A presentation given to the Use of SharePoint in UK Higher Education Institutions event in London on 25 November 2009.

1. SharePoint in Higher Education Institutions #sphe

2. The investigation

3. Survey statistics 40 telephone interviews (38= HEIs; 2=other) 46 HEIs completed online survey Interviews: 31 (~78%) using SharePoint 29 use 2007 version Online: 28 (~61%) using SharePoint 10 use 2007 version SharePoint part of campus licence agreement

4. Telephone survey Scale of use

5. Telephone survey stage of use

6. Telephone survey SharePoint strategy? 18 (58%) users had a strategy for SP 1 user was developing a strategy 1 non-user had a strategy Importance of having a strategy?

7. Nature of SharePoint use

8. Nature of SharePoint use

9. Drivers – full range

10. Drivers – top ones

11. Views ‘We are able to deliver an intranet and collaboration system for staff and students, accessible anytime, anyplace, anywhere’ ‘We depend on funding from industry so the ability to collaborate in team sites is a bonus for us and our partners.’ Successes / Benefits Barriers / Weaknesses Non-users Lessons learned Do differently

12. Views My Sites ‘People like the idea of being able to search for colleague’s skills but lots of people aren't prepared to put in the time to update their own skills.’ Successes / Benefits Barriers / Weaknesses Non-users Lessons learned Do differently

13. Views ‘We had quite a few problems with the technical implementation of SharePoint. There were some inconsistencies. We suspect errors in the way things were set up initially. ’ Successes / Benefits Barriers / Weaknesses Non-users Lessons learned Do differently

14. Views ‘It was hard to come up with the information architecture for the site. You are trying to appeal to two different mindsets: the corporate mindset of administrative staff, and the mindset of scientists.’ information architecture and governance needs tight control Successes / Benefits Barriers / Weaknesses Non-users Lessons learned Do differently

15. Views ‘recruiting a lead portal developer was difficult. Finding someone with requisite SharePoint skills prepared to work for an HE salary was difficult.’ Successes / Benefits Barriers /Weaknesses Non-users Lessons learned Do differently

16. Views 'only really stupid people go for SharePoint' - look at open source systems and if you have in-house skills then you can "really rev" the products’ ‘happy to be behind and benefit from others' experience’ Successes / Benefits Barriers / Weaknesses Non-users Lessons learned Do differently

17. Views ‘weren't aware of the amount of customisation required but it gets easier as the design/roll out progresses’ ‘user education is very important, sometimes users don't know which aspect of SharePoint functionality to use. There is often more than one way to do things in SharePoint’. Successes / Benefits Barriers / Weaknesses Non-users Lessons learned Do differently

18. Views ‘it is important to use external consultants in the right way. We chose the company that convinced us that they would work alongside us, so that our staff learned skills from them and understood what they did.’ Successes / Benefits Barriers / Weaknesses Non-users Lessons learned Do differently

19. Views ‘provide more training for people at the beginning of the project’ ‘wouldn't have used the consultants’ ‘strategy definition must happen before moving forward beyond existing pilots’ Successes / Benefits Barriers / Weaknesses Non-users Lessons learned Do differently

20. Project links www.eduserv.org.uk/research/studies/SharePoint2009.aspx www.northumbria.ac.uk/sharepoint_study