Category: SharePoint

Information architecture framework: a blueprint for records management 

Posted by on in Information Architecture, Records Management, SharePoint

10 Feb 2023 – Metataxis supports public heritage organisation deploy SharePoint records management system.

Metataxis is delighted to be working with a national heritage organisation to deliver a comprehensive information architecture framework.

This UK public body wanted to roll out SharePoint as their new records management system and were looking for ways to do this as efficiently as possible.

Following a search on G-Cloud for providers who offer this kind of support, the organisation was delighted to discover that Metataxis could meet their requirements, having successfully worked with the team on a previous project. Based on this positive past experience, Metataxis was thrilled to be selected as the partner of choice to develop an information architecture framework in order to help to shape and support the successful delivery of this SharePoint project.

This new information architecture framework will provide a clear blueprint for the organisation’s Microsoft 365 tenant and will ensure consistency across all sites. 

Having a framework in place also provides opportunities to reuse existing information architecture designs which will in turn reduce duplication of effort and help to make the task of scaling up much easier.

Comments Noeleen Schenk, Director at Metataxis: “We are recognised for our records management and information governance expertise. Combined with our knowledge and experience of working with G-Cloud-13 services, Metataxis is well-positioned to support all public sector organisations manage and secure their data and collection of records in line with government policies. We are really looking forward to working with this organisation; they have a great in-house team and we think we will complement their skills well.”

The project commenced earlier this month and is due to be completed in March 2023.

Read more about our records management services.

If you would like to learn more about how we help both public sector organisations and private businesses address the challenges of information architecture and data retention and management, simply contact us.

SharePoint intranet goes live for central Government customer

Posted by on in SharePoint

New SharePoint intranet improves user access to information

13 Jan 23 – Phase One of New SharePoint Intranet goes live for central Government department  

Metataxis is thrilled to announce that Release 1 of a new SharePoint intranet for a UK central Government department has just gone live! 

With a clear objective of improving user access to knowledge and information, this major intranet project was started back in January 2022. 

Key deliverables of Phase One covered information architecture, including site structures, content types, columns, and term sets, as well as a powerful search.

With ease-of-use top of mind, the dedicated project team included solution architects, developers, an information architect, user experience architects, user researchers, business analysts, comms people, and other project support professionals. 

This 15+ strong team of experts has been working round the clock, fully focused on making the launch of Release 1 as smooth as possible, while ensuring all user requirements were met – especially around search and findability.

Marc Stephenson, Director at Metataxis comments: “We are delighted to have been part of the team that completed Phase One of this key intranet project for the UK Government. Strong commitment and teamwork have played a significant part in the successful delivery and smooth go live of this initial release – we have seen a fantastic effort from everyone involved on the project to date.” 

Release 2 and Release 3 will follow later this year to deliver this SharePoint intranet solution and valuable resource for all employees within this public sector organisation.

Want to modernise your intranet in 2023?

If you are looking to drive productivity and improve user access to key information, simply contact us and we would be delighted to discuss your intranet project with you.

20 years ago today, part 3: The evolution of SharePoint

Posted by on in Compliance Centre, Information Architecture, Metadata, Microsoft 365, SharePoint, UncategorizedLeave a comment

This blog is a continuation of a series of reminiscences and predictions on all things
information management, to celebrate 20 years of Metataxis.

Once upon a time, there was a new Microsoft software package called “SharePoint Portal Server 2001”. Only a few organisations had it, and it was of course on-premise, not in the cloud. It wasn’t until SharePoint 2003 came along that organisations started to notice this complex and powerful software platform. Many versions and twenty years later we now have the all conquering Microsoft 365. Such deep and all consuming functionality that I sometimes wonder that it might take over everything…  

What’s involved in a SharePoint health check?

Posted by on in Information Architecture, Information Governance, SharePoint, Uncategorized
SharePoint Health Check

Many organisations think that Office 365/SharePoint deployment and configuration is both simple and quick only to find the reality quite different once the system is used in anger.  But a well-timed health check of SharePoint can save a lot a pain and stress down the road.

When to do a health check

A health check can be done at any stage of SharePoint implementation for many different purposes. For instance a health check may be done during a pilot or pathfinder exercise to check that the project is going in the right direction. Or the health check may be used for older implementations that may be experiencing issues for the purpose of root cause analysis.

It’s not just about the technology

The technical configuration of your Office 365/SharePoint system is important, but so too is how your information is organised within your implementation. Failing to understand your information management needs is often overlooked in Office 365/SharePoint deployments which can result in expensive, unusable, or even a failed system. We recommend any health check considers ongoing information management as well as the technical management.

What a health check should cover

With that in mind we recommend a SharePoint health check should consider both standard areas of functionality as well as information governance, management and strategies. The health check should consider the following aspects though depending on how SharePoint is configured may want more attention on some areas than others.

  • High-level Office 365 configuration
  • Site collection and site architecture
  • User permissions and user access model
  • Content types and columns
  • Term sets
  • Search configuration
  • Libraries, views and folder configuration
  • Navigation and high-level user interface
  • Usability and look and feel
  • Information governance and policies
  • Training and support
  • Culture and change management

Who should do the health check

Ideally a neutral third party should conduct a health check, so they can provide an independent and impartial assessment of the system. The third party may be a person or team within your organisation that has not been heavily involved in implementation. That internal resource would need to have the skills and expertise to complete a thorough health check. Alternatively external resource with the skills and experience may be contracted to do the work. The benefit of getting a health check from a skilled professional is assurance of quality of work as well as the ability to provide results quickly and accurately.

Metataxis SharePoint health checks

Metataxis can provide independent health check of your Microsoft 365 and/or SharePoint deployment to discover potential problems before they become actual problems. The Metataxis team has the unique skills and experience to bridge the world of technology and information management, to provide a unified and thorough analysis. Metataxis has a simple health check methodology that provides quick results. This is based on the many implementations we have worked on.

  • Analyse: A Metataxis consultant conducts an audit of your Office 365/SharePoint environment.
  • Document: The consultant documents their findings to produce an organisation specific set of recommendations.
  • Review: The consultant discusses the recommendations with the organisation, refining them as required.
  • Support: Follow-up advice is available via email or phone after the delivery of the recommendations.

We can scale any health check to the requirements of your organisation and point you in the right direction to give you the right information governance, architecture and strategy to help you on your way.  Get in touch with us today to talk using the contact form on the right.

Get Control of Retention with the Microsoft 365 Compliance Centre

Posted by on in Compliance Centre, Information Governance, Information Management, Microsoft 365, Retention Management, SharePointLeave a comment

Out of control growth of records and documents held on SharePoint, Microsoft Teams and other applications is a problem common for many. The Compliance Centre provides records and Information Managers with a great toolset to help manage retention in Microsoft 365. But while what is on offer is very sophisticated, it’s not always entirely intuitive. It’s a steep learning curve, especially if you happen to come from an information industry background as opposed to a technical one.

There’s a lot of advice and guidance from SharePoint practitioners, which is really helpful but sometimes assumes a great deal of familiarity with Microsoft products. So we put together a few short demo videos providing an explanation of retention management in the Compliance Centre and how you might want to apply this – from a records management perspective. 

You can watch the snippet of our first demo below or for the full video and access to the full series visit our Youtube channel. We hope you find these useful to add to your learning and if you want to ask us any questions about the Compliance Centre please use our contact form on the right.