delivering business value through sharepoint...adoption statistics indicate that 34% of companies...

www.infotech.com Impact Research 1

Delivering Business Value Through SharePoint


Table of Contents

Executive Summary……………………………………………………………….………………….

Research Method…………………………………………………………....…...............................

What is SharePoint?……………………………………………………………………………….....

What Are the Different Versions?…………………………………………………………………...

Who is Using SharePoint?..………………………………………………………………………….

Why are Companies Implementing? .……………………………………………………………....

What are the Challenges?……………………………………………………………………………

How is an Implementation Completed?.…………………………………………………………....

Key Conclusions..……………………….……………………………………..………………………

Case Studies …………………………………………………………………………………………..

3

6

9

16

21

23

30

36

55

59


Executive Summary


SharePoint brings business value to many companies

SharePoint users report that the tool delivers major

business value with a low total cost of ownership.

SharePoint’s rapid adoption is an indicator of its

value.

Companies are attracted by these six functions of

SharePoint:

Collaboration

Portal

Enterprise Search

Content Management

Business Forms

Business Intelligence

This report will help you with your SharePoint deployment by:

1. Explaining each of the six functions and how they are used.

2. Identifying realizable benefits.

3. Warning of challenges that you might face and how to mitigate them.

4. Providing a comprehensive guide for completing a successful implementation.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

1-100 101-250 251-500 501-1000 1001-5000 5000+

Employees

SharePoint and Similar Tools Adoption

Implemented Currently Planning/Implementing

Executive Summary


SharePoint brings a wide range of benefits

Companies have reported that

SharePoint benefits impact the

company, the end users, and IT.

Companies of all sizes and

industries have implemented

SharePoint and reaped benefits.

SharePoint’s impact on an

organization is most often

defined as positive business

value rather than pure cost

savings.

Executive Summary

SharePoint is more than just a platform. It transforms the way IT and end users conduct their daily

work by enabling more efficient communication and collaboration.


Research Method


Research Method

Research Method

SharePoint is a key consideration for many companies

SharePoint was selected as the focus of this in-depth report because:

Adoption statistics indicate that 34% of companies will deploy SharePoint or an equivalent tool by end-of-year 2007, an

additional 25% will deploy by the end of 2008, and 19% plan to deploy between 2009-2011.

Our survey of 2,000 companies found that 61% of enterprises focus on .NET, while only 23% are primarily Java.

SharePoint is built on the .NET framework, and is a logical choice for .NET shops.

There is high demand from Info-Tech clients for research on SharePoint.

Info-Tech’s research process for SharePoint

This research is based on real world client experiences. Companies were interviewed and surveyed to analyze

adoption drivers, implementation considerations, benefits realized and challenges faced.

Info-Tech Research Group content is driven by the needs of our 21,000+ enterprise customers and is in no way

sponsored, paid for, or initiated by any external vendor or service provider.

If SharePoint isn’t for you

If you already know that SharePoint doesn’t fit well with your company, please see the following ITA Premium research notes:

Portals: “Portal Marketscape: SharePoint Not the Only Option in 2007” and “Portals: Think Platforms, Not Products”

Enterprise Search: “Demystify Enterprise Search to Unveil Business Process Success” and “Break Content Management Silos with After-Market Search”

Content Management: “Web Content Management Solutions”

Business Forms: “Vendor Landscape: Affordable E-Forms for Small Enterprises”

Business Intelligence: “BI Competency Center: Prevent Pricey Mistakes”

http://www.infotech.com/Research/Notes/ITAP/PortalMarketscapeSharePointNottheOnlyOptionin2007.aspx?PublicationNumber=%7b89864B92-A663-4B05-BFA9-06AF1E18CC1E%7d&SubCenter=%7b2E6F2577-32DB-42E2-97F3-5EC4B8BD60FE%7d&referredFrom=searchEngine

http://www.infotech.com/Research/Notes/ITAP/PortalsThinkPlatformsNotProducts.aspx?PublicationNumber=%7bADB5F374-3E6F-422E-A23B-0C798526182A%7d&SubCenter=%7b2E6F2577-32DB-42E2-97F3-5EC4B8BD60FE%7d&referredFrom=searchEngine

http://www.infotech.com/Research/Notes/ITAP/DemystifyEnterprisesearchtoUnveilBusinessProcessSuccess.aspx?PublicationNumber=9FEA5B7C-E9D8-462C-8320-AA7643290B7D&SubCenter=2E6F2577-32DB-42E2-97F3-5EC4B8BD60FE&referredFrom=searchEngine

http://www.infotech.com/Research/Notes/ITAP/BreakContentManagementSiloswithAfterMarketSearch.aspx?PublicationNumber=84AD5245-9532-485E-A3CE-62214429CFAC&SubCenter=2E6F2577-32DB-42E2-97F3-5EC4B8BD60FE&referredFrom=searchEngine




http://www.infotech.com/Research/Notes/ITAP/WebContentManagementSolutions.aspx?PublicationNumber=80304D65-7B41-41AE-88B3-144376AFE8DC&SubCenter=2E6F2577-32DB-42E2-97F3-5EC4B8BD60FE&referredFrom=searchEngine

http://www.infotech.com/Research/Notes/ITAPSE/VendorLandscapeAffordableEFormsforSmallEnterprises.aspx?PublicationNumber=A334142B-BFD1-4F20-8E2C-B22BFA36E7A3&SubCenter=FA5A88B1-9B5C-414F-BB8B-1B0697EFA5B1&referredFrom=searchEngine



http://www.infotech.com/Research/Notes/ITAP/BICompetencyCenterPreventPriceyMistakes.aspx?PublicationNumber=33FA108D-C82F-4FFD-8F19-4E65C434042B&SubCenter=E99750D8-9951-4743-8002-5F835C3EA6E0&referredFrom=searchEngine


Profile of Clients Interviewed Distribution by Company Size

5000+

(19%)

1 - 100

(12%)

101 - 250

(12%)

251 - 500

(16%)

501 - 1000

(18%)

1001 - 5000

(23%)

Our in-depth research approach delved into the

implementations of 258 organizations across a

representative sample of industries and sizes. Of these,

217 filled out a comprehensive survey and 41 engaged in

an extensive interview.

Research Method

Distribution by Industry

Business Services, 28%

Manufacturing, 19%

Financial Services, 12%

Healthcare, 11%

Government, 11%

Education, 8%

Trans/Utilities/Comm, 5%

Retail/Wholesale, 4%

Primary, 2%

Distribution by Total Spend

more than

$70K

(19%)

less than $3K

(19%)

$3K - $10K

(24%)

$11K - $25K

(17%)

$26K - $70K

(21%)


What is SharePoint?


SharePoint addresses many business needs

SharePoint is…

A platform for collaboration.

The ability to design, deploy, and

manage enterprise portals.

A way of searching for people and

information.

A forum for enterprise content

management.

The capability to streamline forms-

driven business processes.

Business Intelligence (BI) for every

employee to make better decisions.

Defining SharePoint

SharePoint can help an enterprise manage content and processes, improve business insight,

enhance collaboration, and empower IT to make a strategic impact.

Platform Services

Business Forms

Portal

Business Intelligence Collaboration

Search Content

Management


SharePoint can be broken down into 6 functional areas

Function Components Description

Collaboration Docs/tasks/calendars, blogs, wikis, e-mail

integration, project management “lite”,

Outlook integration, offline docs/lists

SharePoint products provide collaboration functions that help

keep employees connected. This improves communication

between teams while giving easy access to the people and

information employees need to succeed in their jobs.

Portal Enterprise Portal template, Site Directory,

My Sites, social networking, privacy

control

The portal functions enable enterprises to use a single

platform for Internet, Intranet, and Extranet content and

applications.

Enterprise

Search Enterprise scalability, contextual

reference, rich data and people search

SharePoint Enterprise search provides users with the ability

to find relevant people, documents, and business data.

Content

Management

Integrated document management,

records management, web content

management with policies and workflow

SharePoint provides core document management

functionality such as versioning, check-in/check-out,

document locking, metadata, workflow, and access controls.

Business

Forms

Rich and Web forms based front-ends,

line of business actions, enterprise single

sign-on

Companies can streamline forms-driven business processes

with electronic forms that integrate with existing systems.

Business

Intelligence

(BI)

Server-based Excel spreadsheets and

data visualization, Report Center, BI Web

Parts, KPIs/Dashboards

SharePoint provides BI capabilities so employees can share,

control, and reuse business information to improve business

decision making.

Defining SharePoint

Source: Microsoft


Collaboration is the biggest driving force

There are two drivers motivating companies to choose SharePoint:

Companies report that they chose SharePoint because it is a cost-effective means to empower end

users to collaborate, share information and feel a sense of ownership in the company.

Defining SharePoint

Microsoft Shop

Organizations already standardized

on the .Net development platform

are likely to choose SharePoint over

Java-based solutions.

Collaboration Functionality

The most-cited driving force, collaboration

features, are crucial to enabling

organizations to drive business value from

employees.

Ease of Implementation/Use

Use of other Microsoft applications

makes deployment and end user

adoption easier.

Content Management Functionality

Document management has now extended

to include records management, Web

content management, and workflow.

Low Cost

The low total cost of ownership of

SharePoint drives adoption.

Portal Functionality

Users are beginning to demand features

that a portal brings.

67% 58%

55% 50%

46% 45%

Environment Drivers Functional Drivers


Collaboration most popular SharePoint application

Use by Function

Collaboration is the most widely used functionality, in part due to its inclusion with every

version of SharePoint.

Business Forms and Business Intelligence are more specialized functions used only by

organizations with needs in those areas.

SharePoint Functionality Adoption

11%

22%

25%

30%

47%

50%

11%

9%

10%

12%

12%

14%

12%

17%

14%

18%

8%

11%

26%

29%

27%

25%

19%

16%

40%

24%

24%

16%

14%

9%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%


Business Forms

Enterprise Search

Enterprise Content

Management

Portal

Collaboration

Currently using

Currently implementing

Planning stage

Considering/ evaluating

No Plans


There are many unique ways to use SharePoint

Functionality Mini Case Study

Collaboration

A large distribution business uses the collaboration features of SharePoint to deal with customer

order change requests. Sales, shipping, production, and transportation all subscribe to this list and

receive alerts when a change is requested. If a customer wants to receive a hundred more cases

of product, all of the groups convene via SharePoint to decide whether or not this is possible, and

in what timeframe.

Portal

A mid-sized healthcare organization implemented SharePoint for the Portal capabilities. The

company is able to deliver important messages to a wide audience in a cost-effective manner.

Information is updated regularly by the end users, which ensures dynamic content while

minimizing IT maintenance costs. Internal communication has improved as a result since

employees have a central repository to find information, announcements, and business metrics.

Enterprise

Search

A large architectural and engineering firm chose the Enterprise Search from SharePoint over a

third party tool. Not only did they save on licensing costs, but now employees are able to find the

right information and people needed to do their jobs well.

Case Study Examples


There are many unique ways to use SharePoint - cont

Functionality Mini Case Study

Enterprise

Content

Management

A large manufacturing company is using SharePoint for their document management and records

management. One of the big issues that the company had to tackle was their e-discovery. They

wanted to have control over all of their business content and records that should be shared at the

departmental or organizational level. SharePoint is the repository for content and houses it instead

of PST files on hard drives.

Business

Forms

A mid-sized financial services company took paper-based HR forms and used InfoPath 2007 (a

SharePoint technology) to streamline this workflow. In the past, employees had to contact HR for

the required document, fill it out manually, and submit it back to HR for them to manually enter in

the data. Now, users have a central place to find forms and submit everything electronically. Data is

automatically entered into the database. As a result, 1.5 FTE HR employees were saved,

employees save time, and data is more accurate.

Business

Intelligence

A school district uses Excel Services (a SharePoint technology) to create dashboards for

executives around student data. For example, this enables them to easily track enrollments, class

sizes and composition, special needs students, etc., in order to remain compliant. The dashboard

easily displays which schools are compliant, which ones are not, and which ones are in severe

non-compliance.

Case Study Examples

Companies of all sizes and industries have implemented SharePoint and delivered business value

in numerous forms.


What Are the Different Versions?


Not all SharePoints are created equal

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (WSS)

(Inc. with Windows Server 2003)

Office SharePoint Server CAL (MOSS)

($)

Office SharePoint Server Enterprise CAL (MOSS)

($$)

?

For a more detailed comparison, please see: SharePoint Products Comparison

Version Comparison

Source: Microsoft

Collaboration

Docs/tasks/

calendars, blogs,

wikis, e-mail

integration, project

management “lite”,

Outlook integration,

offline docs/lists

Business Forms

Rich and Web

forms based front-

ends, LOB actions,

enterprise SSO


Server-based Excel

spreadsheets and

data visualization,

Report Center, BI

Web Parts,

KPIs/Dashboards

Portal

Enterprise Portal

template, Site

Directory, My

Sites, social

networking,

privacy control

Content Management

Integrated

document

management,

records

management, Web

content

management with

policies and

workflow

Document

management

Contextual

reference

Extensible and

customizable

search of

enterprise content

and people

Search

Business data

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointserver/HA101978031033.aspx

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointserver/HA101978031033.aspx


Adoption by version of SharePoint

Although more companies currently use the Services version of SharePoint, many of

these same companies are considering and evaluating the Server version.

Companies that look at MOSS are often looking at broader business issues and

several functions of the platform. Usually when WSS is chosen first it is a more

narrow focus – that is, they want to solve one issue right now.

Version Adoption

SharePoint Adoption by Version

47%

5%

26%

5%

23%

31%

36%

26%

27%

4%

19%

16%

8%

8%

28%

52%

61%

53%

17%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Used Previously

Considering/ Evaluating

Planning Stage

Currently Implementing

Currently Using

Windows SharePoint Services 2.0

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

SharePoint Portal Server 2001

SharePoint Portal Server 2003

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007


Key changes have been made over the years

Significant functional and technical changes were made from 2003 to 2007. Many

of these changes contributed to the rapid uptake in adoption.

2003 2007

Functional

Changes

Collaboration

Limited Document Management

Enterprise Search

Improved Collaboration

Enterprise Document and Records Mgmt

Web Content Mgmt

Improved Enterprise Search

Process Automation (Forms and Workflow)

Regulatory Compliance

Technical

Changes

Different code base between

WSS/SPS

Two search engines

.NET 1.1 or 2.0

Single code base

Single search engine

Leverage .NET 2.0 fully

Better browser support

Reduce usage of ActiveX controls

CMS Integration

Larger content database support

Support for third-party authentication:

LDAP, database

Version Changes

Source: Microsoft


The top factors driving upgrades

For the most part, companies are upgrading due to the added features and improved

capabilities in newer versions.

Despite the fact that many clients purchase Microsoft’s Software Assurance (SA) coverage,

only 17% of companies report this as a driver for upgrading.

“Microsoft did a clever

thing with WSS. If you have

Windows Server 2003

CALs you get it for free. So

we tried it and our users

loved it. It is definitely a

gateway drug to MOSS.”

IT Director, Food Industry

Upgrade Reasons

The work effort required for an upgrade is most justified by the improved capabilities and features.

Free upgrade rights do not always motivate an upgrade.

Primary Reasons for Upgrading

11%

14%

17%

19%

20%

28%

29%

30%

34%

40%

44%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Upgraded OS

Enhanced social netw orking

Free Upgrade Rights

Improved forms

E-mail Integration

Upgraded technology/environment

Improved customization of the interface

Improved search capabilities

Better integration w ith applications

Improved w orkflow capabilities

Added features


Who is Using SharePoint?


SharePoint and Similar Tools Implementation StatusSource: Info-Tech Research Group

8%

13%

13%

23%

20%

29%

6%

7%

13%

16%

13%

8%

11%

16%

16%

9%

10%

16%

14%

19%

14%

12%

18%

26%

34%

23%

17%

29%

15%

20%

13%

17%

9%

9%

8%

16%

11%

5%

8%

6%

8%

4%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

1-100

101-250

251-500

501-1000

1001-5000

5000+

Nu

mb

er

of

Em

plo

yees Implemented

Currently implementing

Pilot project underway

Interested, planning stage

Interested, no plans

Aware, not applicable

No knowledge

SharePoint has great momentum Adoption is high in companies of all types and sizes:

• There is an inflection point for companies of over 100 employees, when adoption for WSS

accelerates.

• The second inflection point occurs at 500 employees, at which point MOSS adoption picks up.

SharePoint Adoption

54% Average Adoption

*

N=561

*Average adoption includes organizations using, implementing, piloting, or planning.


Why Are Companies Implementing?

(Benefits)


SharePoint brings a wide range of benefits

Although many companies are reporting hard benefits, most benefits are considered soft.

Ease of Information Access was the top cited benefit due to its wide applicability.

E-mail Storage Savings was the least cited benefit due to the difficulty involved in measuring this benefit.

Benefits

SharePoint Benefits

7%

6%

13%

7%

15%

17%

18%

14%

25%

24%

14%

18%

21%

28%

22%

31%

35%

46%

16%

18%

15%

16%

16%

18%

16%

16%

10%

7%

21%

16%

9%

11%

13%

11%

4%

4%

43%

42%

42%

38%

34%

22%

27%

20%

21%

21%46%

42%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

E-mail Storage Savings

Reduced Data Entry Errors

Improved Customer Communication

Improved Business Insight

Web Development Savings

IT Time Savings

Document Version Control

End User Productivity

Improved Internal Communication

Ease of Information Access

Hard Savings Soft Savings Minimal Benefit No Benefit N/A


End users are empowered with information

Benefit

Opportunity

% Realizing

Hard/Soft

Savings

Reported Examples

Ease of

Information

Access

71%

A central place for users to find relevant people and information efficiently.

A known forum for posting and retrieving company information.

End users can customize their home page views to what is important to them.

Improved

Internal

Communication

67%

The platform enables users to share and disseminate knowledge across groups

and locations. Virtual teams can collaborate and people feel a better sense of

ownership.

A structure to easily organize project related information improves communication

within cross-functional teams. Teams can more easily bring the right people and

information to a project.

The platform facilitates the distribution of information through sites and features like

alerts. Instead of relying on e-mail, people are automatically kept informed. Also, a

person can be brought into a project and have the ability to view a history of events.

“Prior to implementing SharePoint, we did some research and found that eighty

percent of our unstructured electronic storage is accessible to one and only

one person and only twenty percent of our storage space is shared information. We

think it should be the other way around .”

CIO, Chemicals Industry

Benefits


End users are more efficient with their time

Benefit

Opportunity

% Realizing

Hard/Soft

Savings

Reported Examples

End User

Productivity 61%

Retrieval of documents is quicker

and results in overall time savings.

Users are more efficient with time

spent collaborating with all

stakeholders.

Document

Version Control 53%

Always having access to the most

current version of a document

improves communication and

eliminates duplication of effort.

There is more confidence in

information being viewed.

Version change tracking ensures that

nothing is accidentally changed that

shouldn’t be. A layer of

accountability is added.

End users can restore old

documents themselves, instead of

having IT restore from backup.

“I think the biggest thing is

just getting everything in

one place, which saves on

time and cost. It also

enables our business to

better talk amongst itself.

Find people quicker, find

documents quicker, finding

things you didn’t know,

finding information and

giving it to people sooner.

We’ve got a lot of manual

process that we are going to

cook into this. That goes

along with save time, save

cost and save operations.”

VP of IT, Business Services

Benefits


IT is serving end users more easily

Benefit

Opportunity

% Realizing

Hard/Soft

Savings

Reported Examples

IT Time Savings 48% End users maintain their content, not IT. SharePoint takes a service that used to be

maintained by IT, and turns it into a self-service platform.

Web

Development

Savings

37%

Web sites are set up more quickly because developers are not writing a lot of

code. Further, you don’t need to start with a blank slate due to the templates

available.

For organizations that use external providers to set up Web sites, SharePoint

enables this function to be easily completed in house.

A key feature with SharePoint is the ease of deploying surveys. Many companies

save paying a third party for this capability and perform the function in house.

Improved

Business

Insight

35%

Empowering users to control their own content creates a dynamic flow of

information being presented.

Business intelligence capabilities improve the speed and quality of decision

making. A BI solution reduces time spent collecting and analyzing business

information.

“I think that Microsoft got it right, the ease of use, for at least the straightforward

tasks - incredible. That’s a real plus. You are not looking at weeks of development for

an intranet site to do a certain function, it’s like hours.”

Web Services Administrator, Government

Benefits


Companies report improved client relations

Benefit

Opportunity

%

Realizing

Hard/Soft

Savings

Reported Examples

Improved

Customer

Communication

34%

Interfacing with customers for either project collaboration or sales support is important to many businesses. The platform ultimately improves communication with customers as the outlet increases the frequency and quality of interactions.

Reduced Data

Entry Errors

24%

The increased use of forms-driven business

processes eliminates paper-based tracking.

Immediately inputting information not only

saves time, but also ensures the accuracy

of information being recorded.

E-mail Storage

Savings 21%

Instead of e-mailing one document to

multiple people many times over, one copy

of that document is kept in a central place.

Files that are too large to be e-mailed can

be stored on SharePoint and accessed

from the site.

“The problem here is we

are always looking for a

document, we are always

looking for information.

The issue is that

information always leaves

the office when a person

leaves the organization.

It’s our capital, so the

information here is our

business. We don’t sell a

product - we are in the

business of investment

sales. What we know is

the core of our business.

Looking for it is wasting

time; losing it is even

worse.”

Technology Director,

Financial Services

Benefits


Hard benefits are realized in a few different ways

Type of

Benefit

Description Reported Savings

Cost

Savings

IT Time Savings 1-2 FTE staff saved (on 30-42 total IT staff)

due to less maintenance

Web Development

Savings

Web sites are set up 4X faster

Reported cost savings of up to $8000/mo for

Help Desk tracking software, or survey

development, or Web development

E-mail Storage Savings Reduced overhead of $10-15K annually

Business

Value

End User Productivity End users find information 3X faster

1-2 FTE staff saved due to efficiency gains in

using business forms

Document Version Control End users restore documents immediately

Improved Customer

Communication Customers hear from company twice as often

Benefits

Please see the chart below for a sample of savings reported by peers.

Companies are reporting that both IT and end users are saving time, while the business

improves decision making and ultimately delivers more value to its customers.

“I’m on the IT side

of things so

obviously my job

is to make things

better, faster,

cheaper, and

more efficient. I

believe

technology like

this helps make

that kind of thing

happen.”

IT Project Manager,

Government


What are the Challenges? (How to Avoid Pitfalls)


What challenges does SharePoint present?

Avoiding the Pitfalls

Top Five Challenges

1. IT staff learning curve (36%). With each

successive version, SharePoint is becoming an

increasingly complex solution, which makes it

harder for IT to learn to use and manage.

2. Site design (31%). While portal solutions

generally facilitate Web development, users

sometimes find the structure restrictive,

particularly in terms of look and feel. Enterprise

users often have difficulty avoiding the

“SharePoint look.”

3. Customization (31%). In addition to design

considerations, users can struggle with

customization of SharePoint components such

as templates, Web parts, and workflows.

4. Content organization (29%). Some organizations regret having underestimated the planning phase prior to using SharePoint for content management. The challenge is in creating a logical, functional hierarchy for information that users will be able to navigate with relative ease.

5. End-user acceptance (26%). Despite the widely reported benefits of SharePoint’s tools, some end-users are resistant to changing their work habits to adapt to a new solution. This problem can be particularly frustrating when SharePoint is used for collaboration and content management, but users persist in sending e-mail attachments to their teams.

SharePoint Challenges

13%

15%

18%

18%

25%

25%

26%

29%

31%

31%

36%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Maintenance

Executive buy-in

Upgrade/Migration

Security

Documentation

Integration

End-user acceptance

Content organization

Customization

Site design

IT Learning Curve



SharePoint

Issue Mitigation Steps

IT staff

learning curve

(36%)

Allot at least one to two weeks per functional component (portal, content management,

etc.) just for education. Although SharePoint is designed to be user-friendly and easy to pick

up, it will not be completely intuitive for some people. Unless staff are already familiar with

SharePoint, they will require time to learn what is possible with SharePoint, in addition to

learning how to use it.

Take advantage of Microsoft’s free resources. The key is finding the right starting point:

• IT administrators and staff should go to TechNet (SharePoint Server or WSS).

• Developers should refer to SharePoint information and tutorials on MSDN (SharePoint Server

or WSS).

Microsoft provides a wealth of resources on SharePoint, both as online documentation and in

the form of training sessions. The sheer volume of information, however, makes it difficult to

navigate (see “Documentation” below).

Site design

(31%)

Prioritize. Decide which sites or pages warrant extensive design work, e.g. externally-facing

content, high-traffic pages. The more customized the site, the more work it will require. It would

certainly be nice to achieve a unique corporate look for all Web content, but is it really

necessary?

Use blogs as a resource. A number of Microsoft professionals maintain blogs filled with

helpful guides and tips on SharePoint design. Heather Solomon’s blog is particularly useful.

Learn from your peers’ experiences

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/office/sharepoint/default.mspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/sharepoint/default.aspx

http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/server/moss/default.aspx

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/default.aspx

http://www.heathersolomon.com/blog/articles/sp2007.aspx



SharePoint


Customization

(31%)

Look for downloadable templates and tools first. With SharePoint’s

popularity continuing to soar, there is a large and growing SharePoint

community with a variety of resources that can be leveraged.

• Free, untested components can carry reliability or security risks. It is best

to start with Microsoft-provided tools such as the “Fantastic 40” custom

application templates.

• Consider third-party providers of custom SharePoint components –

licensing a Web part from one of these vendors is often much less costly

than trying to build it yourself. The leading provider of SharePoint-related

products is Bamboo Solutions.

Remember the customization/support tradeoff. Some SharePoint

users have reported that Microsoft is unable to provide full support for

highly customized implementations. Factor in the potential added support

costs when considering customization options.

Content

organization

(29%)

Map it out in detail during the planning phase. Too many companies

have rushed through this critical piece of SharePoint planning, hoping that

the information structure would somehow be resolved in the course of

implementation. Keep in mind that content organization will also affect

reporting; displaced content will result in inaccurate reports. Use

Microsoft’s planning worksheets to define and facilitate the process.

“The biggest

challenge we face

right now is that

the proliferation

has been so great

that there's

poor navigation,

there's poor

design…there's

just sites all over

the place and

there’s information

that is out there

that you don't know

how to access.”

IT Operations

Manager, Education

Learn from your peers’ experiences (continued)

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/sharepoint/bb407286.aspx


http://store.bamboosolutions.com/

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/49cf7edd-14ee-445b-8ab0-1d1339f2435f1033.mspx?mfr=true



SharePoint


End-user

acceptance

(26%)

Train end-users. Among survey respondents who cited end-user acceptance as a

challenge, 44% did not provide formal SharePoint training for end-users. If business users

don’t understand the software or what it can do for them, they won’t use it well, or won’t use

it at all. Microsoft has started to put together a set of self-paced online tutorials for end-

users.

Share success stories. Demonstrate uses and benefits of SharePoint by presenting

miniature case studies – examples of users or departments within the company that have

had positive experiences with SharePoint.

Integration

(25%)

Identify potential integration issues during planning stages. As one would expect,

SharePoint works best in an all-Microsoft environment with version parity across

applications. The average enterprise, however, might be running WSS 3.0 with Office 2000

or a competing productivity suite, with more than one Web browser. Expected functionality,

such as browser-initiated document creation, or in-document check-in, may not be available.

Such an organization should anticipate potential integration limitations as early as possible.

See Microsoft Office and SharePoint Integration Whitepaper.

Documentation

(25%)

Take a targeted approach. Early adopters of MOSS 2007 found documentation on the new

product to be scarce. While that is no longer the case, the sheer volume of information

available makes it difficult to find specific answers. This table can be used as a guide to

online resources: the SharePoint Issue column defines topics covered, while the Mitigation

Steps column contains links to relevant sites or tools.


http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/CR102146081033.aspx





http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=E0D05A69-F67B-4D37-961E-2DB3C4065CB9&displaylang=en



SharePoint


Security

(18%)

Include security considerations in planning and implementation. Refer to the guide to

SharePoint security planning, and follow the recommended configurations.

Upgrade/

Migration

(18%)

Use recommended upgrade plans and checklists. For migration to MOSS 2007, refer to

the e-book Upgrading to Office SharePoint Server 2007.

Executive

buy-in

(15%)

Involve the business from the start. Survey results clearly demonstrate that if the business

plays a more active role in the SharePoint project, there is significantly less chance that

executive buy-in will be a problem.

Maintenance

(13%)

Assign staff to manage SharePoint. Though most companies do not have fully dedicated

SharePoint administrators, many have staff responsible for running SharePoint along with

other systems. It is more efficient to have a single point of contact from a support perspective

as well as for knowledge transfer.


http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/3df68222-235b-45de-82fa-b89166c5c6bd1033.mspx?mfr=true

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/3df68222-235b-45de-82fa-b89166c5c6bd1033.mspx?mfr=true

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/e8493b73-ad1a-4642-8141-05405f0026781033.mspx?mfr=true

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/396c85d9-4b86-484e-9cc5-f6c4d725c5781033.mspx?mfr=true


How is an Implementation Completed?

(Creating the Plan)


Crucial planning and implementation steps

Planning Implementation

~ 45% ~ 55%

1. Make the SharePoint Decision

2. Envision SharePoint

3. Create a Roadmap

4. Consider Complementary Products

5. Budget Requirements

6. Involve the Business

7. Calculate Resource Requirements

8. Organization/Architectural Design

1. Train IT

2. Pilot

3. Customize

4. Test

5. Train End Users

6. Roll-out the Solution

7. Ongoing Considerations

Reported Average

Allocation of Time

Planning and Implementation


Make the SharePoint decision

Over 50% of companies do not conduct a

vendor evaluation prior to choosing

SharePoint as their solution. Reasons

include:

• Standardization on .Net means ease of

implementation and maintenance

• The low total cost of ownership (TCO)

drives companies to pilot and test easily,

without the need for budget approval

• End users are already acclimated to using

the Microsoft suite of applications

“Sure we could implement SharePoint quickly but

we also wanted it to have good power as a portal so

at first we were initially concerned about Microsoft

SharePoint. However, because we started looking

and comparing, we actually had a Microsoft Partner

come in and show us the strength of SharePoint

and what you could do if you really did start to

customize it and really work with it to its maximum

and work in MOSS. We saw a few demos from IBM

and we ended up going with SharePoint mainly

because we are a Microsoft shop.”

Director of Training and Communications, Financial

Services

SharePoint Decision

?

More @infotech.com It's Official: .NET

Roasts Java's Beans

# of Other Vendors Compared

None

(54%)

5+ vendors

(1%)

4 Vendors

(3%)

3 Vendors

(8%)

2 Vendors

(19%)

1 Vendor

(15%)

http://www.infotech.com/Research/Notes/ITAP/ItsOfficialdotNETRoastsJavasBeans.aspx?PublicationNumber=07914612-42A9-469E-8F50-E156425FF7DA&SubCenter=A11A96E8-AD19-46D0-930D-1B791C5AFA25&referredFrom=searchEngine

http://www.infotech.com/Research/Notes/ITAP/ItsOfficialdotNETRoastsJavasBeans.aspx?PublicationNumber=07914612-42A9-469E-8F50-E156425FF7DA&SubCenter=A11A96E8-AD19-46D0-930D-1B791C5AFA25&referredFrom=searchEngine


Make the Services versus Server decision

“Free is easy to sell to

management and when

free is good enough, it’s

hard to go in and ask for

money for an upgrade.”

IT Director, Manufacturing

Companies unsure of the business case for MOSS should pilot with WSS first.

“If you look at the

features of WSS 3.0 and

then MOSS 2007- there

is workflow capabilities

there, we didn’t have

before and we wanted it.

We wanted the portal

features. We wanted

the better searching.”

Web Services, Wholesale

Component Services (WSS) Server (MOSS)

Technology Adoption

Strategy

Conservative Mainstream to Leading Edge

Collaboration Yes Yes

Content Management Limited Yes

Search Functionality Limited Yes

Portal Functionality No Yes

Business Forms No Yes

Business Intelligence No Yes

Ease of

Implementation/ Use

Simple Moderate to Complex

Cost Low Medium to High

SharePoint Decision

Use the SharePoint Decision

Tool to guide you in making the version decision

Companies can use the following chart to determine

which version of SharePoint is of best fit.


Develop the SharePoint vision

Planning is a crucial phase in any SharePoint project; do not

underestimate its importance.

• Allot time: the average time spent planning is 4 months,

while implementation time is 4.5 months.

• Engage with the end users to determine exactly what

their needs are in order to create a master scope

document.

• Choose a group of users that are willing to participate in

the pilot.

• Ensure proper governance of the overall SharePoint

vision and site design. Give users the ability to control

their content, while maintaining oversight of the entire

model to ensure structure.

• If MOSS is on the long-term roadmap, consider that

upper management will need to approve the

expenditure.

Prior to moving ahead with a SharePoint implementation, a company must develop a long-term

vision for SharePoint. Solicit feedback from the users to ensure it is meeting their needs, while

ensuring governance over site design.

Envision SharePoint

“We had an executive steering

team, who pretty much outlined

what it is that they wanted to see.

Now of course the IT folks had

supported that outline by saying,

here's the topics, here are the

questions, here are the issues

etc. The executive steering team

would sit down with that and

then they had a user team down

below the executive steering

team who would actually go to

discussions about the details for

the implementation.”

CIO, Business Services


Create a roadmap for success

WSS

MOSS

A SharePoint implementation is not a “set it and forget it” type of affair. Trying to do too much all at once will increase the likelihood of failure. Taking a phased approach helps ensure design success and end-user acceptance.

Create a Roadmap

Phase 0:

Pilot

Phase 1:

Core Functions

Phase 2:

Advanced

Functions

Phase 3:

External Functions

End End End

Phase 0:

Pilot

Phase 1:

Core Functions

End

Upgrade to

MOSS


Create the WSS roadmap

Phase 1: Core

Functions

Phase 0: Pilot

The first phase in any SharePoint deployment is to pilot the product within a department

(eg. IT) or user group (eg. power users). This will help identify areas for improvement and

provide valuable information that will ensure the roll-out is a success. Some

organizations choose to pilot with WSS prior to purchasing MOSS. In these cases, it is

an incremental approach where you build, test, deploy, and then build more over time.

Due to the limited functions available with WSS, it is reasonable for an organization to

deploy all of them at once after conducting a pilot. Although this generally takes less time

than a full-blown MOSS deployment, the same process steps are followed (as outlined in

this section).

There are two key phases involved with a WSS deployment, detailed below.

Once WSS has been deemed a success, the organization should evaluate whether upgrading to MOSS will provide a positive return on investment.

If an organization is going directly to MOSS, these two phases can be skipped.

Create a Roadmap


Create the MOSS roadmap

Phase 3: External

Functions

Phase 2: Advanced Functions

Phase 1: Core

Functions

Phase 0: Pilot

Even if the organization is already running WSS, it is still important to pilot MOSS within

a user group. The number of enhanced features is significant, and certainly warrants

soliciting end-user feedback to evaluate the product’s viability.

Attempting to implement all of the six functionalities at once is not a best practice. Users

will be overwhelmed and acceptance will be poor. Start with the core or immediate needs

first, such as the Collaboration, Portal, Content Management, or Search functionalities.

Once SharePoint has been deemed a success, the organization should consider

expanding its functionality portfolio in order to take full advantage of the platform. Many

companies look to add Business Forms and Business Intelligence. However, for

companies that have separate tools for these functions or no need for them, this phase

may be skipped.

The final phase for any SharePoint project is to deploy externally facing functions. This

step must come last as it requires further refinement of the look and feel of the platform,

which will be easier when developers and users are more familiar with the product.

Furthermore, this gives the organization time to build user acceptance – you don’t want

to launch something for clients and then find afterwards that the end users are resisting

the solution.

Create a Roadmap


Consideration of complementary products

The following products have been known to integrate well with SharePoint.

Many companies are considering Microsoft Office 2007 sooner rather than later due to

the added capabilities between Office 2007 and the current versions of SharePoint.

Consider Complementary Products

Adoption of Complementary Products

8%

11%

12%

34%

24%

13%

24%

7%

8%

5%

8%

7%

11%

4%

6%

11%

9%

7%

11%

25%

20%

31%

33%

24%

32%

35%

33%

59%

40%

38%

30%

25%

19%

12%

23%

30%

25%

65%

70%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Microsoft ForeFront Security

Microsoft Office Groove

Microsoft BizTalk Server

Microsoft Excel Services

Microsoft InfoPath 2007

Microsoft Visual Studio 2005

Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer

Microsoft Exchange 2007

Microsoft Office 2007

Currently Using Currently Implementing Planning Stage Considering/ Evaluating No Plans


Budgeting

The cost of a SharePoint implementation, including licenses, consultants, and hardware additions or upgrades, varies greatly among enterprises. The single greatest differentiator is the version of SharePoint: SharePoint Services (WSS) implementations had an average cost of $36 per user, while the average for versions of SharePoint Server (SPS or MOSS) was $704 per user.

For each version, costs are largely dependent on implementation size, licensing agreements, degree of customization, and use of consultants or third-party providers.

Cost Breakdown: SharePoint Server

Licenses

(34%)

Hardware

(16%)

Consultants

(50%)

Budget

Use the SharePoint Decision

Tool to produce quick cost estimates based on business

needs and the IT environment.

Cost Breakdown: SharePoint Services

Licenses

(0%)

Hardware

(55%)

Consultant

(45%)


Budgeting

License pricing for current products is listed below (source: Microsoft Office Online)

To determine the license costs for any of Microsoft Volume Licensing Programs,

please use the following Microsoft License Advisor.

Product Microsoft’s Estimated Price

Server Software

Office SharePoint Server 2007 $4,424

Office SharePoint Server 2007 for Search Standard $8,213

Office SharePoint Server 2007 for Search Enterprise $57,670

Office Forms Server 2007 $4,424

Client Access Licenses (CALs)

Office SharePoint Server 2007 Standard CAL $94

Office SharePoint Server 2007 Enterprise CAL

(must be purchased in addition to Standard CAL, not instead) $75

Office Forms Server 2007 CAL $54

Office SharePoint Designer 2007 $187

Budget

http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/mlahome.mspx


Business involvement Consult business units on key decisions in the SharePoint project. Among enterprises that

reported strong business buy-in for the initiative, the highest proportion of respondents consulted business users to keep them involved in the process.

Most companies using a version of SharePoint Server (SPS or MOSS) had a greater degree of business involvement, generally consulting business users during the process or making them responsible for parts of it.

Most companies using a version of SharePoint Services (WSS) had a lower degree of business involvement. One fifth of them did not involve the business at all in the SharePoint initiative.

Business Involvement

Degrees of Involvement

1. Not involved: Excluded from project

2. Informed: Communication of relevant

items/progress

3. Consulted: Asked to provide input

4. Accountable: Key participant

5. Responsible: Overall

leadership/ultimate ownership

20%

32%34%

8%6%

8%

19%

44%

16%12%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

1 - Not involved 2 - Informed 3 - Consulted 4 - Accountable 5 - Responsible

Services Server


Resourcing

Most organizations allocate limited resources to the project – two to three full time equivalents.

The largest proportion of the effort in implementing SharePoint comes from internal IT staff rather

than outside resources.

There is little difference in the mix of resources used for a Services implementation versus a

Server implementation. The big differences between the two are in the total duration and

complexity of the project.

Resourcing

58%

62%

18%

22%

24%

16%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

SharePoint

Services

SharePoint Server

IT staff 3rd party MS Partner


Organization/Architecture

Organization/Architecture

As mentioned previously, this critical component of SharePoint planning cannot be overlooked.

Refer to the resources cited in the in the Pitfalls section to ensure critical considerations are

covered.

My Sites

Projects & Workspaces

Advanced

Division Portals

Groups and Teams

Central

Portal

Planning overall site design is crucial in ensuring ease of use and end user acceptance.

Without proper organizational design, a

SharePoint site can easily become a collection of

disorganized sites. Follow these steps to ensure

proper design:

• Ensure you create a sitemap that outlines the

overall structure.

• Each of the five sections of the pyramid make

up a taxonomic section. Define characteristics

and owners for each. Start at the top and work

your way down as you build the site design.

• Determine how users will navigate through the

site.

• Plan how search will be configured.


IT training Slightly more than half of the companies surveyed relied on a single training method to

familiarize IT with SharePoint, while the other 47% used multiple methods.

The most common method by far was self-study. Depending on the degree of business buy-in for the SharePoint project, budget limitations often require that IT forego formal training and learn as they go.

Many companies choose to take advantage of onsite training led by Microsoft, which is usually offered free of charge.

Type of training provided Percentage

Self-taught 65%

Online tutorials 26%

Training led by Microsoft Partner 24%

Training led by third party 23%

Previous experience 19%

Onsite training led by Microsoft 11%

IT Training

“It was the instructor that made the

training. We did so much beyond

what was in the book and that is what

made the training very valuable. If

they just followed the book, then

there would not have been a whole

lot of use that would have come out

of it. We did get a lot out of it, while

working with the instructor.

Director, IT Applications,

Pharmaceuticals

Although self study is the most commonly used method of training, IT learning curve was the

biggest challenge reported by interviewees. In order to mitigate this challenge, alternate training

methods should be considered.


Pilot

Many enterprises begin their SharePoint initiative

with a pilot – a small, controlled SharePoint

implementation to assess its capabilities,

integration, and potential.

Some use WSS for the pilot to evaluate whether

or not adoption of the full server solution is

warranted.

Others build a small site using MOSS, intending

to extend the implementation in terms of scale as

well as functionality once everyone involved is

familiar and satisfied with the solution.

“We used it as a pilot,

to see if it was going to

be a useful product. It

seemed to work out

pretty well, and then in

the IT department we

started to use it for a

few different things.”

IT Director, Manufacturing

Pilot

Beware of the pilot that grows uncontrolled into an enterprise-wide implementation. A high

degree of end-user interest or pressure can lead to a hasty roll-out and disorganized content (see

Pitfalls section).

?

For more information on pilot implementations, please see the Info-Tech Advisor note “Pilot

Implementations: The Primer.”

http://www.infotech.com/ITA/Research Centers/Project Management/Project Planning/PilotImplementationsThePrimer.aspx

http://www.infotech.com/ITA/Research Centers/Project Management/Project Planning/PilotImplementationsThePrimer.aspx


Customization

Though SharePoint users often complain about the out-of-the-box look, more than a quarter of enterprises surveyed worked only with existing SharePoint templates and did not require customization.

Of the respondents who did need to customize, more than half reported a need for multiple forms of customization work.

Type of customization required Percentage

Site design 36%

Modifying Web parts to fit business processes 31%

Personalization of sites 30%

None 27%

Development of custom Web parts 25%

Customization

“We used the out of the

box solution and the

initial deployment was

using all the standard

templates and tools

available. Over time we

have added some

additional capabilities

that aren’t that easy

right out of the box.”

IT Director, Utilities

Customization is usually resource-intensive, and often an unending task. Prioritize ruthlessly to

determine where custom work is truly necessary.

?

Looking for tools to ease the customization process? See: “Fantastic 40” custom application

templates.




End-user training

Most of the companies surveyed relied on a single training

method to familiarize end users with SharePoint, while

36% used multiple methods.

The most common method was training led by IT staff.

Nearly one-third of companies did not provide formal

training in SharePoint to end-users.

Type of training provided Percentage

IT-led training sessions 53%

No formal training – self-taught 32%

Quick-start guides 26%

Online tutorials 14%

External training sessions 8%

HR-led training sessions 5%

End-user Training

“We gave half an hour of

training to everybody, to show

them the main areas of it, and

we gave a half day of training

to the super users. The super

users have come back for half

day training or full day

training, depending on what

they are doing and interested

in. The average user has had

a very brief introduction, and

the super user, depending on

how and what they do, has

had anything between half a

day minimum up to about

three days.”

IS Manager, Public

Administration

Companies that initially omitted end-user training sometimes found the need to add this step to

increase acceptance and maximize the utility of the solution.


Roll-out & Testing

When executing any major software deployment, detailed checklists are invaluable.

One MSDN blog on SharePoint issues is a veritable gold mine of deployment

resources.

For those migrating from an older version of SharePoint, the upgrade e-book

mentioned in the Pitfalls section will also be helpful.

Management/Administration

As discussed earlier, on-going maintenance of SharePoint is not widely regarded

as a major challenge, but most enterprises find it beneficial to designate one or

more staff members as SharePoint administrators (often not a full-time

responsibility).

Roll-out & Testing

Management

Enterprises come to realize that SharePoint is not a product that can be left alone after

deployment. Due to the scope and complexity of the solution, implementations tend to grow over

time, and IT will need to allocate resources to manage that growth.

http://blogs.msdn.com/joelo/archive/2007/01/22/sharepoint-deployment-and-provisioning-checklists.aspx


Key Conclusions


Companies are happy with SharePoint More than three-quarters of SharePoint users surveyed were either satisfied or very satisfied with

the solution in each of the areas listed in the chart below.

The number of respondents who chose “very satisfied” outnumbered those who chose “dissatisfied” in every category except Microsoft support, which is a pitfall to watch for, as mentioned in the pitfalls section.

Feedback

12%

18%

21%

25%

23%

25%

29%

25%

32%

65%

64%

62%

62%

64%

63%

59%

65%

60%

20%

17%

15%

13%

12%

10%

11%

8%

7%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Microsoft support

Ease of customization

Ease of administration

Ease of Deployment

Integration

End user acceptance

Total cost of ownership

End user experience

Functionality

Very satisfied Satisfied Dissatisfied Very dissatisfied


Key conclusions and recommendations

Conclusions

SharePoint’s rapid adoption has taken off

SharePoint’s momentum has been in part due to the low cost of deployment of both WSS and MOSS.

Most organizations that have had a positive experience with WSS are evaluating MOSS for the future.

All organizations should assess their fit with SharePoint

SharePoint is the one platform that addresses a wide range of business needs: Collaboration, Portal, Enterprise

Search, Content Management, Business Forms, and Business Intelligence.

If your organization’s needs can be met with Services, adopt WSS first and evaluate MOSS afterwards.

If your organization sees value in the entire platform, consider starting with MOSS.

Benefits have been readily realized in companies of all sizes and industries. Both IT and end users have reported

saving time, and changing the way they work in a way that increases the value that they provide to the business.

Avoid common challenges experienced by your peers by taking recommended mitigation steps.

Implementation Recommendations

Proper planning and scoping is a crucial step in ensuring end user acceptance.

Do not implement all at once - take a phased approach. Create a roadmap with key milestones.

Your total cost to implement is largely influenced by version and whether or not third party support is used.

Info-Tech recommends informing or consulting with the business during the implementation.

Provide IT staff involved in the project with training to mitigate the steep IT learning curve.

Pilot the implementation within a group of users to identify areas for improvement.

SharePoint is a constantly evolving platform. Evaluate successes and continue to build on them.


The Future of SharePoint

Product Roadmap

Service Pack 1 for WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007

WSS SP1 and MOSS SP1 are now available and include:

Support for Windows Server 2008 and Internet Information Services (IIS) 7

ASP.NET AJAX compatibility and support

New operations and properties for the Stsadm command line tool

Over 60 hotfixes

For more information on SP1 for WSS, see Windows SharePoint Services SP1

For more information on SP1 for MOSS, see Office SharePoint Server 2007 SP1

For installation steps, see the SharePoint Products and Technologies SP1 Resource Center.

Future Versions

Future versions of SharePoint and related products are tightly under wraps, but Microsoft

representatives assert that the two-tiered structure (SharePoint Services vs. SharePoint Server)

will be maintained, and Services will continue to be offered together with Windows Server

software for no additional fees.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=4191A531-A2E9-45E4-B71E-5B0B17108BD2&displaylang=en

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=AD59175C-AD6A-4027-8C2F-DB25322F791B&displaylang=en

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=105672&clcid=0x409

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=105673&clcid=0x409

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sharepointserver/bb735839.aspx


Case Studies


Case Study: WSS Fits the Bill

Case Studies

IMPLEMENTATION PROFILE

Total Users 100 SharePoint Version WSS 3.0

Industry Utility Implementation Status Currently using

Functions

Required

Content management

Collaboration

Search

Costs

Licenses Hardware Consultants

$0 $3,500 (new server) N/A

“We put SharePoint

Services out there first

to see how the

employees would take

to it. Services pretty

much does what we

want it to. Some of the

server features are

nice at this point – but I

don’t think we will be

using it.”

Director of IS

OUTCOME OVERALL EXPERIENCE

Benefits

Time savings (IT and business)

Improved communication and

collaboration

Streamlined workflows

This state utility organization needed an internal collaboration solution,

and implemented WSS as a pilot. As the solution filled a gap in

business needs, end-user acceptance was rapid and strong.

WSS meets the organization’s collaboration needs, and provides

additional functionality (content management and search) to be

explored. Decision-makers see no need to upgrade to MOSS. Challenges

Site design – customizing the user

interface to eliminate the “bland

look”


Case Study: On the Migration Path

Case Studies


Total Users 800 SharePoint Version SPS 2003

Industry Financial Services Implementation Status Currently using;

migrating to MOSS 2007

Functions

Required

Portal (internal)

Content management

Collaboration

Search

Business forms

Costs


$20,000 N/A N/A

“We’ve matured in

the use of the

technology, and now

the business is

starting to look at

how can I go beyond

what I’m already

doing?”

IT Director


Benefits

IT time savings: eliminated need for

Webmaster

Empowered business users to

control content

Increased collaboration and

communication among teams

This financial services firm needed a portal solution for the corporate

intranet. SharePoint was initially implemented as a stopgap solution,

but users and decision-makers found it to be good enough to be

established as a permanent solution.

The decision to move to MOSS 2007 stems from the desire to extend

the scope and complexity of the SharePoint implementation, and to

maintain the practice of using current versions of software. Challenges

Integration issues due to mixed-

platform environment: single sign-on

impossible for remote access from

locked-down office


Case Study: MOSS in Action

Case Studies


Total Users 150 SharePoint Version MOSS 2007

Industry Professional sports Implementation Status Currently using

Functions

Required

Portal (internal)

Content management

Collaboration

Business forms

Business intelligence

Costs


$40,000 N/A N/A

“Microsoft always made

it seem like you could

just magically post

something to the

intranet, and it never

worked out that way.

SharePoint is the first

time they’ve had any

integration with their

Office products that

seemed to work well.”

Network Engineer


Benefits

Improved communication and

collaboration among users

IT time savings: end-users self-

publish to intranet without IT

involvement

This professional athletic organization wanted a solution to facilitate

the internal dissemination of information and improve collaboration

within and among departments. Because of existing licensing

agreements with Microsoft, the organization was able to pilot SPS

2003 with minimal costs.

Having successfully upgraded to MOSS 2007, the organization is

looking to use the solution to its full potential, recruiting all six of its

functional components.

Challenges

Site organization

Aligning with enterprise security

standards

Difficulty finding documentation on

advanced topics


Case Study: Large-Scale MOSS Implementation

Case Studies


Total Users 500,000 SharePoint Version MOSS 2007

Industry Education Implementation Status Currently using

Functions

Required

Portal (internal and external)

Content management

Collaboration

Business forms

Costs Licenses & Services/Consultants Hardware

$3,000,000 $500,000


Benefits

Increased availability and

centralization of information

Standardized look and feel across

school sites

User-friendly interface for students

and parents

This school district was looking for a platform on which to build its

internal and external portals. Decision-makers compared IBM

WebSphere and MS Office SharePoint Server and chose the latter

because of the much higher functionality-to-cost ratio. The

SharePoint portal is well on its way to becoming the single, central

point of communication for all faculty, staff, students, and parents

throughout the district. Challenges

Lack of familiarity with the platform

Lack of training from MS prior to

2007

Troubleshooting a complex

integrated environment

“The portal is a very user-friendly way for

parents to see information on

students and for students to

communicate with the teachers without

having to go to their office to get the information.”

IT Director

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