We've all seen the blog posts, tweets and reminiscences, telling tales of how exotic and different SharePoint is from other systems. Difficult to manage, hard to understand, impossible to tame. While these statements do show up in tech circles, it is very common for non-technologists, non-IT folks, to recount them. But are they fair characterizations?

Compounding these issues of course is the complexity of SharePoint as a product. SharePoint is confusing to many primarily because it has so many faces. Just when management and the user community get their hands, heads and keyboards around the concept of the portal and then get acquainted with what Team Sites are someone tips the cart by asking about My Sites, workflows, Records Center, Excel Services, and on and on. 

A few weeks ago I heard several folks at a meeting of a professional organization speaking in an exasperated fashion about being asked to "lock down" SharePoint for records management while simultaneously being asked to "open it up" for collaboration between designers. When I saw heads nodding all across the room it reminded me of the task we have in the SharePoint consulting community to better explain the product and provide quality guidance in how to manage it properly.

Back to the characterization of SharePoint as untamable... However, if site sprawl and document proliferation seems like a different challenge, look no further than the network file share. Server after server and deep folder structures of seemingly endless numbers of files without controls, and unmanaged security where "Oh by the way, you haven't been in that part of the organization for 3 years, so you really shouldn't have access to that any longer" is never heard. Sound a little familiar? 

If you're worried that My Sites can't be controlled, then cast a glance at email in your environment? Do you have a terabyte of PST files, unrestricted inboxes and no policy enforcement? You're actually looking at something very similar.

I'm smiling right now. I see the heads nod out there. But you know what? It can be better. We've helped plenty of folks develop and deploy governance and training in their environments to great success. We know it can be better for those of you that struggle with these issues. Training and a little guidance can go a long way toward lifting the fog and helping you and your user community figure it out.

Drop me a line and we'll see how the folks across our integrated practice lines can help you make it better!