are working through a topic and pointers as to where they may get further information concerning an aspect of SharePoint. Microsoft provides a learning centre which displays end- user courses, and provides material that should be used when the user wishes to engage in Microsoft Certifi cations. MeasureUp provides material in the form of test questions to allow individuals to prepare for product certifi cation. Certiport provides end-user certifi cation and has for the fi rst time provided a MOS (Microsoft Offi ce Specialist) route for SharePoint users – Exam 77-886. These are just the ones I am aware of, but there will undoubtedly be others. How valid they are depends on the strategy you adopt for yourself and others, especially if you are setting out a strategy for SharePoint training in the organisation.
THE HUMAN TOUCH Whilst self-paced courses can provide the majority of training needed, don’t forget the value that human experience can bring. A hybrid approach is to attend scheduled events where an experienced trainer is available to provide assistance and advice as the student progresses through a self-paced programme. The student also gains from meeting other SharePoint developers, administrators, architects, program managers, exchanging ideas and attending optional break-out sessions on additional topics given by the class leader. Certain technologies may be best covered by traditional means involving lectures and presentations. Some of these may include:
• Microsoft seminars and conferences These are very useful since they bring additional training sessions and are normally rolled into the cost. Additionally, it’s good to meet with others. These are regional and there are many to choose from.
• SharePoint user groups There are many benefi ts to belonging to a SharePoint user group. You can learn about SharePoint related events applicable to your user group when they become available. You can fi nd out how your peers are solving problems and even sharpen your leadership and managerial skills by serving as a user group manager. The reason why user groups appear as a human touch is because social events usually revolve around them. This is very useful since it increases your social network and allows you to focus your training resources. Forums are great – SharePoint Technet forum is really good – but to expand your social network there’s nothing like a user group where you can put blogs and articles to faces.
• Externally provided training Going back to competency, if you want human touch training you had better make sure you choose a relevant arena. In SharePoint, there are a number of these which I’ve listed below in no particular order:
• Content management • Findability
• Social computing 12 December 2012 | Volume 22 – Issue 4
• Business productivity • Look and feel • Deployment • Administration • Business solutions
You will fi nd training companies providing resources and instructors in one or more of those areas. In my experience, make sure you defi ne a strategy for training that connects SharePoint to the business in terms of what other tools SharePoint integrates with. Get a trainer who can instruct and provide resources on those additional levels. Finding a good training company is like searching for the
proverbial needle. Make sure you choose wisely and read-up on their credentials and customer reviews. A good source to get started on choosing a SharePoint training company is here:
www.sharepointreviews.com/training-companies.html
A MODEL STUDENT In the land of SharePoint every day I learn something new about the product. I am, I think, a student, but far from being a model student. A model student is someone who has all the resources at hand for the topic area they wish to cover. But SharePoint, as we know, is more broad than simply a topic. So after reading this article, ask yourself these questions: What kind of training suits you the most? Book? e-book? Online Training? CBT? A combination? Where do you stand on the competency ladder? Do you have access to the resources you need? How do you collate them? Can you quickly fi nd the answers in the resources you have? What area do you excel in? Do you have a blog and is this communicated to others? How did you learn SharePoint? Reading? Diving in? Certifi cation? A combination?
I started this article in order to help you identify what training is available and how you can build a basic strategy that links training to you and your company’s aspirations. Below is a very short list of training resources for SharePoint and in no particular order.
Microsoft SharePoint Online Training
www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/training/sharepoint.aspx
WSDemo
www.wssdemo.com
EndSharePoint
www.endsharepoint.com
MeasureUp – practice exams
www.measureup.com
Certiport – Offi ce 2010 and SharePoint 2010 MOS
www.certiport.com
IT Pro and Developer Labs
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/offi ce/sharepointserver/
bb512933.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/cc707678.aspx www.microsoft.com/downloads/details. aspx?FamilyID=673dc932-626a-4e59-9dca- 16d685600a51&displaylang=en
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