No one is more infatuated with SharePoint than I am. (Sad, I know, but true.) I think it is a fantastic tool with almost unlimited potential for solving a long list of just about any organization’s content and records management needs.
But the operative word here is ‘tool’. Someone with no construction experience can go out and buy the most expensive, sophisticated tools available, only to build a house that collapses in the first stiff breeze. (Coincidentally, this person would also be called a ‘tool’.) While an experienced, talented builder can go out and buy a cheap hammer, some nails and a few cords of wood and build a home that lasts for generations.
Like any records management solution, SharePoint alone will not solve your needs unless it is used to support clearly defined processes. Long before selecting your records management solution, it is absolutely essential that you conduct a comprehensive needs assessment and document exactly what you want your solution to do. Only then can you evaluate solutions, implement systems and validate results with any true accuracy.
I don’t typically recommend books or articles on this site. God knows, the Internet has given us access to way more reading material than we could ever want. But I recently came across a very good article discussing this same point that is well worth your time if you are thinking about implementing SharePoint or any other document and records management solution. It’s written by an electronic document management consultant named Bud Porter-Roth, of, appropriately, Porter-Roth Associates. You can find it here.
