This document outlines how to design a SharePoint program for ongoing operational excellence. It discusses establishing a program to manage SharePoint projects, including collecting business cases, prioritizing projects, establishing a project management methodology, and creating a center of excellence for reusing solutions. It provides a case study example of a company that saw cost savings, on-time project delivery, and increased user adoption by implementing such a SharePoint program.
Analyzing and Monitoring Processes through Time Value Mapping
Design a SharePoint Program for Ongoing Operational Excellence
1. Design a SharePoint
Program for Ongoing
Operational Excellence
Erica Toelle | Seattle, USA
@EricaToelle
April 23, 2014
2. About EricaAbout Erica
Began working with SharePointBegan working with SharePoint20042004
Started consulting with the SharePoint Product
Team
Started consulting with the SharePoint Product
Team20072007
Began working with SharePoint 2010Began working with SharePoint 201020082008
Started a SharePoint Consulting CompanyStarted a SharePoint Consulting Company20092009
Focused on Strategy, ECM, Collaboration, Social
Computing, and End User Adoption
Focused on Strategy, ECM, Collaboration, Social
Computing, and End User Adoption
2010 -
Present
2010 -
Present
Started as a business consulting vendor with
Microsoft
Started as a business consulting vendor with
Microsoft20052005
3. AgendaAgenda
1. The Problem
2. Program Management Baseline
3. The Case Study
4. What is a SharePoint Program?
– Business Cases
– Planning
– Project Management
– Center of Excellence
1. The Results
5. The Problem: No Power UsersThe Problem: No Power Users
To be or
not to be…
6. The Problem: No Reuse of EffortThe Problem: No Reuse of Effort
• No centralized place to keep SharePoint
solutions for reuse
– Code
– Training Materials
– Communication Plan & Templates
– Requirements documents / specs
• The same projects are executed multiple
times across the organization
– When want to consolidate there is no common
information architecture
8. What is a Program?What is a Program?
SharePoint
Project A
SharePoint
Project D
SharePoint
Project C
SharePoint
Project B
SharePoint Program
IT Project Portfolio
Non-SharePoint
Programs
Non-SharePoint
Projects
Program Management takes a larger and more comprehensive view of the
organization’s activities, so that multiple, related projects and their resources can
be managed to achieve strategic business goals.
Allows the organization to compare project requests and activities to ensure that
projects or assets do not conflict with each other and that there is no duplicity of
effort. The result is consistency and cost savings.
A Portfolio is projects, programs, subportfolios, and operations managed as a
group to achieve strategic objectives.
A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service,
or result.
In SharePoint examples of projects include an expense reporting solution, a
document approval solution, etc.
9. What is a Program?What is a Program?
Today we are going to review a
tactical example of a SharePoint
Program along with a case study
to demonstrate benefits and ROI.
We will also use SharePoint to
manage the program.
10. The Case StudyThe Case Study
The finance organization in large software
company manages their work using
spreadsheets, which are located on file shares
or personal hard drives. They email files to
coworkers.
The CFO has a goal to create reusable data
collection and reporting solutions to reduce
manual work and create visibility across the
organization in a common manner.
SharePoint will be used to collect and store data,
automate workflows, and display reports.
11. The SharePoint ProgramThe SharePoint Program
Center of Excellence
• Reuse point solutions in
center of excellence
• Governance policies dictate
what changes can be made
4
Project Management
• Structure based on needs of
business case
• Include technical and people
components
3
Planning
• Roadmap
• Business Case Selection
• Governance
2Business Case
• Collect from departments; grant time
to execute
• Select based on planning priorities
and strategic importance
• Platform enhancement or point
solution
1
12. The SharePoint ProgramThe SharePoint Program
Business users or IT complete an InfoPath form containing the business
case and related information about the proposed solution.
Forms are submitted to a SharePoint list where additional information /
metadata can be added to prioritize and schedule projects.
SharePoint
Custom List
Project Team
Projects are selected from the proposed business cases and a project
teams are assembled. A SharePoint site can be used as a project
management tool.
Center of Excellence
• Site / list templates
• .wsp packages
• Project plan
• Business Requirements
document
• Training materials
• Communication examples
• List of project team members
• Communications plan
• Meeting minutes
When the project is complete all materials are placed in a Center of
Excellence [App Store] so they can easily be found and reused.
13. • A standardized approach to collecting and
cataloging SharePoint solution ideas.
• Business cases can be prioritized and approved
based on strategic priorities, or saved for later
execution.
• Allows the organization to combine duplicate efforts
and only invest in projects that help achieve
strategic goals.
Business Case1
15. Planning
• Roadmap planning sets the priorities and
focus for the year
– Align with overall strategic goals at the
company and department levels
– Mature the platform
• Business case selection chooses the
specific projects that will achieve strategic
goals, and the metrics that will be used to
measure success
2
18. • The project team is selected based on
needs of the business case
– Consultants hired as necessary
• Includes technical and people work
streams, for example:
Project Management3
19. • Allows solutions to be reused across org,
eliminating duplicate efforts
• Includes all solution components: code, training,
communications, requirement, business case,
etc.
• Governance policies dictate how a solution can
be modified, and guide when a net new solution
should be built
Center of Excellence4
21. • By using a Program Management approach, our case
study was able to achieve the following in five months:
– Eliminated 28 duplicate projects at a cost savings of $422,000
– The seven complete projects were reused an average of three times
each
– 86% of projects were completed on time and on budget
– Project team members reported greater job satisfaction as they
were able to accurately estimate project effort (e.g. no working
nights and weekends)
– User adoption was 68% for completed projects
– The cost savings achieved by the solutions is estimated at $1.2
million a year
Case Study ResultsCase Study Results
22. Next StepsNext Steps
• Build a Business Solutions Community
– Use project team participation as a vehicle for tactical
SharePoint training
– Conduct monthly user group meetings to build skills
and share successes and learnings
• Build a demo showcase
– Business users can’t request what they don’t know.
– A solution showcase brings existing solutions to life
without exposing sensitive data.
– Include success stories and quotes.
– IT can build demos of non-existing solutions.
Power User: Someone who has the following skills:
Expert in their area of business
With “free time”
And technical knowledge
Who can facilitate meetings
Gather business requirements
And persuade people to follow them
Respected by leadership to gain buy-in
And knows how to use SharePoint Designer and configure advanced features of SharePoint
Knowledge of Office and related products is great too
Has anymore ever found this person? Why are we betting SharePoint ROI on them?
Consolidation: expense report solution
Each department builds own solution
When want to combine into enterprise wide solution the column names, workflows, etc are all different which results in re-architecture of existing solutions.
Elaborate on problems caused by as-is approach
CFO identified this priority during the yearly strategic planning. Budgets will need to be created by each area for execution of this goal.
Have an existing, stable SharePoint platform that is mostly used for communication: text and pictures, and as a file share alternative.