Book Review - SharePoint Roadmap for Collaboration: Using SharePoint to Enhance Business Collaboration by Michael Sampson
Category Book Review Michael Sampson SharePoint Roadmap for Collaboration: Using SharePoint to Enhance Business Collaboration
I find it very hard *not* to find a business these days who isn't considering (or already using) Microsoft's SharePoint collaboration software. It's the newest "shiny toy" when it comes to collaboration, and often people think that it will solve all the problems that vex organizations these days. But the reality is that it's not about the software, it's about the people. Unless your people are ready to embrace a culture of collaboration, then nothing in the technical arena will make it better.
Michael Sampson, an expert in the collaboration field (and someone I count as a friend), addresses this in his latest book SharePoint Roadmap for Collaboration: Using SharePoint to Enhance Business Collaboration. Based on his countless interactions with organizations involved in implementing SharePoint as well as other collaboration offerings, he looks at the strengths and weakness of the software package, the culture that enables one to get the most value out of it, and how best to plan a successful rollout. This book differs from most other SharePoint books on the market in that Michael doesn't go into any details on how to install or configure the package. Instead, he stays firmly on the "soft-skill" ground, which is actually where most implementations live and die. If you think this is an IT project along the lines of "if you build it, they will come", you're in for a rude awakening.
Contents:
Chapter 1: Your Roadmap to SharePoint
Chapter 2: Frameworks for Enhancing Collaboration
Chapter 3: Evaluating SharePoint for Collaboration
Chapter 4: Governance Structure, Process, and Themes
Chapter 5: Engaging the Business
Chapter 6: User Adoptions Strategy
Chapter 7: Collaboration Quick-Start
Chapter 8: Conclusion and Next Actions
The aspect of this book that I like the most is Michael's honesty and candor in evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of SharePoint. He uses a framework called "The 7 Pillars Model for Team Collaboration" that outlines what collaboration in an organization is and how it should work. These pillars, such as shared access to team data, location independent access, and team-aware calendaring, can be used to evaluate *any* collaboration solution to determine what should and should not be expected once the software is installed and working. Since Michael is independent from any vendor influence, he can honestly view software offerings without trying to "sell" something. In his model, SharePoint passes on three of the pillars and fails the other four. Some of these shortcomings (and even some of the passes) can be mitigated with 3rd party offerings, but he also points out the risks of deciding to go that route (compatibility with upgrades, future enhancements from Microsoft, vendor stability, etc). When you get done reading this chapter (and the whole book in general), you have a much more realistic idea of what to expect from SharePoint than you'd get from some business partner or vendor who is trying to make a sale. Couple this with his observations and guidance on how best to introduce SharePoint to an organization, and you have an extremely valuable book that will more than pay for itself before you ever download a single byte of software.
For any organization looking to hop on the SharePoint bandwagon, I would strongly suggest this be a prerequisite reading requirement. If you've been getting the vendor hard-sell on the wonders of SharePoint, this will provide a more realistic view of its strengths and weaknesses. And if you're committed to going down that path, you'll be able to check your expectations and planning against Michael's advice gleaned from seeing many collaboration projects fail due to unrealistic expectations.
Disclosure:
Obtained From: Author
Payment: Free
I find it very hard *not* to find a business these days who isn't considering (or already using) Microsoft's SharePoint collaboration software. It's the newest "shiny toy" when it comes to collaboration, and often people think that it will solve all the problems that vex organizations these days. But the reality is that it's not about the software, it's about the people. Unless your people are ready to embrace a culture of collaboration, then nothing in the technical arena will make it better.
Michael Sampson, an expert in the collaboration field (and someone I count as a friend), addresses this in his latest book SharePoint Roadmap for Collaboration: Using SharePoint to Enhance Business Collaboration. Based on his countless interactions with organizations involved in implementing SharePoint as well as other collaboration offerings, he looks at the strengths and weakness of the software package, the culture that enables one to get the most value out of it, and how best to plan a successful rollout. This book differs from most other SharePoint books on the market in that Michael doesn't go into any details on how to install or configure the package. Instead, he stays firmly on the "soft-skill" ground, which is actually where most implementations live and die. If you think this is an IT project along the lines of "if you build it, they will come", you're in for a rude awakening.
Contents:
Chapter 1: Your Roadmap to SharePoint
Chapter 2: Frameworks for Enhancing Collaboration
Chapter 3: Evaluating SharePoint for Collaboration
Chapter 4: Governance Structure, Process, and Themes
Chapter 5: Engaging the Business
Chapter 6: User Adoptions Strategy
Chapter 7: Collaboration Quick-Start
Chapter 8: Conclusion and Next Actions
The aspect of this book that I like the most is Michael's honesty and candor in evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of SharePoint. He uses a framework called "The 7 Pillars Model for Team Collaboration" that outlines what collaboration in an organization is and how it should work. These pillars, such as shared access to team data, location independent access, and team-aware calendaring, can be used to evaluate *any* collaboration solution to determine what should and should not be expected once the software is installed and working. Since Michael is independent from any vendor influence, he can honestly view software offerings without trying to "sell" something. In his model, SharePoint passes on three of the pillars and fails the other four. Some of these shortcomings (and even some of the passes) can be mitigated with 3rd party offerings, but he also points out the risks of deciding to go that route (compatibility with upgrades, future enhancements from Microsoft, vendor stability, etc). When you get done reading this chapter (and the whole book in general), you have a much more realistic idea of what to expect from SharePoint than you'd get from some business partner or vendor who is trying to make a sale. Couple this with his observations and guidance on how best to introduce SharePoint to an organization, and you have an extremely valuable book that will more than pay for itself before you ever download a single byte of software.
For any organization looking to hop on the SharePoint bandwagon, I would strongly suggest this be a prerequisite reading requirement. If you've been getting the vendor hard-sell on the wonders of SharePoint, this will provide a more realistic view of its strengths and weaknesses. And if you're committed to going down that path, you'll be able to check your expectations and planning against Michael's advice gleaned from seeing many collaboration projects fail due to unrealistic expectations.
Disclosure:
Obtained From: Author
Payment: Free
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