A significant number of organizations that use Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) are failing to leverage some easy ways to improve both the quality of their data and the quality of their search results and associated user experience.
Companies typically face common SharePoint search problems when they attempt to implement useful metadata options and quick and easy customizations. Others are constantly seeking small ways to move their intranets, collaboration data, and portals in the right direction for growth and maintenance. I want to provide help in those directions. I won't promise a huge lesson in enterprise information architecture or any grand scheme for overhauling the governance of your data or SharePoint environment, but I can suggest a number of free/inexpensive tools and useful ideas to help you improve the structure and content of your data.
The Problem
The most common scenario I see among SharePoint-using clients is a lack of design and planning at the data level. Many organizations have spent considerable time and IT dollars building a hardware and farm infrastructure, but they've spent little or no time working on the design of the actual data. A significant number of these implementations include a Help desk, site-provisioning tools, custom site definitions and templates, and a formal process for managing the farm, but they don't have a single custom content type, and during the analysis and design phase they haven't created any customized search results. Site administrators typically let the site owners use the available out-of-the-box SharePoint tools to organize their own data. This approach leads to either very little data management or inconsistent architecture and design across sites and search results.
The problem increases over time as users add, version, and collaborate on larger and larger amounts of data in sites that have little or no metadata or classification. Users continue to upload documents into the pile and rely on SharePoint's search engine to index content and properly return results. Eventually, this system breaks down when the volume of documents becomes so large that search results are significantly littered with correct but unintended results. SharePoint's out-of-the-box search cries out for some options to filter the data into usable compartments. These filters can be standard metadata items such as the author, content type, and language; however, additional options available via search scopes and limitations based on location or custom properties can greatly increase relevancy.
IT pros within the organization face a daily challenge. They generally need to understand enough about all the disparate data sources within the corporate firewall to locate pertinent information to complete their job functions. They often ask to search for multiple locations in a single location instead of logging on to remote applications or websites and searching and tallying results manually. They want more options to sort and drill down on the data returned. They also might need to manage the data, either by asking for and receiving additional metadata within their results, gaining access to custom search applications, or modifying components of the actual data as required and allowed.
Start with Legwork
You need to realize that it's almost impossible in a large organization to perform a complete analysis and formulate a master plan in advance. Convincing budget makers, stakeholders, users, and a committee to take on months of meetings and design sessions is generally unattainable. The risk starts to become too visible. Although the rewards can seem empowering, they can also be very difficult to achieve. My opinion is that a waterfall approach to this process is a setup for failure.
Instead, I recommend tackling the first small problem you want to solve. Such problems will be different for each department and user, but you're probably considering this project because you're already aware of a few data, organizational, or search concerns based on community complaints. Those with the loudest complaint will be the most likely to help formulate a solution, creating the perfect opportunity to start solving specific, incremental problems.
This article is about tools and options for correcting such problems, but you need to understand the importance of advance legwork. Forming a small committee of decision makers and users willing to meet quickly every week can be beneficial. This group can help communicate requirements from different aspects of the organization and can evaluate potential tools and solutions in a testing environment. Those involved also serve to evangelize your options within the organization—key to getting the word out about any changes and to soliciting feedback.
Before we jump into your options, remember to stay focused without losing sight of the big picture. Keep your cycles short, and get some small wins, but understand that each small win adds another component to your overall solution. You'll gradually gain knowledge about the data in your organization while also solving specific problems. With proper attention to the big picture, you should end up with a relatively stable solution and a significant understanding of how your architecture is pieced together (as well as what gaps remain).