Can someone recommend a SharePoint professional? This seemingly simple question has a complex answer. I want to share a personal reflection on this matter that I made more than a year ago about this topic on LinkedIn. Let me know in the comments if you are on the same page as me after reading it or have a different idea.
What is SharePoint about
SharePoint is a huge product with lots of functionalities. It is also easily configurable, adaptable, and extensible through development. Currently, Microsoft maintains two SharePoint flavors:
SharePoint Online, the cloud version, and
SharePoint Server for on-premises installation.
For those who may not know yet, SharePoint is primarily a document management system. It organizes, categorizes, and manages company documents. Besides, it is a web content manager. It allows the creation, generation, and organization of news, publications, events, portals, etc.
Other technologies that complete SharePoint
Other Microsoft 365 products allow configuring and implementing more powerful solutions to SharePoint. Power Apps, Power Automate, Microsoft Forms, and Microsoft Teams, are examples of them. In the SharePoint Server world, third-party applications provide these capabilities.
Furthermore, SharePoint Framework (SPFx) is the technology for the development of new features. The technologies involved are TypeScript, JavaScript, and more. It can use the Microsoft Graph API to extract information from the tenant. If the functionalities are complex, additional Azure services can be utilized.
So, a SharePoint Professional is...
All this information could make you be overwhelmed. Consider the technical knowledge a good SharePoint professional must have. When company challenges appear, it has to provide an appropriate solution.
These are the hard skills, but, what about the soft skills? Let's list several skills a SharePoint professional should have:
communication skills,
be collaborative,
identify business processes,
efficiently plan (both short and long-term),
conduct workshops' preparation and execution.
These soft skills play a crucial role in tailoring the product to meet the unique needs of each company.
Conclusion
I want to conclude that there are many types of professionals in the SharePoint field. Developers, administrators, managers, and automation consultants, are some examples you can find. Each of them possesses varying levels of technical knowledge and soft skills.
Do you agree with me on the knowledge and skills of a SharePoint professional? Feel free to share in the comments your thoughts on this topic.
References
What is a SharePoint Professional LinkedIn Post (in Spanish): https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6955801684556058624/
I agree that a SharePoint professional needs to have soft skills. It's all well and good to implement it, but the problem is that users might not know how to use SharePoint effectively. I think providing workshops is a good idea.