SharePoint End-User Adoption and Productivity List

SharePoint has undoubtedly emerged as one of the best web application development platforms that is being implemented by enterprises all over. Now, attempts are constantly being made to improve the user adoption and productivity of the SharePoint 2013. There are a number of tools, techniques and methods that are implemented for making SP more user- friendly as well as productive.

Enhancing the Level of User Adoption

Before looking into some tips on how the productivity can be increased, let us begin with a discussion of the different stages of user adoption as follows:

Collaboration of Documents
Document Collaboration is the very first and the most basic way of letting users adopt SP 2013 with higher level of effectiveness. With SharePoint, document sharing does not stay restricted to sending emails back and forth but extend much beyond that to include check in/out, alerts, versioning and so on. The integration with Office further paves the way for a direct opening of the files from the Office programs.

A Single Focal Point or Team Sites
It is always more comfortable for the users if they get the chance to reach a certain point where they are making regular use of this platform. While trying as well as exploring certain new things, users become friendly with the concept of team site. Calenders can be shared, tasks can be assigned while contact lists can be created for proper referencing. Connection among each other through Outlook makes SP more productive.

Coordinating Business Processes
When the users are able to keep in touch by virtue of the team sites, they engage in the task of automating business processes. Using the workflows is indeed an elaborate task with multiple processes that need to be taken care of. Now, irrespective of the numbers of processes or the complications involved in the same, it is always easy when the processes are automated.

Reporting with SharePoint 2013
For organizations that are pretty much advanced with regards to SP implementation, reporting is quite hassle-free. The application of the tools should be followed by an understanding of the placement of the data to ensure that the best-suited tools are used. As far as the end users are concerned, there are different products along with equally varying ways that can be presented. SharePoint is deployed as the primary means to presenting these reports. The level of user adoption is automatically higher with SP being used for both document collaboration as well as reporting.

Social Media Adoption
The good thing about Microsoft SharePoint 2013 is that the social features and functionality are available everywhere. Even today, few organizations are found considering the social part of SharePoint 2013 even after they have become rather experienced in SP use and knowledge. At the same time, there are organizations that implement social media as a significant part of their use of SP and they actually benefit from it. However, integration of the social media and SharePoint must take place following a carefully planned process.

Tips on Increasing Productivity
The successful deployment of SharePoint 2013 can be gauged from the increase in the overall productivity. There are certain strategies that can be adopted to ensure that the implementation of SP has a direct influence upon the productivity.

• The end-user requirements should be taken into consideration in designing an interface that maximizes productivity. The site aesthetics matter to a great extent. For instance, branding of the SP intranet implies that users should seriously consider it along with its use.
• Training is must to let users get the most out of an application. Awareness about the functional requirements as well as that of the not so professional or specialized areas goes a long way in increasing productivity.
• Performance happens to be more important than a lot of other things. Increased emphasis should be laid on improving the load time of the pages, accelerating the upload and download time of files and making sure that the servers work well enough to cater to high demand.

The above-mentioned list of stages and tips helps improving end-user adoption and productivity of SP 2013. And that is equally as important as optimizing the process of SharePoint application development.

We provide Sharepoint development services. If you would like to know more about the expertise of our SharePoint developers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Which IT Services Companies Offer the Best SharePoint Support?

In addition to being a rapid web application development platform, Microsoft SharePoint is also used by enterprises to management content and documents. Also, the platform enables users to manage a variety of data on the intranet and internet. As Microsoft has designed SharePoint with a Microsoft Office-like interface, the platform can be seamlessly integrated with Office suite. So your business can avail several advantages by switching to SharePoint 2010.

When you decide to migrate to the latest version of the platform, it becomes essential to make and implement a detailed plan. At the same time, it is also important to choose the right IT services company to avail customized and flexible SharePoint support. A simple web search will get you information about the nature and types of support offered by a large number of companies. But you must evaluate the service providers based on some key criterions to ensure that you will get the best SharePoint support.

5 Key Criterions to Evaluate the IT Services Companies Offering SharePoint Support

1. Customized Support: The level of support offered by different IT services companies vary. Some companies even allow you to choose from several predefined SharePoint support plans. But you must opt for the companies who offer customized support according to specific needs of your business. When the support is customized, you will not be required to pay for unnecessary services. As the support services are customized according to your business model and work flow, these will contributing towards increasing productivity and revenues.

2. Specialized Support: Most IT companies offer a variety of support services. So the nature and quality of the SharePoint support will depend on the experience and expertise of the company. You must gather information about the services offered by a specific company from various sources, and compare the data to ensure that it has adequate expertise in providing support for SharePoint. An experienced service provider will further contribute towards efficient project management and communication. Also, it can work seamlessly with your internal team by creating the best environment.

3. Effective Content Management: When you are using SharePoint to manage your content, records and documents, it becomes essential to consider several factors. Along with recording the documents in digital format, it is also important to store the images of the original documents in a centralized location. At the same time, any updates or changes made to the documents must reflect across different workstations. So you must check the effectiveness of content management service provided by the IT company. It is important to hire a company who can guarantee that your employees can monitor, track and access the updated content regardless of its physical location.

4. Ready to Embrace New Technologies: The huge popularity of SharePoint application development platform has encouraged many companies to launch CRM and ERP packages with specific integration capability. So you can always migrate to the latest enterprise application software to optimize your business process and communication. Also, Microsoft regularly updates SharePoint with many extended and innovative features. That is why; there are always chances that your business has to migrate to or embrace more advanced technologies. It is always important to hire the IT company that agrees to incorporate the changes relates to technology and system without causing any slight delay.

5. Quick and Immediate Solution for Each Problem: If your business is migrating to SharePoint, your employees will take some time to understand its feature and functionality. Also, you have to train your staff about various aspects of the customized application. When your employees are being trained, the IT company has to provide prompt support to ensure that your work flow is not being affected. The service provider also needs to understand the framework in detail to answer the questions immediately. You must remember that it will take some time to streamline the process after migrating to SharePoint. So your employees will need constant support to continue the business operations.

When you are looking for the IT services companies that offer the best SharePoint support, it is important to do some initial request. You must gather information about the nature, types and quality of support provided by each company, along with it experience, expertise and professional credibility. At the same time, you must ask many questions to the service provider to ensure that the SharePoint support is customized according to the specific needs of your business.

We provide SharePoint bespoke development services. If you would like to talk to one of our certified SharePoint programmers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.