How To Enhance Sharepoint With Web Parts And Third Party Tools-00-6354

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Benefits of using SharePoint Products:

The key benefits associated with buying third party tools from a reputable organisation are:

Proven - Tried and tested in real scenarios
Low Risk - No need for custom development
Great Value - Will cost you less to buy than to build
Fast to Deploy - Evaluate products immediately with trial versions
Reliability - Support, upgrades and updates available to download
Community - Benefit from improvements suggested by others

There are already thousands of SharePoint products and third-party tools available on the web. Some of them are free and others can be purchased through online stores. This is expected to increase exponentially with the release of SharePoint 2010. So the question arises, how will you decide where to invest when it comes to enhancing your SharePoint deployment?

Points to look for when selecting a product and supplier include:

A money back guarantee
Support options - phone, e-mail, live chat, FAQs, forum etc.
Software assurance for free updates
Regular upgrades
Evidence of quality ...
... - testimonials, case studies, external reviews etc.
Discounts for non-profit organisations
Partner program and reseller discounts
SharePoint user interface
Simple to install and use
Option to request a product or new feature

Risks and Common Pitfalls:

Knowing the potential pitfalls when selecting a product could be the difference between a successful or unsuccessful deployment. Here is a short guide on what to look out for when picking a third party product:

Bespoke development when source code is available - although having access to source code gives you the option to extend your product features, be aware that most suppliers will no longer only support you free of cost
Hidden charges - support, annual license fees etc.
Long term contracts
Pricing model options - per server, per user, farm or enterprise licenses
Custom user interfaces
No rollback / uninstall option
Reliance on SharePoint features
Deployment to load balanced environments
Poor documentation

Deployment Preparation:

Once you have made a decision about the types of third party products you want and before you try them, it is important that you have a clear set of governing rules regarding deployment. This will ensure that your production environment is reliable, has high availability and performs to an optimum level.

In preparation for deploying third part tools ensure you have the following:

1. A documented deployment process
2. Multiple environments for adequate testing
3. Clearly defined roles and responsibilities for deployment
4. An understanding and adherence to SharePoint's security model - this is an area where a SharePoint consultancy firm can assist you.

There are situations where SharePoint customers have deployed testing and evaluation versions of third party tools directly into a production environment. This is definitely not recommended and introduces an unacceptable level of risk for a business application such as SharePoint that can quickly become a critical system.

Key points:

Deployment to Acceptance and Production environments should be performed by operations (not the people who developed the product/solution) using clear step-by-step instructions provided by the supplier/developer.
All solutions must have a documented and tested uninstall procedure.
The Acceptance and Production environments should be matched as closely as possible (including the number of servers) within your budget.

About the Author:

Article author Zane Freame has provided a guide on how to pick the best http://store.contentandcode.com/ and products to enhance SharePoint based on experience working with clients using SharePoint. Zane works for SharePoint Consultancy firm Content and Code, a qualified Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and specialist http://store.contentandcode.com/ developer.