SharePoint Explained:  Solving business problems with SharePoint

Introducing authors John Ross and Nicola Young

In our travels around the SharePoint universe we’ve worked with a number of End Users. Although everyone is different, many things are the same no matter where you go.

Nearly every company has a series of business problems that they hope SharePoint will address but the issue is that many of the people trying to solve the problem aren’t full time SharePoint gurus.  Different companies are often trying to solve the same business problems in SharePoint but don’t know where to begin. With so much SharePoint information, it can be overwhelming to even know where to start. 

This is the first in a regular series of posts focused on solving these common business problems with SharePoint. We’ll start by explaining the scenario and then walk you through the steps of how to implement these solutions.

We hear from many of our clients that they don’t have a lot of time to “mess with SharePoint” and “SharePoint isn’t in their job description.” The goal of this series is to focus on quickly creating value to the business.

Who are we? 

One of the most unique parts about this series is that we are truly writing from the End User perspective. My name is John Ross and I’m a consultant with SharePoint911 and a trainer for the Ted Pattison Group. Prior to working with SharePoint I was a business analyst focused on creating solutions a wide range of companies.

My focus is on End User topics including SharePoint Project Planning, Governance, and Design. Additionally, I’ve co-authored a book with Nicola Young focused on solving business problems with MOSS.  The book is called “MOSS Explained: An Information Workers Deep Dive into MOSS 2007” and should be available sometime in February.

Nicola Young is the second author on this series and is also a consultant with SharePoint911 and a trainer for the Ted Pattison Group where she is the curriculum lead for the Information Worker and SharePoint Designer competencies. Prior to working with SharePoint, she worked in the housing industry selling houses. 

So out of the two of us she definitely knows the end user prospective.  About 3 years ago she needed a career change and decided to start SharePoint911 with her husband, Shane Young.  After spending a year handling the day to day business of the company and spending free time reading and studying SharePoint she emerged as the SharePoint expert we know today. 

Conclusion

This series is designed to solve real world business problems, so if there’s something you want to see please leave a comment and we’ll add it to the list.  If someone else has commented and you like their idea let us know about that too.

That’s it for our introduction and fluff post, from here on out its valuable information only.  Look for a post in a couple days about customizing the I Need To… web part to provide users with quick access to common links without needing to create the long list of links we see on so many sites.

About the Authors

John Ross has more than seven years of experience implementing solutions for clients ranging from small business to Fortune 500 companies and government organizations. He has experience working with all project phases from analysis to implementation and has been involved with a wide range of SharePoint solutions that include public facing Internet sites, corporate intranets, and extranets.

Nicola Young – SharePoint Planning and Design Consultant
Nicola works exclusively with SharePoint technologies. She specializes in information organization and usability. Currently a SharePoint trainer and consultant, her primary focus is on the business applications of the product.

Nicola is the lead author of The Ted Pattison Group’s course SBU201: Business Users Guide to SharePoint Server 2007.  Additionally, she is the co-author of SAB301: Building Enterprise Solutions with SharePoint Server 2007 and SPG301: SharePoint Planning and Governance.