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 )
</deireadh>
