More news about the Heartland SharePoint Conference

Several weeks ago, I told you about the upcoming Heartland SharePoint Conference on May 15 at the Columbus Conference Center. I hope that most of my readers have already registered for the event. If not, I urge you to do so soon. 

We’ve confirmed some very successful clients who will be joining us to discuss how they effectively used SharePoint 2013 to resolve their business issues. They include representatives from Worthington Industries and Ohio Department of Job and Family Services who have worked with us to improve their productivity and get greater value from their IT investment. If you want to learn how SharePoint 2013 works in the real world, they’re the speakers you don’t want to miss. (I’ll be participating in two presentations: Ohio Department of Job and Family Services in addition to an informative strategy session on SharePoint ROI. Please be sure to introduce yourself if you attend them.) 

This conference is also featuring pros from companies like Microsoft, Dell, Nintex and ICC’s digital ad agency, Clutch, who will be on hand to talk about their solutions and how they can help you perform better. 

Following the keynote address by Steven Caravajal of Microsoft, there will be five tracks for IT and business professionals. You’re sure to find one that matches your specific interests and issues. 

I hope you’ll join me at this free event offered exclusively to qualified IT and business professionals. Lunch and breakfast will be provided compliments of ICC. Space is limited, so book now and you won’t miss out on this annual opportunity to learn more about collaboration and SharePoint. For more information, please visit our website where you can register today.

Exchange Ideas. Share Success. Join me on May 15 at the Heartland SharePoint Conference 2014.

Now that I’m firmly entrenched at ICC, I’m excited to participate in the activities they sponsor to educate the business community about our areas of expertise. One of those events is the Heartland SharePoint Conference that they hold at the Columbus Convention Center downtown. It’s a full day of learning and networking that draws IT and business professionals from major organizations all over the country.

Heartland SharePoint Conference 2014 will feature several tracks of interest to web developers, marketing personnel and others who want to learn more about collaborative solutions. It will also provide information and advice related to:

• Social
• Mobile
• Analytics
• The Cloud

I’ve just learned that Steve Caravajal, Director of Digital Strategy and Architecture at Microsoft Corporation will be the keynote speaker. If you’re like me, you won’t want to miss this presentation.

Please be forewarned that because this is a free event, limited attendance is available onto to qualified IT and business professionals.

I encourage all my blog readers to register today on ICC’s web site.  I look forward to seeing you there!

Mike McNett

The Dynamic Roadmap for SharePoint – Part 2

Part 1 of this 3 part blog series discussed the need for a Roadmap when implementing SharePoint in an organization.  My new Roadmap white paper titled “ICC Roadmap Framework for Business and IT Alignment” broadly discusses the underlying process / framework we use at ICC when working with our customers.  This paper goes into more depth differentiating how our Roadmap differs from many of our competitors.  Our 7-step process includes many facets, but these can be boiled down to three general concepts:

• “Map” the prioritized Business Goals to a set of recommended technical SharePoint solutions
• Ensure that the Roadmap uniquely aligns the Business Goals and technical solutions to a well-developed Governance Plan, User Adoption Plan, Training Plan, and high-level Technical Architecture
• Define ways in which success and benefit can be measured as SharePoint solutions are implemented

Below is a graphic depiction of the steps we use, but feel free to read more in the “ICC Roadmap Framework for Business and IT Alignment” white paper!

Process Overview

 

The Dynamic Roadmap for SharePoint – Part 1

A significant focus of my work since arriving at ICC has been on improving the Roadmap that we use to help our clients in planning how SharePoint can support their business goals.   This work has allowed us to approach the planning in a business-centric manner rather than a technology-centric manner.  Among many other benefits, our Roadmap truly brings together the Business Leaders and the IT Leaders in a manner so that all can understand and appreciate how SharePoint fits into their organization and the benefits that will be gained.

My first Roadmap White Paper titled “Roadmap: The Journey to Business and IT Alignment” has just been published and is available on our ICC White Paper page; hopefully this paper will give you more insight into the importance of Roadmaps to companies considering implementing SharePoint or improving on what they already have.  Other White Papers that I’ll be authoring in the near future will talk at a strategic level about the purpose of these Roadmaps from a business perspective, how our Roadmap differs from other roadmaps out there, the framework / processes used in our Roadmap, and some specifics related to Governance, User Adoption, and Training.

Have fun, enjoy the light reading, and please continue supporting our troops!

 

Mike

Do You Need a SharePoint Road Map? Why yes, I (and you) do!

In a recent post on CMSWire, Chris Wright (@partnerpulse) proposed that organizations do not need a SharePoint roadmap.  The full article proposes that an unstructured approach be taken, essentially one that encourages chaos.  It appears that CMSWire’s discussion board on the topic isn’t posting new comments, so below are my thoughts about that article.

I’m guessing that Chris’s post will “stir up some SharePoint conversations” as noted by CMS’s editor for that article. I strongly disagree with the article’s premise that chaos is the right answer. Perhaps it could work for the smallest of organizations, but that’s about it. There are numerous examples noted in the SharePoint community, research organizations (Gartner, Forrester, etc.), and from my own personal experience that chaos in SharePoint will only invite more chaos. In other words, it will make one’s organization even more chaotic as people try to find information, share information, collaborate with others, etc. A quote from George Santayana comes to mind when I read the article: “Chaos is a name for any order that produces confusion in our minds.” This is probably the last thing an organization needs.

I also believe, however, that the real problem with many roadmaps in use today is that they take the wrong approach – they view the roadmap as a static planning document that is only used at the beginning of a SharePoint project. They create a roadmap that provides them a “shortest path” / “best path” view on how to get to their destination. This can certainly create problems with an organization’s implementation of SharePoint.

The roadmap approach that we take here at ICC is to view it as a very dynamic set of artifacts that can (and should) be changed over the course of the SharePoint implementation. It is more of a guide that allows one to take various excursions from their originally planned route. Our approach encourages organizations to evolve their roadmap as they find other interesting “locations” along their route, or they determine that some of the originally planned “waypoints” in their journey are problematic. By providing some artifacts that are extensible and easily modified to align their SharePoint “journey” to their evolving business goals / needs, they will be more inclined to follow a path towards their ultimate destination: a well-planned, well-architected solution that is aligned against their immediate and future business needs.

Mike McNett
@CIO_Mike