Implementing SharePoint into an enterprise-level organization is no simple task. Sure, on the surface it’s fairly simple — you can get it up and running in a matter of minutes — but there’s a lot that goes into successfully implementing SharePoint. While there are plenty of blog posts dedicated to success, there are few filled with tips on how to fail at SharePoint. In this post, we’ll go through five big ways to sink the SharePoint ship quickly.
- Deploy SharePoint out of the box. This is perhaps the most common mistake for beginning SharePoint users. They believe that since SharePoint can be installed and set up out of the box, that’s the optimal way to get things up and running. If you want to get on the fast track to complete SharePoint implementation failure, this is a great place to start. If you go this route, be prepared for failure.
- Assume that everyone is on board. You’re destined for failure when you assume that everyone within your organization will automatically adopt the new SharePoint system. Put an emphasis on getting as many personnel onboard with SharePoint as possible, but realize that there’s no guarantee that everyone will be as excited about it as you are. So, if you really want to fail, assume that everyone is as gung-ho as you.
- Declare it the end all collaboration solution. Overconfidence is another beautiful recipe for disaster. In the mind of your CTO, SharePoint may be God’s gift to business efficiency, but your team may not be on the same page. In fact, if you really want to fail fast, write very strict SharePoint governance documents that declare it the be all and end all solution for collaboration.
- Demand users change their processes. The nature of enterprise collaboration and data management solutions is that personnel tend to become comfortable and almost immovable when they get used to a platform. The quick way to an all-out mutiny is to demand that all personnel change their business processes. People don’t want to learn a new system to do what they’re already doing, so you won’t see many people using SharePoint if you don’t show them how it’s better than what they were already using.
- Have a weak infrastructure in place. Perhaps the quickest and easiest way to fail is by having a weak IT infrastructure. Having an efficient infrastructure in place will provide dangerous levels of performance that will put the kibosh on your efforts to fail at SharePoint. By all means stay away from powerful, open-source SharePoint hosting providers like Rackspace Hosting. They might just make your life a whole lot easier, and as we all know, easy deployment is the enemy of SharePoint success.
You will fail when you ignore everything that makes for successful, large-scale SharePoint deployment. Many companies are following these tips right down to a T. But if you want to take a break from SharePoint failure, you may want to pay attention to the feedback you’re getting from users within your organization, and have efficient, powerful IT infrastructure in place.
