Finding Business ROI in SharePoint
For those who missed the webinar this week, Axceler hosted SharePoint governance and information architecture experts PaulCulmsee (@paulculmsee) and Michael Pisarek (@michalpisarek) for a webinar entitled Aligning SharePoint to Business Goals: Don’t Just Say It, Do It which is a must-see for teams and organizations struggling with defining and defending the scope and business value of their SharePoint deployments. Paul is a well-known SharePoint expert and consultant based out of Perth, Australia, and recently published his book The Heretic's Guide to Best Practices. Michal is a SharePoint MVP and consultant, and is the founder of SharePointAnalystHQ.com 
The problem is more fundamental than just SharePoint -- it is a recognized deficiency in many IT projects: projects often move forward without a clear understanding of what is to be delivered, without a clear picture of that "end state" of the project. Many IT teams see the inherent value in SharePoint, but have trouble articulating this value to management and executive sponsors, which is a serious problem -- and this can impact the long-term success of a project.
Here's how Paul and Michal describe what they cover in this webinar:
It is common to hear consultants wax lyrical about how we have to align SharePoint to "business goals". While this and other popular clichés like "obtain executive support" or "obtain user buy-in" are easy to say, in practice they are much harder to do. After all, if this was not the case, then business goal alignment would not be near the top of the list for SharePoint challenges.
Deploying Microsoft SharePoint is about alignment, adaption and adoption (all that “people stuff” that geeks suck at). Current SharePoint governance documentation abounds in service delivery, but just because your system is rock solid, stable, well documented and processes defined, there is absolutely no guarantee of success. In fact, the secret sauce to a successful SharePoint project is an area that governance documentation barely touches.
Rather than just tell you what is wrong with the world, in this session, we'll offer practical guidance, tools and methods on how to tame this complex problem. We will demonstrate how to ensure that all aspects of SharePoint delivery clearly align to organizational aspirations, ensure all stakeholder needs are considered and at the same time, create the understanding and commitment via an inclusive, collaborative approach.
Session topics:
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Why aligning organizational goals is hard
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Why SharePoint belongs to a class of problems that are inherently hard to solve
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Why users have trouble articulating what they really want
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The reality of how we actually solve new or novel problems
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How to avoid chasing platitudes and tap into the wisdom of crowds
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The one best practice you need before you consider any other best practice
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Field tests, practical tools and techniques
You can watch a complete recording of this webinar here, or view their slildes here. In addition, Paul and Michal are also conducting a series of classes entitled SharePoint Governance and Information Architecture Master Class, with the next one being offered on February 6th and 7th in Vancouver, BC. Axceler is proudly sponsoring this event. If you would like more information about this class, the site is here. Future dates and locations across North America are being planned.