SharePoint Planning a Necessity

“…There’s this huge demand for SharePoint resources and a total lack of supply.” The lack in this case means developers, but in this interview of the founder of the Washington DC SharePoint Users Group, Gary Blatt, IT pros looking for new opportunities might also find something to chew on.

Putting aside the article’s mildly condescending attitude towards IT pros (James Turner on SharePoint installations: “My experience in a few of the places I've worked is it's essentially plopped down by ITs…”) and its developer-centric view (Blatt on the need for developers in SharePoint: “…I go to my user group meetings and you meet people from many different federal agencies that are like, "Well, we have the license for SharePoint, but we don't have anybody to execute it for us or help us with it") —it confirms SharePoint as a hot technology, especially for those who are looking to redefine themselves career-wise, whether IT pro or developer.

One of the flaws Blatt sees in SharePoint is precisely why it’s so hot: its flexibility, which he says gives a false sense of confidence to organizations: “…they go, "Well, we don't need the developer. We don't need any design. I don't need any governance. I can just get my admins to install this product and I'll point-and-click my way through it.” He adds, “But as somebody that gets called in to clean up those messes frequently, I can tell you that lack of planning is definitely a major issue.”

Hey, IT pros can plan with the best of them. Next to plopping down stuff, and pointing and clicking, that's one of their favorite things to do.

And here’s a start: the SharePoint Governance Checklist Guide. Wouldn’t it have been great if Microsoft had built in planning guides and governance best practices into SharePoint 2010? But then there would be no need to hire consultants to clean up SharePoint messes. Oh snap.

[Semi-]Related Reading:

• SharePoint FAQs
• SharePoint Server 2007 Unleashed