In Part 1 of my series titled Inadequate Resources to Support the Implementation, I spoke about the large amount of risk that companies are taking on due to the ease of entry into the SharePoint administrator’s role. In Part 2, I explained how the SharePoint administrator’s role was never clearly defined and that most of us lack a true identity. In Part 3 of this series, I’ll provide you with some visibility into these overwhelming expectations.

Part 3: “I really don’t remember signing up for this.”

Depending upon a multitude of factors such as your company’s size, your outlook on training, your boss’ outlook on training, your technical background, the scope of the implementation, and of course the timeline and available budget , the requirements to effectively bring SharePoint into the organization can be drastically different from one implementation to another.

Most of the SharePoint Administrators that I have spoken with describe the business’ perspective as, “You are the SharePoint Administrator. If we have a problem with SharePoint, we are coming to you.” This makes sense right? If you have a problem with your paycheck, you go to Finance. If you have a question about your benefits, you go to Human Resources. It just makes sense that if you have a question about SharePoint, you go to the SharePoint Administrator. Right? Keep reading please.

In the examples above, you are bringing your problems to a member of a department, and not an individual. If you have a payroll issue, you will more than likely be transferred to a payroll specialist. Often times, the subject of your query is handled by a separate entity or company altogether. Within a single department (e.g. HR), you might have a Benefits Coordinator, a Personnel Manager, and an Employee Relations Manager. Depending upon the size of your company, you might even have a Vice President to oversee all of these roles. Where a department can have multiple resources; each focusing on a specialized aspect of that function, your SharePoint implementation often has only one person to handle all of the questions thrown at them.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, a large majority of people in the SharePoint administrator role are suffocating under the ridiculous expectations and crushing responsibilities involved in their daily activities. I am NOT proposing that SharePoint become its own division within your company. I am simply making the point that our SharePoint implementations need more than just a SharePoint administrator. Let me prove my point. We all love tests, right? Let’s take one now. No cheating and eyes on your own paper. Begin!

If you have the ability to answer each of these questions, in great detail, and without hesitation, then congratulations, you are in what I like to call, “The 1% club.” Here is the key to your locker. Your member’s jacket is hanging in the foyer.

For the other 99% of the SharePoint administration community out there who were not able to answer each of these questions fully and with confidence, DO NOT feel bad. In my experience, the 1% club is filled with a select few individuals who have dedicated their careers to SharePoint administration.

The problem is that these are all “introductory” or “leading” questions for a SharePoint administrator. The subject matter in the test above was derived in under a minute and represents some of the most common questions posed to SharePoint administrators on a daily basis. Each question in the test represents a different background or technical foundation. Your first response is to think, “Oh, those are easy questions. Any SharePoint admin should be able to answer that.”

If you are a business owner, and you truly feel that way about the SharePoint administrator’s role, then let us look at the test again and uncover the real expectations.

By not defining the role of the SharePoint Administrator, the business has come to expect that a SharePoint Administrator should carry each of these skill sets. It is my opinion, that the following picture accurately represents the real-world expectations of the SharePoint Administrator.

Unfortunately (and I am truly saddened to say this), I think there comes a time in every SharePoint administrator’s career, when they realize that this is the expectation that has been placed upon them, and they have to make a decision about their career. In my heart, I feel that there is something very wrong with this picture. How do you feel about it?

Stay tuned for my next post in this series as I will be discussing each of these expectations in more detail. After that, I will be proposing my solution to fix this. On a more personal note, I know that your time is precious, and I want you to know that I appreciate you reading the posts in my blog.

Thank you,

Matt

• Previous Entry: Inadequate Resources to Support the Implementation – Part 2: The oversight we've been paying for all these years
• Next Entry: Inadequate Resources to Support the Implementation – Part4: “SharePoint Administrators are NOT Superheroes!”