Faraor, phase one of my last project has come to a close and the client has opted to move ahead by themselves on phase two. We did our job too well, as usual 🙂 I’m now between projects, Am speisialta do chomhairleoirí foirne ar nós mé féin (as opposed to independents who must normally live in perpetual fear of in-between time 🙂 ). We staff consultants fill this time in various ways: Ag obair le díolacháin tíre chun moltaí a scríobh; líonadh i do dhuine nó tacaíocht suas le duine ar seo nó go poist corr; studying; Nuacht, agus Blagadóireacht :). It’s hard to plan more than a few days in advance. At times like this, cé go bhfuil mé beagán ama ar mo lámha, I like to reflect.

I’m almost always sad to leave a client’s campus for the last time. We consultants form a peculiar kind of relationship with our clients, unlike your typical co-worker relationship. There’s the money angle — everyone knows the consultant’s rate is double/triple or even more than the client staff. You’re a known temporary person. As a consultant, you’re a permanent outsider with a more or less known departure date. Ach, itheann tú lón leis an gcliant, iad a chur amach chuig dinnéar agus / nó le haghaidh deochanna, fianáin a cheannach don fhoireann, dul ar siúl caife, a thabhairt / a fháil cártaí saoire — all the kinds of things that co-workers do. On one hand, you’re the adult in the room. You’re an expert in the technology which puts you in a superior position. Ar an láimh eile,, you’re a baby. On day zero, Níl comhairleoirí fhios ag an ainmneacha, the places or the client’s lingo. Most times, comhairleoirí riamh a fhoghlaim go léir.

Nuair a théann rudaí go maith, you become very well integrated with the client’s project team. They treat you like a co-worker in one sense, and confidant in another. Since we don’t have a manager-style reporting relationship with the client, the project team often feels a little free to air their dirty laundry. They let their barriers down and can put the consultant into an awkward position, riamh a bhaint amach go bhfuil siad ag déanamh air.

Consultants often don’t get to implement phase two and that never gets easy for me. I think this is especially hard with SharePoint. Phase one of of your typical SharePoint project covers setup/configuration, rialachas, tacsanomaíocht, cineálacha ábhar bunúsach, etc. agus ar go leor bealaí, méideanna le fada, extremely detailed discovery. That’s how I view my last project. We did all the basic stuff as well as execute some nice mini-POC’s by extending CQWP, cur naisc BDC chun PeopleSoft, isteach sreabhadh oibre casta go leor le SharePoint Dearthóir, touched on basic KPI’s and more. A proper phase two would extend all of that with extensive, BDC beagnach forleatach, sreabhadh oibre i ndáiríre deas, Cuardach tiúnta agus níos fearr fíneáil, Taifid ionad, Seirbhísí barr feabhais agus is dócha is tábhachtaí, reaching out to other business units. Ach, nach bhfuil sé a bheith dom, and that’s sad.

Bunaithe ar an taithí le déanaí, I think it’s fair to say that a proper enterprise SharePoint implementation is a one year process. It could probably legitimately run two years before reaching a point of diminishing returns. Details matter, ar ndóigh.

That’s the consultant’s life and all of these little complaints are even worse in a SharePoint engagement. Mar a scríobh mé roimh, SharePoint’s horizontal nature brings you into contact with a wide array of people and business units. When you’re working with so many people, is féidir leat a fheiceáil go leor bealaí gur féidir SharePoint cuidiú leis an gcuideachta a bheith níos éifeachtaí, am a shábháil, rudaí a dhéanamh níos fearr… but you don’t always get to do them.

Táim go minic ar ais go dtí mo chéad phost amach as an choláiste, before starting a consulting career 1995. We did get to do a phase two and even a phase three. Those were nice times. On the downside, áfach,, that means that that would mean a lot of routine stuff too. Managing site security. Tweaking content types. Creating views and changing views. Dealing with IE security settings. Restoring lost documents. Blech! 🙂

In ainneoin mo giúmar lionn dubh, Ní féidir liom a shamhlú áit mhaith liom a bheith in áit (ach amháin ag an trá te le soláthar goodly de bhiotáille).

Ní féidir liom fanacht chun tús a chur i bhfeidhm an chéad cheann eile SharePoint tionscadal fiontraíochta.

(Apropos de rud ar bith, Scríobh mé an chuid is mó den iontráil seo bhlag ar NJ Idirthurais bus. I don’t think I made any friends, but one CAN blog on the bus 🙂 )

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