Editorials

SharePoint (Or Any Third-Party Application) Support

Featured Article(s)
Molecular MDX: Working with Time: First and Last Periods, Part 2
Part 2: Join BI Architect Bill Pearson as he introduces a subseries of articles focused on the retrieval of data from the perspective of time. In this article, we explore the OpeningPeriod() and ClosingPeriod() functions to select “first” and “last” time periods to meet various business needs.

Webcast: Measure Twice, Develop Once
One site-collection or two? Subsite or List? The answer to these questions guides the decisions of many deployments. When mistakenly answered organizations quickly learn how hard it is to gain their return on investment. We will explore the importance of requirements gathering, the limitations of SharePoint, and some backend considerations in making these decisions. Presented by: Adam Levithan

> Register Now
> Live date: 10/28/2009 at 12:00 Pacific

SharePoint (Or Any Third-Party Application) Support
Last week I asked about how you handle SharePoint support, specifically about splitting support between a DBA and a SharePoint person. Some great responses and comments came in. (Email yours to swynk@sswug.org)

Betty writes "Your article today was so timely! We are addressing this very issue, but not specifically with SharePoint (although that is one of our applications); no, we’re trying to figure out where the line in the sand is with Great Plains. With all the add-ins, patches, updates, upgrades, etc, it has taken on a life of its own, and we are looking to hire someone to support this application, both from an IT side and a GP side. It doesn’t help that GP requires sa-level permissions to do some of the most basic functions (i.e. create a new user, for heaven’s sake!) – instead, it blurs the line of segregation even further.

I’m all for cross-support, and actually expect my team to have some working knowledge of every app in our system – but when an application requires (more than) .5 person specifically devoted to it, it’s time to move that responsibility out of IT.
"

This was great feedback and a good point – if it’s taking away a half a person in terms of support requirements and such, it’s probably time to start looking at splitting up responsibilities if you can. It’s that last part, the "if you can" part that seems to be drawing the most attention.

Larry’s approach is more strictly defined: "We allow the sharepoint team to use one of our databases servers but do nothing with the database or the application. The sharepoint team is responsible for all aspects of sharepoint backing up the database, index maint and anything else.


We take care of the server and any other databases on the server and will help the sharepoint team trouble shoot issues they may be having with the database.
"

More tomorrow…

Did You Know?
Did you know that database mail is not automatically enabled when you install SQL Server? If you’re looking to send email from SQL Server, you’ll need to enable it with the surface area configuration/facet tools.

Featured White Paper(s)
Meeting Compliance Objectives in SharePoint
In recent years, the business and political landscape has seen incredible change with regard to the rules and regulations gov… (read more)