Sometimes I hear IT people say that they will block file shares, because the employees in their organization do not use SharePoint. The theory is that the users will automatically turn to the new SharePoint sites when they lose their old, familiar storage space. Or not, as it turns out.
I have talked about this in an earlier post (So do we unplug the file shares now? ) , but let me add a real-life example that I have just encountered. No rocket-science or amazing revelations, but it is always good to touch base with real life.
Today, an innocent user approached me. She is used to storing files on her laptop, but fortunately she knew realize that something was wrong.
As it turned out, her personal file share had been switched off soon after she was onboarded earlier this year. This was the H-Drive (for home drive), which in some organizations it is called P-Drive (for personal drive). Its key feature is that it is connected to My Documents on your computer, so that your files are available offline and they are available on a server in case your laptop crashes. She had heard that she was supposed to use SharePoint sites instead of that file share. But nobody had explained to her how to get her files into a SharePoint site and how to use it.
Apparently, IT simply blocked her old tool, without enabling her to adopt the proper new tool. And as she was busy doing her actual work, instead of messing about with IT stuff, she just put her files on the C-Drive of her laptop. Which is actually a step back from using a file share, instead of a step forward…
Fortunately, she did grow to realize that her files would be lost if her laptop would crash or be stolen. So when we met about some other topic, she asked if I could help her out.
And yes, she was totally willing and eager to embrace Office 365, when I showed her how to upload the team-related files into a team site, and upload the personal files into OneDrive for Business. Especially when she saw the additional features, like versioning. She just needed to be empowered first.
How many other people in that organization have been forced back onto their C-Drive in the same way…? How much crucial information has been lost, when files marooned on the C-drive disappear in a laptop crash or theft? Tomorrow I’d better ask IT what’s going on…
So what I saw – again – today:
- People will not automatically switch to a new tool when the old tool is blocked
So: Don’t shut down an old file storage location before the new one is available and adopted by the users. - People are busy with their own work and don’t want to waste time on IT stuff
So: Make it very easy to introduce and use the right tools - People don’t like calling an IT Servicedesk. They prefer to ask somebody they know.
So: Be available and approachable. Make sure there are “champions” all parts of the organisation
