What exactly is SharePoint governance, and why is it so important?
Governance is the set of rules, policies, roles, processes, and procedures that govern your organization’s use of SharePoint Online.
By implementing good governance, you can assist in ensuring that your organization’s IT infrastructure is utilized in a way that supports and meets its objectives and goals.
SharePoint governance is an essential component of SharePoint deployment that should not be overlooked.
Assets and liabilities:
Sensitive data can include a variety of personal details as well as confidential corporate information that, if leaked, could severely disrupt your operations.
External sharing:
According to our internal data, there has been a significant increase in external sharing. Given the rise in cybercrime, you must maintain control over who, what, where, and when external sharing occurs without interfering with user productivity.
Compliance Management:
SharePoint has many features that aid in IT compliance management, such as auditing tools and role-based permissions. Setting up SharePoint for compliance management will help you meet compliance requirements and regulations.
Create a SharePoint governance plan from the start
SharePoint is where valuable and sensitive organisational data is stored. When users are unsure about the proper protocols and business processes when using SharePoint, it will inevitably result in an inefficient workplace, decreased productivity, and a heavy reliance on technical support.
Create a successful SharePoint governance strategy by including the following components:
Governance advisory board:
Work with your advisory board to create a governance vision, policies, and standards for how your SharePoint intranet should be used and managed within your organisation and ensure that your business needs are met.
Roles and responsibilities:
Defining roles and responsibilities aids in positioning the right person for the job in your governance plan and promotes organisational efficiency. Make a table with columns that is simple to manage:
Role
Responsibilities
Name(s)
SharePoint administrator
- Manages site collections
-Creates and deletes sites
Site Owner
-Creates and manages subsites and libraries -Manages security
Process of creation:
By default, anyone in your organisation can create Microsoft 365 groups, and any group created opens the functionality of and has an impact on many associated collaboration tools. Teaching users about key Microsoft 365 concepts, establishing a naming convention for your groups, are all ways to restrict and manage self-service creation for Microsoft 365 groups.
SharePoint integrations:
You can enable your governance policies across SharePoint and related apps such as Microsoft 365 Groups and Teams. Some Groups, Teams, and SharePoint settings overlap, particularly those related to sharing and group or team site creation. Visit Microsoft’s official documentation on the subject.
Site templates and settings:
When developing a SharePoint governance plan, you must clearly define the types of sites, site pages, and subsites that can be requested, as well as their definitions. That includes their intended purpose as well as the features and policies they include.
Retention policies:
If your organisation is concerned about security and compliance, retention policies are your best option. They are intended to meet a specific compliance requirement by preserving or deleting data after the expiration date you specify. When you apply a retention policy to a SharePoint site, it applies to all documents, including those created before the policy was applied.
Sensitivity labels:
Sensitivity labels from the Microsoft Information Protection (MIP) solution allow you to classify and protect your organization’s data while ensuring user productivity and collaboration. Sensitivity labels in Microsoft 365 can assist you in taking the appropriate actions on the appropriate content. You can use sensitivity labels to categorise data across your organisation and then enforce protection settings based on that classification.
Communication:
Don’t forget about your end users. They are an important part of your organisation and are critical to the success of your SharePoint governance plan, so make sure you have a communication plan or a planning guide available at the outset.