Download the whitepaper here: http://www.socialbiz.ca/offer-view/white-papers/

1. SharePoint for Intranets
A White Paper on the use of SharePoint 2013 for Intranets
By:
Toby Ward
From: Social Business Interactive
Date: Version 1.0 October 2013
SharePoint for Intranets White Paper by Social Business Interactive
© 2013
Reproduction Strictly Prohibited
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2. SharePoint for Intranets White Paper by Social Business Interactive
© 2013
Reproduction Strictly Prohibited
2

3. An Introduction to SharePoint
SharePoint is a dominant force in the world of enterprise technology. In fact, it is present, in some shape
or form, in about 70% of all medium to large organizations (and at least that amount in smaller,
knowledge worker-based businesses). It’s a powerful platform; but without the proper customization
and in some cases, third-party applications, it can be hugely frustrating and overly simple.
In short, SharePoint is part enterprise content management (ECM) solution, part portal solution, part
web development platform, part social media platform. It offers many, many solutions and functions –
often too much for most organizations – but it is Microsoft’s hope that it will become everything to
everybody including the de facto platform for the company intranet, website(s) and extranet(s). In sum
total, it is an amazingly powerful solution, but often fails to live up to expectations without proper care.
It’s the perfect solution, if you have an abundance of time, patience… and money.
“SharePoint provides enough business value to outweigh the hassles,” stated a Forrester report on
SharePoint 2010 (SharePoint Adoption, 2011). And the words are still true today when analyzing
SharePoint 2013, which represents a massive investment upgrade from its predecessor with many
enhancements. However, SharePoint offers an extraordinary feature set, but be prepared for many
frustrations, and additional expenses if you settle for an out-of-the-box deployment.
While the power and feature set of SP 2013 is undeniable, it is more expensive, and more complicated
than meets the eye, and fails to live up to a number of key expectations. It is, however, a vast
improvement over its predecessor, SP 2010, and is particularly more so for business users such as
corporate communications, marketing and HR, who rely more heavily on enterprise content
management, collaboration, social media, and portal features.
Among Gartner’s findings that are both reasonable and well supported:
Pros:
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Early successful deployments encourage rapid uptake and use
Benefits outweigh the problems (with the proper investment)
Strong collaboration capabilities
More than adequate ECM functionality for the vast majority of organizations
Cons:
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Cost (expensive)
Usage (not getting the use as hoped)
Problematic and expensive to customize
Often fails to satisfy as a standalone product; requiring augmentation
SharePoint for Intranets White Paper by Social Business Interactive
© 2013
Reproduction Strictly Prohibited
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4. SP 2013 offers a lot, but it’s more than what many organizations need, and less than what still others
demand.
Social Business Interactive
Social Business Interactive (SBI) develops world-class social business platforms and sites in SharePoint
and other .NET technologies, including ECM, WCMS and portal solutions.
We are experts in social business, from the inside out – from design to deployment. Our consulting arm
has more than 12 years of rich consulting experience working with dozens of Fortune 500 and
worldleading brands – and more than 200 engagements to-date. SBI develops world-class social business
platforms and sites in SharePoint and other .NET technologies, including ECM, WCMS and portal
solutions.
We are experts in using and deploying Microsoft SharePoint, the worldwide leader in enterprise intranet
and social business collaboration (more than two-thirds of our clients use SharePoint, and most of the
rest use other .NET solutions).
Social Business Interactive also delivers solutions that integrate with a multitude of third-party solutions.
SBI Key differentiation factors
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Team and skillset
SBI has acquired highly skilled and Experienced SharePoint 2010/2013 and .NET architects and
developers. Many of which are Microsoft certified professionals (MCPD, MCTS, MCITP, ISO
9001:2008 certified Quality Management System (QMS)) as well as Project management
certified experts (PMP).
SBI’s delivery experience is comprised of our onshore and offshore delivery centers. SBI can
tailor its delivery model to align with the client’s business objectives, sourcing priorities, and
desired level of responsibility and risk. SBI is also equipped with the strategies and resources to
scale the delivery capabilities in order to manage any sudden resource requirements and
address any issue that may arise during the course of project delivery.
•
Microsoft partner and close-ties
SBI Is a Microsoft Partner and has established close ties with Microsoft on several grounds. SBI’s
VP of Technology (Tamer El Shazli) is a designated Microsoft VTSP which is a select group chosen
from the elite in Microsoft’s partner community, whose focus is to augment Microsoft’s internal
SharePoint for Intranets White Paper by Social Business Interactive
© 2013
Reproduction Strictly Prohibited
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5. Technology Specialist team. Their primary role is to communicate the value of Microsoft
Solutions to customers and to provide architectural guidance for Enterprise Integration
solutions.
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Proven delivery methodology
SBI has adopted a strategic and modernized approach for the implementation and delivery of
SharePoint solutions. The approach is designed to minimize the total cost of ownership (TCO)
and maximize clients ROI of intranet and web portal projects.
SBI’s Managed Delivery approach is summarized in the following figure:
SBI strategic approach in minimizing TCO while building high-quality, and effective portals and intranets
is achieved via the implementation of Microsoft’s best practices and well-known design patterns specific
to SharePoint and .NET solutions. We utilize SharePoint as both a platform and a product maximizing
productivity and utilization of SharePoint on both ends. SBI applies the best-fit tools, technologies, and
methodologies to the right requirements and in accordance to Microsoft’s best practices and standards.
This approach has proven to be the most cost-effective and least risky path to successful solutions and
results.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Download the complete whitepaper http://socialbiz.ca/offer-view/white-papers/.
SharePoint for Intranets White Paper by Social Business Interactive
© 2013
Reproduction Strictly Prohibited
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