What makes sharepoint implementations fail?, Jit Goel, XCEL Corp Jit Goel

Why Sharepoint Implementation Projects Fail?

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Implementing Microsoft Sharepoint has numerous advantages for organizations including hassle free communication, a centralized database, easy documentation, document retrieval, and better collaboration with the various parties involved. For more information on Sharepoint advantages, you can read our previous blog here. Talking to our customers and others about their opinion on sharepoint integration, we came understand that sharepoint implementations fail to deliver what is expected of them.

A recent survey on the success and failure of Sharepoint implementation has shown that in over 30% of organizations where Sharepoint has been implemented, they have not able to get the desired results. Sharepoint integration is considered by many as easy. So, how could something with such an easy implementation process fail? On top of that Sharepoint is a very comprehensive software and has many features that a business requires already built-in. This leaves us wondering why so many sharepoint implementation projects fail.

From our personal experience and our conversations with our past and existing customers, we have been able to isolate 5 of the most important factors that cause sharepoint implementations to fail.

1. End-User Resistance:

When there is something new implemented in an organization, resistance is always expected. This maybe because of your employees are resisting change or don’t want their already existing processes to change. Whatever it is, over a quarter of all Sharepoint implementation projects fail because end-user resistance. This could be avoided by creating proper involvement and awareness about the advantages of sharepoint implementation within a organization. It is also easy to break resistance by telling your employees what advantages they get to experience individually.

2. Improper Deployment Strategy:

One of the very first aspects of successful Sharepoint implementation is setting your goals. Executives and stakeholders in a business should have a clear picture on how Sharepoint implementation would benefit their company. Without well established goals, there will be no direction or intent for successful implementation. Once you have established your goals, you should create a well thought out deployment strategy and create awareness with every department of your organization and ensure they comprehend the goals and work towards successful implementation.

3. Mismatched Workflow:

One of the major reasons for failure we discovered is mismatching complex workflows with the newly integrated Sharepoint platform. This is usually because organizations fail to understand capabilities of Sharepoint and hence make complicated customizations for which they have no idea of. Sharepoint allows custom user workflow which enables enterprises to easily manage complex business processes. It is recommended that all users be aware about sharepoint’s workflow features to take full advantage of what software offers.

4. Lack of a Change Management Strategy:

From the users we spoke to, about 25% of respondents did not have even the slightest idea about a change management strategy. Companies tend to believe that everything would be easily transitioned once the implementation is completed. But once the implementation is completed, end-users have a very difficult time discovering their roles and how the software is used in their process. A change management strategy would help to acclimatize your employees even before the implementation is complete such that they are able to function more efficiently with Sharepoint in place.

5. Importance of Training:

The importance of training can never be overstated when it comes to successful Sharepoint implementation. Training should be provided to the end users in several stages before implementation, providing support and troubleshooting, and most importantly enhancement suggestions as and when necessary. Providing additional training will help your team to improve their efficiency and perform to their full potential. It is also important to divide training into sections to address different functionalities including Document and content management, business process automation, workflow management, web content management, Social Media integration, business intelligence, and content discovery.

Even after these important factors, there could be several others which could cause your Sharepoint implementation to fail. Some of them may be even lack of governance and IT resources. To ensure that your expensive Sharepoint integration is successful, you could choose to work with experts who specialize in Sharepoint Integration Services like XCEL Corp.

XCEL Solutions Corp of Matawan, New Jersey is among the leaders in IT world-wide. With over 15 years experience, XCEL Corp has been involved with several successful Sharepoint implementations. From creating a strategy, to seamless integration, and effective training, XCEL Corp has you covered in every step of the way in Sharepoint implementation. For more information on Sharepoint implementation strategies, contact XCEL Corp today.

Bhavani Suri ( Content Writer)

Our in-house content writer, who develops and creates content marketing strategies. She writes about the latest trends and advances related to IT in particular, and Technology in general.



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