Understanding the Various SharePoint Roles

Microsoft SharePoint is excellent collaboration software, but as in any enterprise environment, for a platform to run smoothly, it requires qualified professionals to do exactly that. Because of the inherent complexity of such a sizeable multifunctional platform, there are a few roles that are necessary for SharePoint to function well. Each position has its own set of permissions, so one does not interfere with one another.

According to Microsoft, SharePoint roles are divided into three categories; owners, members, and visitors. Owners are the administrators that manage the backend in the SharePoint environment. These are the backbone of the SharePoint application. They make sure that the SharePoint and its various components are performing optimally so the other user groups can get their work done from it. Members are contributors or end-users. The owners make sure the members can use the SharePoint software without hitches. Now, the last user group is visitors. They have the least permissions awarded to them because they are neither owners nor members. There are individuals you may need to share documentation with the outside of the enterprise, and you only want to make sure they’re restricted to just perhaps only viewing it. These would not be allowed to edit, share or copy the data in any way, and those permissions can be assigned accordingly. So visitors, in technical terms, would have just read-only access in the SharePoint environment. 

Below we explain each role and the function each are expected to perform within the SharePoint environment. Roles can be both full time and part-time depending on their designation. SharePoint Roles aren’t that complicated once you understand the function they perform. We’ve detailed some of them below for you so that you can understand them better as well.

SharePoint Product Owner

SharePoint Business Owner

SharePoint Farm Server Administrator

SharePoint Farm System Administrator

SharePoint Contributors- End-User

SharePoint Trainers

SharePoint Power User 

SharePoint Developer

SharePoint Business Analyst

SharePoint QA Analyst

Product Owner

This person is responsible for the entire SharePoint platform and assigns all the roles. He/she is the one who procures and licenses it for enterpriser use. He/she is part of the owner category.

Business Owner

This person is also part of the owner category. Similar to the product owner, he decides how SharePoint is implemented in the business or enterprise. He works with the Product owner to assign other roles as well.

Farm Server Administrator

This person takes complete charge of the hardware that powers SharePoint in the enterprise. The software can only work at an optimal level when the hardware is working fine. All the servers were running at all times and maintained adequately. That’s the responsibility of the Farm Server Administrator.

Farm System Administrator

This person administers all the operating systems running SharePoint. That includes developing, testing, and production. These individual monitors all system processes, and he/she makes sure the systems are performing up to standard.

Contributors- End-User

Contributors are those who make use of the SharePoint environment. They are the ones who collaborate with other users. The owners have to make sure the contributors are making the best use of the SharePoint environment. Contributors can then assign roles among each other. For example, one can be the lead on content and be the reporting authority for others. These could be team leads and have their units that report to him working on SharePoint.

SharePoint Trainers

There may be recruits in the team that haven’t used SharePoint and need to be trained. This person’s responsibility is to ensure everyone, new to SharePoint or a veteran, is trained to use SharePoint properly. He or she would teach every recruit the basics of using SharePoint and make sure they’re adequately trained before being assigned user roles. Additionally, they also are the support persons whenever super users, end-users, owners and other administrators need advice or assistance in. In most large organizations, trainers are available to provide support because they are considered experts on the platform.

SharePoint Power User        

Consider this person as the SharePoint advocate in the business. He’s honed his SharePoint skills and can advocate on how best to use SharePoint. He/she is one of the primary users and contributors and is the role model for other users in the enterprise.

SharePoint Developer

SharePoint is a potent application for enterprises. Every enterprise has different needs, and standard SharePoint might be a great solution to those needs. However, some enterprise models may have specific requirements that the standard SharePoint may not wholly cater to. That’s where the SharePoint developer comes in. This person’s job is to customize and develop SharePoint to meet those needs that the standard version may not necessarily meet. He/she makes it ready for testing and participate in it as well. SharePoint Developers are an integral part of the enterprise. SharePoint Developers work with business teams to develop solutions as required for the efficient operation the different parts of the organization, i.e., sales, marketing, and accounting. It is entirely tailor-made to increase enterprise productivity.

SharePoint Business Analyst

Businesses may be new to SharePoint, and sometimes you need experts to guide them on how best to make use of SharePoint.Here enters a SharePoint Business Analyst. As the title indicates, their role is to study the overall organization structure and workflow and based on that they advise businesses on how best to implement SharePoint. SharePoint business analysts conduct a proper analysis and provide a custom solution for the enterprise.

SharePoint QA Analyst

Quality assurance testing is integral when it comes to SharePoint implementation within an organization. He/ she conducts tests on the application and makes sure there are no issues within the functionality.

Conclusion

There are other functionalities, and designations enterprises can use, and these aren’t necessarily universal but based on the needs of the individual enterprise. Organizations can decide which roles to employ and create depending on their needs, but they always come under owners, contributors, and visitors according to their designation.

Infowise

infowise is a leading provider of forms and processes solutions for the Microsoft SharePoint platform. Financial services providers make a large section of our client's list. As authors of productivity and agility software, we're pleased, yet not surprised that these global financial businesses have adopted our tools in their daily productivity cycles. Our flagship package Infowise Ultimate Forms is an integrated suite of SharePoint components that enables users to create advanced, dynamic forms, sophisticated business processes and striking visualization.
Ultimate Forms supports all Microsoft SharePoint platforms, including Microsoft 365 and all on-premises SharePoint versions.