Sharepoint

I am, as we speak, near the end of a 2-year long odyssey of migration to Microsoft Sharepoint. It has been at times frustrating, irritating, and downright unsavory. The big question for me at this point is whether or not the whole exercise was worth it.

This is my first migration, and it has been a doozy. We very clearly needed to get off the platform we’re on (Oracle of some ancient vintage), but I still feel conflicted about the choice of Sharepoint as a replacement. Microsoft is everywhere, that we know. Integrating another Msoft piece into a fully Windows shop is, at least in theory, a fairly straightforward process. And yet. And yet…

What’s the Purpose?

I promise not to make every post title a question, but there is something about a Jewish background that expects it, right?

But to the meat of the question, I sometimes wonder if organizations put enough thought into why their internal websites exist. “Everyone has one” is one reason, but it’s not a good explanation to me. Nor is the facile suggestion that the sites are there to “help employees communicate and collaborate.” This is true, and the major reason why intranets exist to begin with, but there are deeper issues I think a company needs to examine when trying to understand the purpose that underlies their intranet.

Why a blog?

As Chico Marx might say, why not a chicken or a horse?

Any number of reasons, some personal, some professional. We all need an outlet of some kind, and in the modern world, that means appearing on the web somewhere. If it’s not on Google, it doesn’t exist, right? If there is a purpose, it’s mostly to allow myself the opportunity to think things through in a place where I can’t do any damage, and in a place where the four of you who stumble across this will swiftly put me in my place when I am wrong.

As inevitably, I will be.

The work environment rarely leaves room for reflection and examination. Too often, no matter what the job, there’s such a rush to accomplish that we don’t stop to think about what we’re doing and why. Have we looked at all the angles? Have we truly understood the consequences of our choices? I hope to use this space to do that thinking, and if anyone reads this thing, to discuss with you the questions that come up.

I make no promises – this is as much an experiment as it is an intellectual exercise. I’m new to WordPress, so bear with me as I learn the ins & outs. But if you like what you read, let me know, OK?