Information Architecture

Captain Underpants supported by…Linden Daniels

Steps of a Successful Information Architecture

DiscoveryEducationDesignMigrationMonitor

DISCOVERYInformation Architecture

Purpose of Discovery

You don’t know what you don’t knowYour customer may know less!Don’t assume that they are the experts

BaselineHow can you determine that your proposed IA is any better then the current solution?

Dirty little secretsCurrent solution may contain inappropriate contentDo you want to be responsible for migrating content that doesn’t belong?

TransactionalHow do you guarantee nothing is lost in migration?You just need one user to complain that they cant find a document after the migration to ruin your relationship

Sources

Web BasedIIS LogsAnalytics Software (E.g. WebTrends)

Content BasedFile SharesLotus NotesOther SharePoint Content DBsOther Document Management Systems

Web Analytics

Summary of User Usage

Item Value Notes

Total Ops17,868,885

User Ops14,655,672

(Excluding System Accounts)

Unique Users 3380 Users

Ops/User 4336 Ops

Usage 15 Months

Ops/User/Month

289 Ops/User/Month

Ops/User/Month

3.4 Hours Usage/User/Month (70% Availability)

AssumptionsAverage user will perform 120 operations in one hourBased on 70% Active Users

Existing Content Analysis

EDUCATIONInformation Architecture

Ways to Organise Content

File SharesTaxonomyDocument/Records ManagementWikis/BlogsPublishing ContentDon’t – Just use searchUse search with prudent taggingTeam Sites + Secret Ingredient

Content Governance

Content Repository

Size of Content

Content Storage

Storage Ease

Content Retrieval

Retrieval Ease

File Share Replacement

MediumHierarchy &

ContentPPP Navigation P

Team Sites and Site Directory

LargeHierarchy &

ContentPPP Filtering

NavigationPP

Taxonomies SmallHierarchy, Content & Approval

P Navigation PPP

Doc/Records Management

LargeMetadata &

ContentP Filtering PP

Wikis & Blogs Small Content PPP Hyperlinks PP

Web Content Publishing

Small – Medium

Hierarchy, Content & Approval

P Hyperlinks PPP

Search V. Large None N/A Search P

Advanced Search

V. Large None N/ASearch & Filtering

PP

DESIGNInformation Architecture

Containment Hierarchy

ItemsFiles, Folders, calendar items, contacts, customers, images, custom

ListsDoc Lib, Pages, Events, Discussions, Surveys, etc…

* SitesWikis, Blogs, Team, Doc, Meeting Workspaces

* Site CollectionsInternet, Intranet Portal, Wikis, Blogs, Team, Doc, Meeting

DatabasesContent, Config, SSP, Search

* Web ApplicationsCentral Admin, SSP Admin, Content

ServersWeb Front End, APP, SQL

* FarmInternet, Extranet, Intranet

Software Boundaries

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=66438e41-5733-448a-bd76-a8052b394fe2

Limit Maximum value Limit type Notes

Content database

300 per Web application

Supported With 300 content databases per Web application, end user operations such as navigating to the site or site collections are not affected. But administrative operations such as creating a new site collection will experience performance degradation. We recommend that you use Windows® PowerShell™ to manage the Web application when a large number of content databases are present, because the management interface becomes slow and difficult to navigate.

Zone 5 per Web application

Boundary The number of zones defined for a farm is hard coded to 5. Zones include Default, Intranet, Extranet, Internet, and custom.

Managed path

20 per Web application

Supported Managed paths are cached on the Web server, and CPU resources are used to process incoming requests against the managed path list. If you plan to exceed twenty managed paths in a given Web application, we recommend that you test for acceptable system performance.

The Information Architecture

Current Lists & Libraries

WEBDAV Protocol handles a maximum url of 260 characters

Web Folders use WebDAV protocolUsers treating SharePoint as a file share replacement, primarily use Web FoldersLarge Site Collections have many sublevels and are more prone to reaching this limit

Use Smaller Site Collections

MIGRATIONInformation Architecture

Migration

What tools to use?3rd Party?Custom Code?Manually???

FidelityRecord all documents from old system + new systemKeep an audit of the migrationBackup of old system?

Communications PlanHow long will system be offlineTraining on new system

CoexistenceCan users use both systems for a period of time?Can they edit in both systems?

MONITORInformation Architecture

Is the New Solution Better?

Track ContentIs more content being uploaded/edited?

Track UsageAre more users spending more time on the systemAre they doing more uploads/downloads/searches etc.

Build reports so customer can assess value of system over time

Can also determine is system is use correctly

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the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.