I’m in the middle of a series of posts focused on SharePoint information architecture (IA). I started with a brief introduction to IA, followed by an overview of what an effective IA can bring to SharePoint.

In this post, I want to introduce the three kinds of IA work you need to do in order to have an effective SharePoint IA.

Technology – SharePoint Mechanisms

There are a range of mechanisms in SharePoint for creating an effective IA. To be sure, none of these are unique to SharePoint; you find them in just about any content management system. But later in the series, we’ll dig into the SharePoint-specific details of each.

For now, suffice it to say that you’ll need to set aside time to address the following key IA elements for your SharePoint environment:

• Site structure – both the structure of the site collection and of individual sites
• Folder structure – whether to use them and how to organize them
• Metadata – what fields to use, what content to attach them to, and which users need them
• File naming – what (and how much) metadata will it reflect?
• Content types – how many, how many levels deep?

People – SharePoint Center of Excellence

As we all know, technology alone is never enough, and SharePoint IA is no exception. Without adequate people (and the right processes for them to execute) in place, all that technology and system design will go to waste.

That having been said, there are three key resources you need to have in place to create and maintain your SharePoint IA effectively:

• SharePoint IA center of excellence – group of cross functional end users, led by SharePoint IA owner, address issues relating to SharePoint IA
• SharePoint IA owner – responsible for the viability and sustainability of your SharePoint IA
• SharePoint IA champions – represent SharePoint IA for their areas and the needs of their areas to the SharePoint IA COE

Process – A Virtuous Cycle

Finally, people and technology need defined processes to govern their interaction to ensure you achieve the desired results (and do so consistently).

And while much ink has been spilled on the subject of SharePoint governance, to me, it all boils down to making sure you have the following three processes in place:

• Top down communications – educate users on importance of IA, how to work effectively within SharePoint IA
• Bottom up communications – inform SharePoint IA COE and SharePoint IA owner about issues with SharePoint IA
• IA refresh – revisit SharePoint IA at regular intervals to assess continued effectiveness, identify gaps, determine how to close them

The Final Word

With this overview of the people, process, and technology elements central to an effective SharePoint IA, I want to turn in the next three posts to a detailed consideration of each.

In the meantime, however, I’d love to hear from you all out there—so jump in, and let’s get the conversation started.

Joe Shepley, PMP is the Vice President and Practice Leader at Doculabs in the Greater Chicago Area. He specializes in several areas including SDLC (software development life cycle) methodolorgies, ITIL (V3 Foundation), Project Management, and most importantly Microsoft SharePoint. You can connect with Joe via Twitter by following @joeshepley or on LinkedIn.