SharePointProjectsRolesand Responsibilities

Prepared For

Baltimore SharePoint Users Group

www.baltimoresug.org
Prepared By

Eric Harlan
PresidentCofounder www.ericharlan.com Thursday, May 15, 2008 Version 1.0

Whatexactlyarewelookingfor?
IhavebeenaskedmanytimesbyrecruitersandaspiringSharePointpeoplealike,Whatarethetypesof RolesthatareneededinaSharePointdeployment,andhowdoIstaff/prepareforthem? Ifyouhavedoneanyinvestigationintothisquestionyouwillknowthatthereareafewmajorpointsto follow,butalotofthesewriteupsdontanswerthisbasicquestioneffectively.Idliketogivethata shottoday.Keepinmind,thisisfrompersonalexperience.IhavebeenapartofquiteafewMOSS deploymentsandhavelearnedagreatdealfromeachone.However,thisisinnowayabsolute,andis openforinterpretationanddiscussion.

WhataretheRoles?
ThisisagreatquestionbecauselikeIsayoften,thetraditionallineshavebeenhighlyblurred.Iwill refrainfromgettingintoalltherolesofaSharePointdeploymentoutbecausesomeofthosequestions shouldbeansweredintheweeksofplanningthatSHOULDleaduptoaSharePointprojectkickoff. Someofwhichinclude,BusinessAnalysts,InformationArchitects,HardwareArchitects,Designers, ProjectManagers,Developers,etc. AsIseeit,therearethreemajorrolesandoneoptionalroleforSharePointnotallareneededatthe sametimeoneveryengagementbutformostnewprojectsmigratingorstandingupanewversionof MOSS/WSSyoushouldhaveallthree. MajorRoles ASharePointAdministrator ASharePointDeveloper ASharePointArchitect

OptionalRole TheSharePointMutt

IllgointodetailoneachoneandhowIthinkeachoneisextremelycriticaltothesuccessofa SharePointdeploymentandaSharePointteamoverall.Also,Illaddthatthehabitationoftheblurred areasinitselfisapotentialcrucialrealm. Ihavereadsimilararticlesandpaperssuggestingthatwhenrecruitersororganizationsseekinga SharePointpersontheyshouldbelookingfortheITSTAR;someonethatcandoitall,orhavetheir handinallthepiecesofSharePoint.Idisagreewiththistoapoint,thereasonisbecauseSharePointasa wholeisaLARGEbeast,butinasenseitsmodularaswell.Ithasmanydifferentcomponentsinteracting withittoperformthetasksofanorganization.Toexpectanorganizationtotakethefinancialburdenof apersonwhoknowsaLOTaboutSharePointisunrealistic.Thosepeopleareextremelyhardtofindand iftheyrefoundhardertolureoutoftheircurrentsweetgig. Ialwaysproposeateameffort;howevertherearesomeexceptionstotheruleinwhichIllhighlight below. BaltimoreSharePointUsersGroup| 2

TheSharePointAdministrator
TheSharePointadministratorhasbecomemuchmorethanitwasinSP2001and2003.The administratorisnow,ofsorts,adeveloper.Asthedefinitionofadeveloperhasstartedtoshiftwith morefullfeaturedCOTSproducts,theAdministratorisbecomingthemasterofhisdomain. AsproductslikeSharePointcomeoutwithGUIaccessibleprogrammingabilitiestheworldofthe Admincontinuestogrow. Caseinpoint,SharePointsBDCorFormServices.Nolongeristheadminrestrictedtocreatingsitesand lists,theyarenowgainingtheresponsibilityofsettingupdatasourcestoexternalapplications,pulling thatdatainandchoosingoneofthehundredsofwaystodisplaythatcontenttotheuser. TosumuptheAdminforSharePoint,he/sheisthegruntinthetrenches.Thepersonwhosetsupand managesservicesrunningintheSharePointEnterprise,creatingnewsitesandlists,installingand manipulatingwebparts,anddoingbackups.OutsidethemoldtheadminiscreatingBDCconnections, managingsharedserviceproviders(SSPs),creatingInfoPathformsandintegratingtheminto SharePoint.Theyshouldalsobemanaginggovernancepolicesandpermissiongroups. TheyshouldknowtheirwayaroundCentralAdministrationfromsearchsettingstocreatingsite collections.HeorsheshouldalsohaveasolidunderstandingofIIS,ActivedirectoryandSTSadm SharePointcommandlineparameters. MostimportantlytheyshouldhaveafirmunderstandingofwhatSharePointcandoOOTB(outofthe box)andwhatitcannotdowithoutmajormanipulation.Theyalsoneedtomanageexpectationsofwhat theirmanagershavesomehowcometobelieveispossiblewithlittleeffortinMOSS07(probablyfroma salescallwitheveryoneonitexceptaSharePointperson). ThesearejustSOMEoftheareasanAdminshouldbefamiliarwithandhaveworkingknowledgeon. ObviouslytherearemanymediumsbetweenforexampleSSPsalonecommandalotofunderstanding.

TheSharePointDeveloper
TheSPDeveloperforthemostparthasremainedthemostunchanged.Theperspectiveofwherethey addresstheirprofessionobviouslyhaschangedwiththenewversionofSharePoint.Forexamplefiles arentlocatedinthe60hiveanymore;theyreinthe12hive.DLLschange,controlschange,ideals changebutthemainmeatofthesubject,DEVELOPMENTstaysintact.Therearehowever,tworolesof thedevelopers. Reallywhattherolesdictateistheimpactontheprojectitself.TheLeadrolegoestodeveloperthat hasthemostknowledgeoftheSharePointAPI.Someonethatcantakeonthemorecomplextaskslike workflowandothersIoutlinedbelow.Thesupportingdeveloperisinnowaylessvaluable,butare moreinclinedtohandlemoretraditionaldeveloperrolessuchaswebparts,eventreceiversetc. Obviouslyifinapinchtheleadrolewouldbemoredesirableifyoucouldonlyhaveoneortheother.

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ASharePointDevelopershouldbewellversedon.NET2/3,windowsworkflowfoundations(WFFaka .Net3).TheDevelopershouldhaveasolidunderstandingofC#andorVB.netandasolidunderstanding oftheSharePointAPIasawhole.BuildingworkflowsfromacompletelycustomVisualstudiodirection aswellascustomcodingSQLandSQLservermanipulationandmaintenancearecertainlyhighlysought after.Inadditiontothesethingsthatareinthedeveloperstoolbox,comestheadditionofmore XML/XSLTmindeddevelopment.BeingthatmostthingsinSharePointarexmlbasedorcanbe convertedandfedasxml/xsl,thesearejustanothersetofskillsareanotherwaythatthedevelopercan increasetheirvalue. AsolidunderstandingofSharePointDesigner,IISandeditingwebconfigfilesALWAYScomeinhandy. Andhereiswherethelinesshiftalittleforthedeveloper.CSS,Brandingimplementation,InfoPath formstheseareadditionstothedeveloperlist.NottosaythatCSSwasntalreadyonthelist,buthow itsusedmaycomeasashocktosomedevelopers.SharePointinitscurrentformisveryvisual,wellthat isonceyoutakeitoutoftheboxMicrosofthaspainteditinto.Alotcangointothebrandingandvisual aspectofSharePoint.Thesearethingsthatwereneverahugeissuebackin2003whenmostcompanies werehappywiththefeaturesthatSharePointbroughttothetable.Afterbeingstuckwithitforafew years,thedesiretochangethelookandfeeloftheportalsgottobeoverwhelming.Soadeveloperthat cantakethatdesignerscompandbeabletotelltheleadormanagerwhatwillandwillnottranslate intoaliteralSharePointworld,thentakethatdesignandmakeitarealitywithmasterpagesandsite definitionpagelayoutsisextremelyvaluable. ThereasonwhyIthinkthatthedeveloperisthelesserofthethreechangedisbecauseattheendofthe dayhe/shereliesonthesametoolstodothejob.Theycanbeexpectedtodothesametypeorwork, customwebpartstoworkflowsandeverywhereinbetween.

TheSharePointArchitect
IhearthewordArchitectusedverylooselyintheSPscene.Itsbeenpresentedinthecontextsuch thatitcouldmeansomeonewhoputsalltheSharePointpiecestogether.Theywouldfigureoutthe informationarchitecture,architectaplanandprocedure.Thisinasenseiscorrect,thereneedstobe someoneontheprojectthatunderstandsSharePointasawhole,knowstheinterconnectingpieceswell andhowtoorchestratetheminsuchawaythatallcomestogetherintheendwhenitallneedsto. HoweverIbelievethisjobgoestotheleadontheproject.Iftheleadisaprojectmanager,heorshe betterknowMOSSinsideandout.Butthiscanbeanyoneontheprojectthathastheknowledgeofthe productthatisconduciveforsuccess. WhatIbelievetheSharePointArchitectcovers,isthehardwareandnetworkingsideoftheproject.The complexityofSharePointhasdramaticallygrownsinceSP2003,thatbeingthecasetheArchitect needstounderstandahostoftechnicalaspects. HeorshewillneedtounderstandtheENDGOALoftheclient.Thisdoesnotonlymeanwhattheproject entailswhileyouareonit.Youcouldonlybedoingamigrationoffourbusinessunits,butiftheendgoal oftheclientistomigrate200gigsofdataandalltheirteamsites,theArchitectneedstounderstandthis

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andproposeaenterprisefarmthatwillmeettheseneedslongafterthatportionoftheprojectis completed. TheArchitectalsoneedstosetuptheprojectsenvironments.Insomecasesthiscanbeafullblown Development,StagingandProductionenvironment.Ifthatisthecaseitsveryimportanttohaveallthe environmentsmatchascloseaspossibleifnotbeexact.TheArchitectalsoneedstounderstandfail overs,clusteringandloadbalancing,forlargefarmsthisisimperative. ASharePointArchitectalsoneedsasolidunderstandingofalternateaccessmappinginMOSS,host headers,DNSentries,Kerberosconfigurationandmultipleformsofauthentication(formsauth,ntml etc). ThelinesbetweenAdminandArchitectIhavefoundoverlapthemost,especiallywhentheadminisa corporateemployeeandthearchitectistheconsultant(orviceversa).Oneownsthenetwork;theother administerstheSharePointsitesonthenetwork.

TheSharePointMutt
Letssee,howdoIexplaintheSharePointMutt?AsIstatedbefore,Idontthinkitswiseforacorporate organizationtogoaftertheITSTAR.First,ifanyonetellsyoutheyareanexpertineverything SharePoint,theyareprobablypullingyourleg.Thereisalwayssomeoneelsethatknowsadifferentpart ofMOSSorintegratingfeaturesbetterthanthelast.ButthemuttiswhatIthink,ascloseasyoucanget totheITstarasitpertainstoSharePoint. TheMuttknowsawholelotofit,butnoteverythingaboutallofit.Heorshegetsinthemixwith settingupthearchitectureandthephysicalenvironment,administeringtheservicesoncethefarmisup andrunninganddoingdevelopmentworktosomedegreeoranother. TheMuttisthepersonthatknowsthosegrayareasbetterthanthepositionthatonlyfocusesonlets sayadministration.Theyalsohaveabiggerpictureviewoftheproject.Themuttisadesignatedhitterof sorts;theycangetinvolvedinanyaspectoftheprojectfromwebpartstoserverpatches. Inthisconsultantsopinion,themuttisonethemostvaluablepersonontheSPteam.TheMuttwill almostalwayshaveadesiretolearnmoreaggressively,havetheinitiativetobeinvolvedandgetresults fromalldirections.Theyshouldalsobehumble;thereisnoshameinsayingtheydontknowsomething butasaspecialistinthegeneral,theyllbethefirsttofigureitout.

HomeStretch
Ihopeallofyoufoundthiswhitepaperatleastalittlehelpful.Ifyouarearecruiteroranorganization lookingtofillaSharePointposition,Ihopethiswillhelpyoustreamlinewhatyouarelookingforinyour candidate.Remember;lookforspecialists,notexperts. IfyouareaSharePointprofessional,Ihopeyouhavebeenatleastenlightenedonwhattheguysittingin thenextcubeoverfromyouisdoing.

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HonorableMention
AsIsaidinmyfirstfewparagraphs,therearealotofdifferentpeoplethatmakeaSharePoint deploymentwork.ThereshouldbeafewweeksofintenseplanningbeforeundertakinganySharePoint venture.Thosebeingthecase,aslewofspecialistinthingsoutsideofSharePointareveryimportantto have.Aprojectwillalwayspaythepriceifitisnotplannedforandmanagedproperly. Inaddition,atanygiventimeanyoftheserolescanbereversed.Anadmincantakeonworkflow;a developercanmanagewebapplications.Thegrayareasseemtoshiftbasedontheskillsofthe resourcesontheproject.

Thanks
Appreciationgoesouttosomepeoplewhoaddedtheirinputandguidanceonthiswhitepaper.Anthony Wisniewski,ErinCarter,ShadeedEleazerandSteveSellenythanksforyourhelp!

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