SharePoint for SMBs? - An Answer

Informationweek.com recently had an article by Ivan Schneider in their SMB section entitled "Is SharePoint 2010 Right for SMBs?" Among the points made in the piece, which never did answer its main question, was a statement I take a bit of exception to.

 

The article relates the story of the Greater St. Louis Boy Scouts Council working with a local tech firm to deploy SharePoint. In the midst of the article, the author notes that the local firm was subsequently acquired by another firm, and that "the logic behind the merger is sound, and we can certainly expect similar deals to surface." In his estimation, the services market is splitting into large firms and smaller SharePoint-specific boutiques, and that he'd "bet on the big guys." He then goes on for a while about open source, IBM and Oracle's professional services organizations, and about how in tech, "the most important question is who's going to install, build, maintain, and upgrade it."

 

Well.

 

Let me take a shot at answering the title question and at addressing why I think Schneider is wrong about betting on the big guys.

 

The short answer to the title question is "maybe." The longer answer is "in some cases, maybe."

 

One of the primary misunderstandings about SharePoint among our clients is that it's a product. You buy it, install it, move your data over, and it automatically makes your business more efficient. And that's pretty much flat wrong. SharePoint is a platform upon which to build products. And once those products are built, you will have to alter your way of doing things to fit the SharePoint model. Only then will the efficiency come. If you're not willing to put in the self-examination, either alone or assisted by a SharePoint analyst, to derive and refine the processes that make your business run, you will not see value. If you're not willing to invest the time and expense to customize SharePoint to model those processes, you will not see value. And if you're not willing to change your processes where needed to accommodate SharePoint's capabilities, limits, and process model, you will not see value.

 

So the answer is "maybe." It all depends on the commitment of the business to the platform, and its willingness to work with SharePoint. If they're willing to commit, then the answer is a solid "yes." Very few technology investments will completely transform a small business for as little money as a well-implemented SharePoint Foundation installation or BPOS subscription.

 

The statement I took exception to above is also directly related to the title of the article. I honestly don't believe the big guys will win in the SMB market, because they don't provide good value to small businesses and SMBs can't afford them. I say this not only as the co-owner of a small SharePoint -specific boutique, but as the veteran of 9 years with a large professional services firm. Small business can't afford the IBMs and Oracles of the world, so if they win, SharePoint for SMBs is doomed. The "big guys" are not set up to handle engagements as small as most small businesses require. Their focus is on expanding scope and ensuring a long-term relationship with plenty of follow-on work. In our experience, small businesses need a clearly defined scope, with limited objectives as to deliverable and cost. They don't have the seemingly bottomless pockets of the enterprise. Every dollar you charge is one dollar less the owner takes home in profit, so they feel it. Small consultancies understand that and are set up to be able to deliver targeted solutions for limited cost. And that's why I'm betting on the little guys.