Visit My Sponsors - SharePointAds







Easily Secure SharePoint Documents
Based on Metadata. By Titus Labs.



 Hottest Content

 Latest on Top 100 SharePoint Blogs
 Top SharePoint Storage Resources
 SharePoint Key Capacity Planning Resources
 SharePoint Podcasts, Screencasts, and Videos
 What NOT to store in SharePoint
 Hot Debate: Custom Site Definitions
 Disaster Recovery and Backup/Restore Resources
 Looking for SharePoint Speakers - Joel's Session List
 Free Blog Widget Site Search Components
 RealTime Twitter SharePoint League Stats
SharePoint Joel's SharePoint Land > Posts > Crawl before you RUN, Newbie to SharePoint Rockstar
Crawl before you RUN, Newbie to SharePoint Rockstar
In my recent Governance talks I've been pushing a concept similar to the idea of Baby steps or crawling before you run.  Essentially the idea is you need to start with an out of the box SharePoint deployment that isn't changing before you roll it out.  The way to accomplish this is with pilot deployments and with staged deployments so you can get comfortable with moving parts.  Using MOF and implementing change control boards to review change is another way to "get use to" things as they roll out.  Product support has run into environments that are so unlike SharePoint they are asked to backup and restore what's left of their databases into a clean environment, and have even heard that that wasn't enough.  They were asked to simply move the content through web folders or map drives and copy content across to a new environment.  Sad.
 
SharePoint Rockstar
 
Newbie: As a newbie to SharePoint you need to get use to the lists, libraries, settings and features out of the box.
 
Teen: After you learn the basics of out of the box features, you can move into basic extensibility and integration with AD with stuff like My sites and profiles.  Indexing content outside of SharePoint and using basic workflows and content approval.  You know that teens think they know everything.  Be cautious about this.
 
Tween: Love the term, but essentially as you move up the ranks and get comfortable with what you can do excersizing the enterprise features of the product is definitely now within reach.  Building KPIs, Excel Dashboards, pushing the reports and integration with other Microsoft products is definitely within reach.  Now is the time to learn the limits to variations and more WCM.  Starting earlier will cause some heartburn.  Buying third party products to build solutions on SharePoint is a good idea to extend the platform while achieving scale and supportability.
 
Rockstar: Line of Business integration and full solutions deployment on SharePoint is where your comfort level is.  To show your a rockstar it's proof in the pudding that you won't ever approach this without a separate dev environment at a minimum.  Virtualization of multiple environments for pushing out service packs and change management boards are common practice.  ITIL and MOF considerations are how you analyze risk and service management.  The true IT SharePoint Rockstar owns their environment and believes it is their baby.  They also realize that SharePoint is becoming the heart and soul for achieving what the business needs are and what they will be.

Comments

Great Visualization

SharePoint has so much functionality and it's hard to know how much you don't know when you start. I like the use of this metaphor, because the fact can't be emphasized enough.
at 9/12/2008 3:43 PM

Humming the same tune

Joel, it's great to see someone thinking along the same lines. I recently wrote an article for SharePoint Mag run by Arno Nel.

http://sharepointmagazine.net/news/analysis/leveraging-the-sharepoint-platform-part-2

I like the 'Rockstar' approach, clearly you're a Jimi Hendrex of the SharePoint World!
at 9/14/2008 1:47 AM

Add Comment

 Social Comments

Post Comments to your Facebook Profile Post comments to twitter or on SharePointJoel.com
blog comments powered by Disqus
Share

Blog (RSS)

Follow on Networked Blogs Facebook

Recent Comments

Powered by Disqus
Subscribe by Email or RSS

Contact me

 20 Recent Posts

The Great Virtualization Debate: What to do? SharePoint 2010 for LaptopsUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
SharePoint 2010 Better Together with SQL 2008 R2 Database Enhancements Top 10Use SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
SharePoint 2010 Upgrade Insight SeriesUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
10 Reasons your CIO should NOT block Social NetworkingUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Understanding Feature and Code Depreciation for Upgrade to SharePoint 2010Use SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Free SharePoint Reports with No Server InstallUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
How to Remove Corrupted SharePoint Sites – Preparing for SharePoint 2010 UpgradeUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Building SharePoint Latin American CommunityUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
SharePoint Community Unites to Help HaitiUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
SharePoint 2010 Upgrade: Test-SPContentDatabase - Key to Successful UpgradeUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
10 Key Questions Determining SharePoint SQL Server CountUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Best BBQ Across America Challenge: SharePoint Tweetup and SharePintUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Year End Review – SharePoint in 2009Use SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
A Tribute to the Road Warriors - Top 20 Most Travelled SharePoint People in 2009*Use SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Christmas SharePoint Tweetup in DC for Light FestivalUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Announcing Discount, Keynote, and Speakers for SharePoint 2010 @ The Experts Conference 2010Use SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
10 Tips Troubleshooting Installations for SharePoint 2010 and SharePoint FoundationUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Rocky Mountains and Midwest SharePoint Events Next Week! Dec 8-12Use SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Join Me in Denver for SharePoint #ShareFun Bowling, Billiards, Food and Drinks on Dec 8Use SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).
Business Connectivity Services in SharePoint 2010 preserve use of Relational DatabasesUse SHIFT+ENTER to open the menu (new window).