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Migrating a Corporate Intranet to Microsoft SharePoint

By Jen Hocko

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Topics

What is SharePoint? What is MathWorks doing with SharePoint? How is Usability involved? What challenges have we faced? What have we learned? Q&A

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What is SharePoint?

A platform that allows people to:

– Collaborate in a web-based environment

– Build portals

– Search and manage content (CMS)

– Manage business processes (workflows and forms)

– Assemble business intelligence data

– Develop custom modifications to extend functionality

– And more!

Sigh….

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What are we hoping to do with SharePoint?

Consolidating and upgrading collaboration tools

Making users more self-sufficient

Improving findability (searching and browsing)

Creating an infrastructure that will support us for years to come

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How has Usability been involved?

Beyond the initial pilot (a few years ago), we’ve been involved in many different ways.

The model has been to migrate department by department rather than in one fell swoop.

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We’ve designed important internal sites

and evaluated / recommended improvements to those done without us!

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We’ve helped departments develop their IAs

And implement them as Site Hierarchies and different Web Parts in SP.

We’ve also helped align people with a new corporate taxonomy at the global level.

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We’ve advocated for a UCD-based process for moving departments into SP

Acted as “SharePoint Liaisons” (consultants) and trainers

Created templates and tools to ease the migration

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Evaluated and advised on “findability”

Benchmark / interim measures via survey and anecdotal feedback Contributing to the IA of the largest department: Development

Supporting governance efforts:– Designing and

documenting templates for Dept, Team & Project Sites

– Collaborating to ensure content types / metadata will improve searching

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What challenges have we faced?

Here’s a sampling of some of the things that have driven us crazy.

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What challenges have we faced?

Using SharePoint’s OOTB conceptual model vs. customizing to match users’ mental models

Balancing need for governance with user exploration / freedom

Limited training and support resources

Change management and other “people stuff” (re-learning, resistance, competing priorities, underlying organizational dynamics)

Helping people create and manage IA for their departments

Site ownership and maintenance

Balancing good UCD processes with need to get departments into SP in a reasonable timeframe

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What lessons have we learned?

Here’s what you should know if you are about to embark on a project like this.

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What lessons have we learned?

Pick your battles – some things are learnable, others are not. Be involved in and fight for the big, ugly / hairy problems.

Do something with standards up-front – don’t let it be a free for all to start, but don’t come across as too restrictive either.

The best training is hands-on and just-in-time. Focus on making sure people understand the basics before getting fancy.

Highlight the “what’s in it for me?” Overcome resistance through demonstrated value; pay attention to organizational undercurrents.

People must have the vision, skills, resources, and an action plan to implement change successfully. Get and leverage executive sponsorship.

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Q&A