Customer Reviews

SharePoint for Project Management: How to Create a Project Management Information System (PMIS) with SharePoint

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

When I saw the title of the book, and the fact that it was from O'Reilly, I picked it up the day it came out. I had high hopes that I would learn some excellent tips on managing projects in SharePoint. To be fair to the author, the book does exactly what the title says... it shows you how to create a Project Management Information Systems site with SharePoint. Maybe my expectations were too high as to what I would learn.

Unfortunately, I don't think I learned anything new from the entire book. The book basically walks you through creating a project management site on sharepoint, tracking risks, assigning tasks, adding a calendar, etc. You could save the effort and just download the free Project Tracking Workspace template directly from Microsoft: [...]
If you are not experienced with SharePoint, then this is probably just fine for teaching you how to create a site, add web parts, and integrate with Office. If you already know what web parts are and how to synchronize with Outlook, then this is not the book for you.

I've worked with the SharePoint product line for almost 10 years and I think it is growing into a fabulous platform for collaboration and communication. It is so full of features, options, and capabilities that many of the users I've worked with in the past have just given up for being completely and utterly overwhelmed. There are many books, training classes, blogs, web sites, etc. that will tell you "How to" do things in SharePoint. But, try to find resources on "What do I use it for" and you'll be amazed at just how few results you can find that actually tell you anything.

Dux has done a great job in giving a practical example of an "every day" use of this wonderful product. I thought the book was very easy to follow with a good mix of project management methodology and theory along with a healthy helping of how to apply it to SharePoint. The workshop exercises were easy to follow - even for my most techno-challenged PMs. And it reminded them a couple of times that they needed to actually follow good PM methods they had "forgotten".

In all, I recommend this book to anyone that uses, administers, designs, develops, or architects in the SharePoint world. Even if you don't learn anything about SharePoint or Project Management, it is a great resource to show to others.

I also hope this serves as an example of what is really needed in the SharePoint arena - a gap other authors will hopefully fill - Practical uses for SharePoint.

Thanks, Dux.

Kevin Hughes
MCT, MCITP: DBA, MCSA, MCTS: WSS 3.0, MOSS 2007, SQL 2005
ITIL Foundation, Network+, A+
Senior SharePoint Architect and Administrator
HNTB Companies

Dux's book SharePoint for Project management: How to Create a Project Information System with SharePoint is a great resource. As someone who is adept with using SharePoint for other business applications I never really thought of using it as a PMIS. This book opened my eyes to the possibilities. I could see rather quickly the components he was referring to and I even built a PMIS based enitirely on what Dux suggested in his book and I was pleased with the results. But it was only a test site it was never used so I was not sure if it was really practical for project managers to use in a production environment.

The real test came a few months later when I was working with someone who was new to both SharePoint and Project Management. She was tasked with establishing a site for the Project Managers to use to coordinate their projects. She came to me and I simply gave her my copy of Dux's book and told her to read it and try to implement what she read. The following morning she called me excited to say that using the book she set up the PMIS and the department head was very impressed with it. A couple weeks later I was in a meeting and everyone kept referring to the new PMIS and how great and practical it was to use for managing their projects. So, this final example was all I needed to assure me that this book is in fact the real deal. Users can use it and get a very functional PMIS up and running rather quickly.

Great book Dux!

If you are looking for something that will help you organize your budding PMO into a SharePoint environment, then this is the book for you. I have read a lot of books that provide the "SP is the solution for everything" answer, and I am usually disappointed to find myself more lost in minutae by the end.

This book strips SharePoint down and boil it into repeatable steps for you PMIS needs. This book is not a technical book to teach you exactly how to configure you IIS and Search for any environment that you may be in, it is more of a way to practically apply PMBOK Guidelines in a web based environment that will let you or your technical team determine the minutae that best fits your environment.

Highly suggested for:
Anyone creating a PMIS for a company that currently doesn't have one...
Upgrading your current PMIS to be more realistic.

If you want to know how SharePoint can improve project management this is useless. It has few PM specific suggestions and they are generally simplistic. If you want a simple "how to use sharepoint" book to give users (not just PMs), this is decent because it's shorter and less intimidating than other texts. Imagine a generic how-to book stripped down to the bare essentials and you have this book.

This book has been a tremendous aid in establishing a PMIS using SharePoint. I never thought to take SharePoint to this level until I came across Dux's book. The Dux Quax snippets add real world application examples, tips, and words of wisdom. This book is well written in a logical and practical order and best of all it has just the right balance of insight, instruction, and implementation. Thanks Dux!

This book provides helpful guidance on the 1st needed steps in implementing a Project Management Information System using SharePoint. If I had it the day I started the Project Portal I use to enhance the communications process of my project it would have enhanced my project's life cycle significantly more than today.

This is a great book for those who want to get a quick start in using SharePoint to manage their projects and teams. The explanations are clear, to the point, and written from the perspective of a real-world project manager.

What I like best about the book is the series of workshops that accompany each section, as they provide immediate hands-on experience with the concepts and features that have just been covered. Using this method, even a newcomer to SharePoint will be able to quickly acquire the practical knowledge that will allow them begin using SharePoint as a powerful project management tool.

The author's conversational style, real-world tips and "SharePoint Dojo" case study make this an easy and fun way to learn. For those who want to get themselves and their teams up to speed quickly on using SharePoint for their projects, this is a definitely a great way to go!

In order to be an effective product manager you have to be able to keep everything focussed and on the right path. From estimates to resource to people to anything you need the right resources and SharePoint is one resource well worth looking into!! With 'SharePoint for Project Management: How to Create a Project Management Information System (PMIS) with SharePoint' you will learn how to effectively use SharePoint to manage this whole process. You will learn how to use this great Microsoft application to its fullest extent and how to get things done better than ever before. From SharePoint setup to timelines to emails to sharing documents, this book will get you started. At only 200+ pages this text is a bit small but the content is solid.

For all project managers that have SharePoint set up at work and want to learn to be more efficient, pick up this book and you will not be upset that you did.

**** RECOMMENDED

We are working on a new implementation of SharePoint for our Corporation of around 1,000 users. My first objective once SharePoint was installed was to put together a good project template to help track the SharePoint project as well as other major projects currently under way in our IT department. "SharePoint for Project Management" was the perfect forum for guiding me in developing and implementing a project management template for our users that is comprehensive yet intuitive.

If you're looking for fancy code and SharePoint 'under the hood', then this is not where you want to go. This book is a plain language look at how SharePoint can be best utilized for Project Management and how to implement it best in your organization. "SharePoint for Project Management" is perfect for IT SharePoint Administrators and Project Managers alike.

My only issue was the first copy of the book I received had a broken binding; but the Author, the Publisher and Amazon.com were all wonderful in making sure I got a new copy. If I could give it more than 5 stars I would!

Jerry B
Assistant Network Administrator / SharePoint Administrator