In a
previous post we introduced the Northridge
SharePoint Site Governance Lifecycle, which we identified as having five stages: Request, Standup, Adoption, Auditing, and Archiving. In this post we will focus on the second of these: standing up new SharePoint sites, one of the most common activities to take place in a SharePoint intranet, but also a key governance topic.
In that previous post, we briefly described the Standup stage this way:
What is the actual process for standing up a new site? What site templates or solutions are approved for use? Will we have automated code that stands up the site, or will the steps all be manual? Will someone from IT perform the actual standup, or, in some or all cases, would end users be empowered to create the actual site themselves?
These leading questions are intended to communicate that there are different ways to handle the standing up of new sites--from a logistical standpoint, from a technical standpoint, from a policy standpoint, and from a personnel standpoint. The following options are suggested by these questions:
Template-based vs. from scratch
Performed by business vs. performed by IT
Automated vs. manual
In the first case, template-based sites are the most common choice, though there are cases where it makes sense to create sites from scratch for unique situations--which ties into the second item in the list: even if people in the business are in some cases empowered to stand up new sites based on approved site templates, would we require someone from IT to create an ad hoc, from scratch site?
Different organizations will make different choices regarding the second item in the list. In some cases, it will make the most sense (and be the most efficient) to allow business users to stand up new sites in some or all situations. In other cases, it will make more sense for IT, or a higher level business unit, to retain control over site standup.
Which ties directly into the third item on the list: unless automated, standing up a new site can involve several manual steps, and can include the need to do things like setting up permissions, creating default values in lists, and creating default resources in document libraries. The more manual steps are required, the less likely you might be to empower business users to create new sites. Likewise, the more need there is to empower business users to create new sites, and the more often that need arises, the more you might be inclined to automate the standing up of a new site.
What do we mean by automating SharePoint site standup? To answer that question, let's step back and think of site templates as a form of automation (they save on manual steps and allow for a repeatable process), and then ask what additional amount of automation might be added on top of the site template. (It's important to keep in mind that site templates can only define the structure of a site, not data nor security nor dynamic functionality.)
To see what would be required in the absence of either a site template or additional automation, let's look at an example of a manual site standup process. This example site will be totally ad hoc--not based on an existing template.
When the request for a new ad hoc site is received/approved, someone from the IT or operations team...
- ...creates an empty site at the appropriate location in the appropriate site collection
- ...gives the end user permissions to administer it and sets up any default SharePoint security groups
- ...ensures that the end user understands how to use the out-of-the-box SharePoint user interface to build up a site for his or her purposes
- ...follows up with the user by appointment to review and adjust the new site the user has created and to finalize the security configuration so that the appropriate users have access to it; at this point, the team member might also ensure that storage management- and auditing-related concerns are addressed in the site configuration
- ...reports on the results of the site standup process through the designated means—perhaps by entering notes into a ticketing system and changing the ticket status, adding the site to a list of new sites to report at the next Strategy Team meeting, or sending a notification to a designated manager or administrator
This process covers the following bases:
- Ensuring that the site is created in the best location, within the bounds of the established taxonomy design
- Ensuring that an approved end user is designated as an administrator/owner of the site
- Ensuring that the site has the right features and configuration to match the business purposes for which the site has been designated
- Ensuring that the site conforms to applicable governance policies
- Ensuring that the right users (internal, external, and anonymous, if applicable) have access to the site
- Ensuring that the appropriate reporting and governance follow-up takes place
The easiest way, then, to explain the advantages of using site templates, custom site solutions, and custom code for automating site standup is to say that all of the bullet points above can be automated through the use of these tools.