Custom Software Development

It is important to assess SharePoint 2010 implementations in the context of the hot topics of today which include: Social networking, cloud and governance. Here is what analysts say about the trends developing around SharePoint:

Social communications is expected to become more pervasive on premises but not expected to be used universally. Pilot adoptions will be the preferred norm rather than enterprise adoptions and many of the tasks will not have the "network effect" since only a few initial members will be involved for self-sustaining social collaboration.

SharePoint 2010 has enhanced social networking features but ultimately lacks the maturity of social media like Twitter and Facebook. SharePoint is accepted by some organizations as part of their enterprise collaboration strategy, but due to lack of awareness, they have not utilized the tools for extending the social functions and governance features. This is where the independent software vendors come into the picture.

SharePoint 2010 implementations today provide the facility to add relevant social content to a broad range of sites. Hence the demand for Personal Content ("PCM") adoption is on the rise since everyone feels the need to aggregate their personal information.

On the other hand, cloud adoption is bound to accelerate with the reintroduction of SharePoint Online as an integral part of Office 365. More cloud adoption in Office 365 is expected. Office 365 is preferable for Microsoft-oriented organizations especially for migration from non-SharePoint sources. Office 365 is touted as the preferred platform for document collaboration with external partners, clients and third parties.

Security and authentication skills are in constant demand in SharePoint professionals. With the rise in extranets and cloud deployments, there is a dearth of professionals who have the ability to manage security systems externally. They are extremely valuable in today’s setup.

Additionally, governance is a topic doing the rounds amidst SharePoint nowadays. With the drastic growth witnessed by SharePoint 2010 implementation services in the recent years, especially double-digit growth, the new users will require constant scrutiny and security. Care should be taken along with channeling and guidance for management of the new crop of users.

Governance is taken mostly in the broad perspective, but essentially it hints at guidance. Governance helps in keeping things on track, and is a perfect response to huge scale adoptions. One needs to have things in place for sustained growth and usage. Governance in this context does not refer to management but to find answers to questions related to how can SharePoint be managed efficiently.