Have You Thought About What to Look for In a SharePoint Consultant?
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Part of that evolution has demanded that content management platforms be developed with greater infrastructure and a more advanced ability to be integrated with other applications and digital tools.
Microsoft SharePoint has been one of the leading web application platforms to help businesses realize those goals.
While it’s an easy application that can be taken out of the box and set up by any small business operating with limited tech knowledge and even more limited resources, it can also be implemented by large-scale organizations.
But this increased scale is considerably more complex than implementing SharePoint at the small business level.
You’ll have to do a lot of extra work to equip SharePoint for the demands of a mid-to-large organization.
Using external hosting (like Rackspace) will make using SharePoint easier in the long run, but a consultant is great to have on hand to guide the transition.
If you’re in the market for such a consultant, make sure you know what you’re looking for.
Here are some guidelines…
Seeking out experience
Don’t entrust your business’s virtual content management to someone who hasn’t been in these shoes before.
If you’re a smaller or mid-sized organization, you might be able to get away with a consultant who only brings a few years of experience to the table.
But if you represent a larger organization whose SharePoint utilization figures to be on a massive scale, don’t entrust your system to anything less than the best.
Shoot for at least 5 years of experience, if not more.
But keep in mind that since it’s a relatively young field, you won’t find many experts whose hands-on experience surpasses 5 or 7 years.
Make sure there’s a plan
Don’t let any consultant touch your systems without first laying out an executable plan.
If you have an IT department in-house, you’ll want them to review the plan to make sure they’re on board and understand its objective.
Your IT team might be able to point out potential snags in the plan and troubleshoot to find alternative methods of implementing SharePoint without complications.
Continued Support
One of the dangers of implementing new software and technology is that the system breaks down when you try to put it to use.
It’s important that your consultant commit to being available to you for the next several weeks, just in case you arrive at any hangups.
This can stem from a variety of potential bugs or stumbling blocks, particularly if it relates to an integrative problem with internal or external applications.
The more your consultant will be available after the initial setup, the less reason you’ll have to worry.
Conclusion
Not only can a consultant make sure the basic needs are covered, but they can also steer you toward better practices for utilizing the features and applications SharePoint has to offer.
That means more efficient workplace operations and a promising future in the cloud.
What Are Your Thoughts??
Perhaps you have something that needs to be resolved?
Or perhaps you have something that has been a thought for a while but haven’t gotten around to asking (until now)?
Let us help you, how can we help?
Leave your question in the comments below, or use the email and/or social media links in Jennifer’s profile to reach her through Rackspace.
✔ If you have used a consultant to implement your Sharepoint system, what can you add ot Jennifer’s points here?
✔ What one point is a convincer for you that someone would make a great consultant for your implementation?
✔ What concerns do you have about implementing your Sharepoint system?
Please share your thoughts with our audience in the comments section below!
![SharePoint_Hero_960x286[1]](http://www.thehrisworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/SharePoint_Hero_960x2861-575x171.jpg)
Jennifer was brought to our attention by Beth Corneglio of Rackspace Hosting and by clicking here you can reach Beth by email.
Jennifer Marsh is a software developer, programmer, technology writer, and blogger.
You can reach Jennifer by contacting Beth via email or by leaving a comment below…
More articles by Jennifer Marsh...
- How Do You Determine Good Reporting Metrics When Using Sharepoint? - 21-March-2013
- Establishing Efficient Workflows Using Sharepoint? Yes! Here's How... - 14-March-2013
- Here's a Thought: How About Using Sharepoint to Actually... Share? - 7-March-2013
- Creating Value in Managing Documents By Using SharePoint - 28-February-2013
- Everything You Need to Know About SharePoint Training - 14-January-2013
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