SharePoint information workers, site admins and power users understand its elements: Web Parts, lists and libraries, sites, and more. But creating a business solution requires more than knowing how to create a library; you must first know if you need a library.
A new book, “Microsoft SharePoint 2010: Creating and Implementing Real-World Projects,” assumes that basic understanding and starts from a business problem, such as building a project-management solution or creating a team blog. One of the authors, Jennifer Mason, said the book came out of discussions she’s had with community members at local events, where people asked for solutions to these kinds of scenarios.
“In each chapter, we look at who the users are to determine a real-world scenario, and it’s a kind of fill-in-the-blanks format,” she told me in a recent interview. “Then we look at what platform (of the flavors of SharePoint) and features are needed, and how to make it all work together. Then, it’s how do you build it? And how do you govern it long-term? Each chapter follows the same form, so it becomes almost a recipe.”
The chapters are:
Chapter 1: Building a Project Management Solution
Chapter 2: Building a Training Registration Management System
Chapter 3: Building a Basic FAQ Solution
Chapter 4: Building a Learning Center
Chapter 5: Building a Help Desk Solution
Chapter 6: Building a Remote Teams Activity Site
Chapter 7: Building a Team Blog Platform
Chapter 8: Building an RFP Response Solution
Chapter 9: Building a Contact Management Solution
Chapter 10: Building a Resource Scheduling Solution
Jennifer worked with fellow Microsoft MVPs Christian Buckley and Wes Preston, along Microsoft’s Brian Jackett, on the book, and all will be speaking at SPTechCon Boston, this July 22-25.
—David
