defined
• Governance for SharePoint is about– CIO its about service delivery and cost containment
– IT its about control, provisioning and stability
– HR and business it is about defining what the users can do and cant do
• It’s a plan for managing expectations
• Managing and containing costs
• Facilitating user adoption
• Without it conflict is certain, expected improvements delayed and service quality a concern
Where to focus
• Where are you experiencing the most pain?
• What are the biggest and consistent complaints?
• What do you have control over?
• What resources do you have? People? Tools?
• Where have others failed and why?
• Do you have a sponsor and team lined up?
Stakeholder alignment
• Islands of power / M&A
• Lack of understanding
• Multiple view points
• Service quality inconsistency
• Key actions
– Senior sponsor
– Committee of stakeholders
– Document and agree on roles
– Solid communications - documented decisions, ownership, actions, priorities and reporting
Roles and Responsibilities
• Identify the roles
• Document their responsibilities, activities, deliverables, skill sets, who they work with, report to…
• Define what success means for each or the roles
• Communication of roles and agreement
• Get sign off from all stake holders
Roles and Responsibilities
• Example roles include– Business sponsor
• Provides funding and reports to CIO
• Sets priorities and works with Product Manager
– Product manager• Manages the service as a program, sets product
direction, roadmap and standards
• Works with business sponsor and various departments that provide the service.
• Architecture, Quality Assurance, Engineering, Learning and development, support etc.
Fostering Communities
• Relevance to organization
• SME Participation
• Quality of content
• Demonstrating value
• Key actions:
– Alignment with business goals
– Management buy in
– SME access and support
– Marketing
Governance Controls
• Lack of Business buy in
• Storage growth out of control
• Performance, availability and capacity
• Compliance issues
• Key actions
– Risk assessment
– Records Manager participation
– Site administrator training
– Administration tools
Customizations
• WFE crash and slow page loads
• Complex / lengthy build times
• Admin and troubleshooting excessive SQL and SAN traffic
• Key actions
– Minimize customizations
– Aggressive management
– Quality Assurance
– Log analysis to find misbehaving DLLs
User Interface Consistency
• Sites look different
• Search results don’t return what I want
• Difficult to navigate
• Key actions
– Label based on lingo
– Use content types and Meta data
– Admin and user training (ongoing)
– Search logs help refine
– Reporting and feedback
Page load performance
• Slow page loads
• Response times in excess 10-15 seconds
• Inconsistent site administration
• Caching settings not optimized
• Key actions
– Close and remove unused webparts/apps
– Reduce number of webparts/apps on page
– Cache settings
– http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc770229(v=office.14).aspx
Large lists
• Slow page loads
• SQL blocking and locking
• Disconnect from farms
• Key actions
– Cleanup ongoing
– Ongoing training and awareness
– Management tools for reporting
– Migrate large lists to SQL
– http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/gg491393.aspx
Provisioning
• Every site request?
• Information architecture inconsistency
• Sites abandoned/Duplicates
• Email for sharing files / site misuse
• Key actions
– Simplify provisioning / alleviate pressure on email
– Training and awareness
– Disposition schedules
– Automation and workflows
Compliance
• Is about Records Management (RM)
• RM Tool adoption issues generally
• Excessive eDiscovery costs a sign
• Key actions
– Records management enforcement
– Records Mgmt. tool integration
– Awareness, monitoring and training
– Training, monitoring and reporting
Infrastructure Problems
• Storage capacity issues
• SQL Server disconnects
• WFE crashes
• Monitoring isn't notifying
• Operational jobs take forever
• Key actions
– Infrastructure capacity plan
– SQL Server healthy
– Monitoring thresholds not correct
– Operational job overlap
SQL Server health
• Storage capacity issues
• SQL Server disconnects
• WFE crashes
• Monitoring isn't notifying
• Operational jobs take forever
• Key actions
– Infrastructure capacity plan
– SQL Server healthy
– Monitoring thresholds not correct
– Operational job overlap
Capacity Management
• Slow performance
• SQL disconnects
• No documented plan
• Ad hoc changes
• Key actions
– Baseline farm performance and SLA
– Monitoring based on Baselines (Real counter values)
– Ongoing capacity planning
– Aggressive monitoring
Where do I start?
• What's broken?
– Really broken and causing pain
• What resources are required to fix it?
– Is it money? Time? Executive approvals?
• How much time will it take to fix?
• Get your core team together and whiteboard
– Top priorities
– Assign ownership and next steps
– Set dates for follow
Best Practices
• Don’t tackle governance on your own
• Executive sponsorship
• Financial and business pain
• Communications plan
• Focus on what you can do
• Gather facts from available reports to backup statements
• Demonstrate progress
• Persistence
Tools that will help
• One on one working sessions with a lot of open ended questions and listening
• Whiteboard to help visualize
• Communication plan sample
• SharePoint team site sample
• Grove visual tools www.grove.com
• Codeplex resources
• Reporting tools
Additional Reading
• IT Governance – Book• ISACA Planning Guide - Book• Microsoft – Governance in SharePoint• Ron Charity – Real World Governance• Dan Holme – Governance Q&A• AIIM – Governance Toolkit• Carolyn – SharePoint Archiving Solutions• AvePoint – SharePoint Solutions• Axcellar – SharePoint Solutions
Q&A
• Questions?
• Ideas or suggestions you want to share?
• Text chat or contact me at
– ca.linkedin.com/in/ronjcharity/
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