Tuesday, February 3, 2009

What Kind of SharePoint User Are You?

First decide what category of user you fall in to :

  • You need to install SharePoint on the server and manage the environment thereafter. (Network Administrator)
  • You have been tasked to administrate a site collection, (Site Hierarchy Owner) or site, (Site Owner). These roles are also known as Information Workers.
  • You have been given access to Central Admin (the management console) and need to manage the environment from there down. (Super User)
  • You need to research the product to determine if it can work in your company. (Consultant)
  • You want to be a SharePoint developer but have no IT experience, (maybe you are a school or college leaver).
  • You have been doing some research and are aiming to become a SharePoint Architect, (this is where the big bucks are by the way, I’ve heard via the grapevine that some SharePoint Architects can earn R900 per hour! Yikes). But this is a long, hard, expensive learning path. Best you have an aptitude for it before pursuing this.
  • You are interested in becoming a trainer.
  • You need to support users in a Production environment. (Information Worker)
  • You need to go sell SharePoint internally to business or to external clients, (consulting).

No wonder it is so confusing hey. Each of the above roles has different needs, would have to follow a different training path, have very different challenges; as well as having different functionality available to them. That list is by no means set in gold and definitely open to interpretation, but you get the idea.

The size of the company you work for will probably determine your role. If you’re in a small company, you may end up doing all of the above. If you’re in a very large company, you will most likely be allocated a site owner role.

I will try and give tips on where to start for each of the above, but I need to consult some experts first. In the meantime, I will focus on the Site Hierarchy / Site Owner / Information Worker access for now.

No matter where you search for information, one thing is for sure, there is too much of it. I had the same problem when I was first given SharePoint. I Googled it (sorry Microsoft, I love you but I don't like Live.com) - needless to say 24.9 million hits presented me with a problem; TMI (Too Much Information!!) Where do I start? And now just for good measure, here is ANOTHER blog on the subject. *smile*.

If you have never seen SharePoint, why don't you check out Microsoft’s Office Online site so long. You can view a demo there for free.

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