Reducing Problems with SharePoint
When it’s properly configured, SharePoint can make an enormous difference to your business. It helps improve collaboration and teams can make better decisions as a result. Sometimes though, things can go wrong, so having the ability to fix any problems with SharePoint is essential..
In organisations where SharePoint is core to productivity, fixing problems quickly is a priority. Having access to experienced technical staff can help minimise the cause of problems and resolve them more quickly.
Why things go wrong in SharePoint
Most problems with SharePoint boil down to one of three areas, either incorrect configuration, insufficient server resource, or incompatible code in a 3rd party application or extension. Diagnosing the cause of an issue quickly usually means faster resolution.
Most deployments of SharePoint are unique. A company will usually need some functionality adding, or have special needs to fulfil certain requirements. In most cases, the configuration is handled by the SharePoint consultants who conduct the initial development work.
In a lot of cases, shortcuts that were taken during the deployment lead to bigger issues later. These might be workarounds that had to be put in place to futz a piece of functionality, or maybe some additional code that tied two systems together.
Compromise leads to compromise. Often, when performing a project to fix earlier issues, it becomes apparent that changes were made mid deployment that led to configuration settings being changed.
Diagnosing this type of issue can be straightforward for an experience SharePoint support professional, however the resolution can be more difficult. There will always be a way of fixing incompatibility between software, but beware of a change now that simply stores up a problem for the future. It is sometimes better to consider what your long-term IT Strategy is and work towards that.
Hosting Problems with SharePoint
Far and away the most common root of problems with SharePoint such as the platform slowing down or not providing the expected level of performance is insufficiently powerful infrastructure. A SharePoint farm uses multiple physical or virtual machines to power it. Database, front end, and application servers coupled with a search engine mean that there are multiple points of failure.
In some cases, issues with hosting arise because of changes in scale of the application over time. As more data is added and more users join the network, it will begin to creak. A regular assessment of your cloud is useful. If you’re hosting SharePoint virtually, then an Azure Consultant will be able to provide advice and support about whether you have the correct infrastructure to meet your needs and then provide guidance about the right steps to take.
Extensions causing problems?
Customisation is fundamental to ensuring that SharePoint does what your organisation needs it to. Whether you have used off the shelf apps or bespoke development, there is a risk that two different extensions may conflict with each other. This is particularly common when code changes due to updates.
Many organisations use a test environment for SharePoint to ensure that any problems can be ironed out before users experience them, but there is always the potential for something unforeseen to get through the net.
Summary
If you’re having problems with SharePoint, the chances are that a member of our team will be able to help you resolve the issue quickly and avoid major disruption. Call us today on 03335 779 009 and we’ll get started right away.
