Issue

Onit’s client, a Puget Sound regional transit agency, had used SharePoint for nearly 15 years. Over two previous upgrades to SharePoint 2010, few architectural changes were made and little governance implemented, even as the agency grew and reorganized. By 2016 SharePoint 2010 was at its “end-of-life” phase, however perpetuation of the current architecture was not feasible.

Onit Management Consulting was hired to perform a full evaluation of the client’s existing SharePoint 2010 farm and envision the next evolution of the client’s SharePoint environment, including developing strategic and tactical migration plans.

Strategy

Onit quickly recognized the importance of aligning a new SharePoint vision with organizational change management. Our team included a SharePoint Architect, Project Manager, Internal Communications and Adoption Specialist, and a consultant with deep expertise in Office 365 implementation and training.

Our strategy included current state analysis and gathering requirements for a new environment, and the creation of a technical architecture and migration plan, alongside a strategy to provide training and stimulate a sustainable adoption process. The strategy sought to empower agency staff to use SharePoint Online and Office 365 to solve business problems.

Crafting a Solution

Onit uncovered a mass of obsolete data and work practices that had become “baked into” the client’s SharePoint environment. Broken links and non-functioning workflows led to ad-hoc workarounds. There were hundreds of site collections and little sharing of data across teams, and widespread duplication without version control.

The Onit team also recognized that struggles in sharing data impacted the development of standardized business practices. With a major system expansion coming, the client was receptive to linking updated data management policies with improved project management, using SharePoint O365 as the engine for streamlining business processes and standards.

Onit designed a simplified SharePoint architecture around just three site collections, leveraging the discovery capabilities of Office 365. The team worked closely with Records Management staff to integrate retention rules and best practices into the architecture. A high-level project plan was produced, as well as an Enterprise Content Management Plan, Governance Plan, and technical documentation.

An Enterprise Adoption Plan included training, an adoption program facilitating peer learning and showcasing best practices, and an organizational communications plan. This would support the technical migration as well broader practice and process changes, weaving together SharePoint, Office 365 and process improvement.

Results

• Multiple initiatives from IT, Records Management and leadership tied together into a single vision.
• Path developed for standardization of data and records retention practices.
• Future environment mapped to client’s current and future business vision and needs.
• Strategic and technical guidance provided to guide major migration/ transformation project.