On many discussion lists, information professionals have often wondered how they would successfully develop a SharePoint site in their office. Often replies would go into specific coding or customization methods involved with how to do this. There would also be suggestions of developing SharePoint governance. These are not wrong answers but pieces to a larger puzzle. How are you interpreting the requirements of the organization or department in order to develop a SharePoint site?
What is your specialty when it comes to SharePoint site building? In my opinion, you could first look at your area of expertise. Sy (2010) discussed that you will have to identify your area of expertise or “superpower” before you can start to think about a SharePoint site. Is your position focused on Healthcare records; Financial Management and Sarbanes Oxley transparency; Business Processes; Project Management; Librarians’ Record Management techniques? You must find your “niche” and develop it.
After performing a cursory search through online job descriptions, I found that while you are identifying your subject of expertise in SharePoint, you have to also examine your comfort level in SharePoint. Through Yahoo’s Hotjobs, Monster.com, and WashingtonPost.com, you could see that once you understood what you wanted to use a site on this platform for; you would have to examine your role in developing the SharePoint site. Would you have the expertise to develop a SharePoint site based on the needs of Library Science? The word “library” is not referring to the document and picture libraries within SharePoint. Here, we would be talking about the library where librarians work.
The following is a possible scenario but not all-inclusive. This is just an example to allow you to see how once you have identified your area of expertise, you would then be able to help or perform the development of a SharePoint site.
There could be at least three areas of SharePoint expertise that you could fall into: Architecture; Business Processes; Development. To understand these areas, you could survey your target group. This target group would be the SharePoint users in your organization based on their area of expertise. If you could have them define their areas of expertise and their role with SharePoint site development within your office, you could get a better picture of where you should concentrate. The next choice you would have to decide would be your role in that SharePoint area. The following is a possible breakdown of SharePoint areas and roles:
- Architecture
- Knowledge Manager
- Chief Information Officer
- Business Processes
- SharePoint System Administrator
- SharePoint Project Manager
- Development
- SharePoint Application Developer
- Microsoft SharePoint Applications Programmer
Let’s go back to the basic question of how to successfully develop a SharePoint site in your office. At first, you could have the knowledge attributes in the following generic job description:
Individual must be experienced in SharePoint Server 2007, MOSS, SharePoint 3.0, .NET, .NET Developer, Programmer, Software Developer, and Infrastructure.
Candidate should have 5 years recent experience using C#, .NET, ADO.NET, and ASP.NET; should also have 3 years combined experience with Microsoft Office SharePoint Services (MOSS) 2007 or Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and SharePoint 2003 or Windows SharePoint Services 2.0; BS in Computer Science or related field; MLS in Library and Information Storage and Retrieval Systems.
Minimum requirements of individual would be: Windows server administration experience; Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or business; ten years professional experience required.
Experience desired would be: extensive experience in development and implementation of records management to include use of Microsoft SharePoint; effective client-facing interpersonal skills and be effective acting as liaison between multiple technology groups and representing groups in large-scale meeting; ability to understand and implement knowledge of project management principles and execution with a PMP certification; ability to oversee programming of custom applications to meet dynamic client needs with excellent skills in oral and written communication; having a working knowledge of database management principles and database programming experience (SQL, Access) and a familiarity with information management and other Microsoft Office software such as Visio and MS project.
Through your special focus, for example, Library Science, you could then narrow down the actual role you could play in the development of a SharePoint site. Application of the library science area would relate to your knowledge of SharePoint. Your role could be Chief Information Officer or Knowledge Manager, if you have architecture experience with library science with any of the following knowledge attributes: Tiered systems; Relational database implementation & integration; Internet / legacy system / client-server architectures; Dependencies analysis; Integration exploration; risk management; Document security and governance requirements; Content management; Information architecture; Facet classification; Taxonomy; Graphic user interface technology.
TheBusiness Processes area blended with the library science area of expertise could place you as a SharePoint System Administrator or SharePoint Project Manager with any of the following knowledge attributes of SharePoint: 5+ years with IIS (Internet Information Services); Strong Windows System administration; Configuration and maintenance for three to four separate various sizes of farm SharePoint platforms; Coordinates the efforts of engineers and support staff in the performance of assigned complex projects; 5+ years in providing enterprise content management services on secure data capture, conversion, remote hosting, continuity of operations planning, storage, retrieval, data mining, and analytic services; project management background with a possible PMP certification; Developing and executing training plans and products for client users.
The Development area blended with the library science area of expertise could place you as a SharePoint Application Developer or a Microsoft SharePoint Applications Programmer with any of the following knowledge attributes about SharePoint: Web development using ASP.Net, HTML, AJAX, CSS, and JavaScript; .NET based language (C#, VB.Net); SQL 2005 and SQL Reporting Services; Visual Studio; Security standards and techniques for web applications; Browser-specific compatibility issues; Content Management systems; Windows SharePoint Services (WSS 3.0) and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS 2007); Portals and Collaboration, Content Management, Business Intelligence, Forms and Work Flow, and Enterprise Search SharePoint / .NET Developer; Data Management using SharePoint and .NET technologies; Microsoft Project.
If you know your area of expertise, then your understanding of SharePoint would help you in determining how to develop a SharePoint site. The above mentioned knowledge attributes of an individual with a Library Science area of expertise is not all-inclusive but examples of how you could compare your expertise with your knowledge of SharePoint. Once the comparison is complete, you will be able to determine if you can develop the SharePoint site for your department or your organization. Your comparison could point to you developing the site with a member from the IT Department who may have some of the knowledge attributes that you do not possess.
References
Sy, D.R. (2010). 3 Ways to Accelerate Your SharePoint Career. Retrieved from http://vimeo.com/12874162
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wl/jobs/home
Weldon, L. (2010). SharePoint without Coding: My Notes for Embedding the Librarian. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/SharePoint-without-Coding-Embedding-Librarian/dp/1452821984/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3/187-1194208-1003029