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Does SharePoint Cause Information Management Problems?

1-Jul-2010

Tags: SharePoint Ecosystem, Governance, Intranets, SharePoint 2010

In a recent article in Computing regarding this subject, the author suggests that SharePoint is the cause of recent information management challenges within organizations adopting the platform.  Like much of the criticism lodged against SharePoint, the article focused on the sometimes-unbridled provisioning of sites and information constructs like lists.  However, is this condition entirely SharePoint's making?

As subscribers to our SharePoint Watch research know, the platform presents several important challenges to licensees.  SharePoint is somewhat weak in centralized administrative controls (fine grained controls aren't universally available for things like security), and management capabilities essential for larger organizations often require 3rd-party add-ons. Of course, these shortcomings will get worse if SharePoint spreads virally within your enterprise.

That said, firms must also take responsibility in implementing proper governance policies that normal humans can understand and apply; too often organizations create draconian and inaccessible governance plans or simply leave users to their own devices. Both situations create more harm than SharePoint's own provisioning management issues.

SharePoint is weak in some areas and strong in others.  However, this is one place where I tend to side with Martin White, of Intranet Focus. He once remarked that SharePoint, more often than not, points out an information management issue that most firms didn't know they had because they weren't managing their information prior to implementing SharePoint. 

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