SharePoint Swoop – the intranet makeover show
Published May 16 2018 09:18 AM 26.9K Views
Microsoft

SharePoint Swoop is not a typical reality show -- this new, enterprise-focused, five-part web series from Microsoft is jam-packed with fun. Three MVP experts have just three days to help an international toy company modernize its overwhelmed intranet. Consultative makeovers of this kind normally take weeks. Can they do it?

 

Welcome to a world of enterprise reality TV. A world where the journey of a growing pop culture business intersects with three superhero Microsoft MVPs. Watch as it blends innovative technology and hands-on best practices for an intranet makeover you won’t want to miss. We caught it all on tape and are excited to share the learnings, best practices, and outcomes with you.

 

SharePoint Swoop dives into the world of Funko Inc., an innovative pop culture consumer products company in Everett, WA. You’ve seen their Pop! figurines everywhere bobbling their heads into your collectible collections. And now, pull back the curtain on their intranet and watch as it grows with the help and guidance of our MVPs: Sue Hanley, Benjamin Niaulin and Laura Rogers. They swoop, they assess, they score!  Can they help make the Funko intranet more agile, functional, mobile, and engaging?

 

Binge watch the five-part video web series now!

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“SharePoint is our tent pole around which everything else is either funneled through or funneled from.” – Kurt Dicus, senior director of IT – Funko

 

Continue reading below to learn more about the show, about Funko Inc., our MVPs, and more.

 

About SharePoint Swoop

Swoop, there it is! The Funko team, with the aid of Microsoft MVPs, decides to create a valuable help center within their intranet. And then they choose to enable repeatable, collaborative workspaces for various teams across the company. The team also builds its first no-code solution to improve Funko’s shipping process. Each of the “swooped” solutions can be used as a model for other Funko work groups to learn from, and to build their own intranet solutions. With guidance from the MVPs, Funko gets set to improve their intranet and continue their journey with Microsoft.”

 

Binge watch the five-part video web series now!

 

Each webisode takes you further into and across the jam-packed, three-day journey:

 

Webisode #1 “The journey begins Meet Funko and the people behind the pop culture phenomenon. Facing rapid growth, the company needs to reshape its intranet. With just three days to kickstart collaboration, the Microsoft MVPs leap into action.

 

Webisode #2 “The plan You must start somewhere. Funko’s product development team, known as The Shire, volunteers to be the guinea pig. Sue “The Strategist” Hanley (SharePoint Architect) leads the team on a fact-finding mission, and plans emerge to build a hub site, team site and a PowerApp with Flow. Will their ‘dreaded wiki’ survive the makeover?

 

Webisode #3 “Empower the citizens Citizen developers, empower the citizens. PowerApps and Flow wizard, Laura “Citizen Developer” Rogers (IW Mentor), begins work on a solution to help Funko more efficiently move its products through shipping. Ben “Your Friend in IT” Niaulin (Sharegate) lays the groundwork for building a team site for The Shire – with a few change management shifts in their “how.”

 

Webisode #4 “Grow intranet, grow Time is running out as Sue and Ben build a training site and a team site. Laura puts the finishing touches on her PowerApp and Flow. And the team discovers a secret in the basement of Funko headquarters.

 

Webisode #5 “Make it Pop! At last, the big reveal! Funko team members from across the company gather to see what progress the MVPs and Funko IT have made using brand-new SharePoint tech, teamwork, and a whole lot of crunch time.

 

Throughout the series, you’ll see Funko and Microsoft MVPs tackle these primary scenarios – from ideas on a whiteboard to hitting the Funko HQ floors with a lot of elbow grease and know how, to build...

 

  • Shire information and help center = SharePoint hub site + communication site + news + Yammer
  • Repeatable, collaborative workspaces = SharePoint team site + Microsoft Teams + info-rich pages
  • Mobile truck transfer application for drivers = SharePoint list + PowerApps + Flow
  • Managed, governable self-service site creation [IT] = SharePoint site designs & site scripting for a managed “Create site” experience from the SharePoint home in Office 365.

About Funko Inc.

Funko is a leading pop culture consumer products company. Funko designs, sources and distributes licensed pop culture products across multiple categories, including vinyl figures, action toys, plush, apparel, housewares and accessories for consumers who seek tangible ways to connect with their favorite pop culture brands and characters. Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

 

Primary Funko employees involved in SharePoint Swoop:

  • Brian Mariotti, CEO
  • Sarathy Annamraju, CIO
  • Kurt Dicus, senior director of IT
  • Scott Christensen, SharePoint Lead

About Microsoft superhero MVPs

Microsoft has a lot of wonderful MVPs that span subject matter expertise across the spectrum of technology. And for the intranet, there aren’t three better suited MVPs to tackle the SharePoint Swoop challenge – to make considerable progress across planning, execution and futureproofing Funko for the journey ahead. Let’s meet our superhero SharePoint Swoop MVPs:

Left to right: Sue Hanley "The Strategist", Benjamin Niaulin "Your Friend in IT", and Laura Rogers "The Citizen Developer."Left to right: Sue Hanley "The Strategist", Benjamin Niaulin "Your Friend in IT", and Laura Rogers "The Citizen Developer."

Sue Hanley “The Strategist” -- Hanley gets right down to business, asking the right questions to drive the right outcomes. As a business analyst/information architect, she specializes in the “people side” of collaboration and knowledge management solutions. [http://www.susanhanley.com; @SusanHanley]

 

Benjamin Niaulin “Your Friend In Tech” -- Niaulin helps the team understand when to use what. And once the solution is in place, he shows them how to use it.  He gives honest and frank insight into using SharePoint, in terms that are user-friendly. [https://en.share-gate.com; @BNiaulin]

 

Laura Rogers “The Citizen Developer” -- Rogers is great at explaining how to build business solutions that leads to customer wins. She helps work through concepts, innovation and design. IW Mentor: [http://www.iwmentor.com @WonderLaura & @IWMentor]

 

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We hope you enjoy the series, learn a ton, and find new, innovative ways that you, too, can makeover your intranet as your business changes and grows. Get swooped, and off you go!

 

- Mark Kashman, senior product manager – SharePoint

 

Binge watch the five-part video web series now!

8 Comments
Silver Contributor
Done and dusted and ready for Season 2! Seriously well done. Can’t wait for that newsletter!

O - M - G this is amazing. Well done Ben, Laura and Susan!

Brass Contributor

I just watched all 5 episodes of that, and my key take away from that is you don't need to know how to code.  We have a very small team and we could do some of what they did, without having to bring in high priced consultants.  SharePoint has come a long way since 2001 (Tahoe).

 

Key and I think they even mentioned is getting adoption.

Steel Contributor

Just watched the series. This is awesome indeed! It would be great if "behind the scenes" part is also published, like how did that PowerApp form got created. 

 

And yes, BTW, Microsoft... When are you sending a bunch of MVPs swooping in at our office? ;) 

Iron Contributor

Great video and great team. But what blew my mind was the customer. How cool is that office! Toys everywhere!

@Greg Zygadlo I think a key point to take is that 3 days with good experts can create huge value in setting the right direction with all the new modern features. Clearly Ben, Laura and Susan are exceptional, but there are lots of talented experts in modern SharePoint, Teams and the rest of Office 365. Knowing that you need help and the right willingness to learn and experiment in organisations is a major obstacle that Funko avoided through those videos. Clearly you would need to hire your own drone team for flypast videos and make space in the plan for pieces to camera about false peril, but I'm sure you could fund your own Swoop for fairly small fees.

 

Alternatively read MVPs blogs, watch videos on YouTube, listen to talks at usergroups and conferences and ask questions in the forums, there are lots of ways to get free information from the community of experts around Office 365. Then pay it forward by sharing your experiences in the same way.

Iron Contributor

Great series!  It's never easy making SharePoint sexy or exciting, but they managed to!  Looking forward to more enhancements in the future, especially the news digest feature! 

Copper Contributor

Excellent work. Looking forward to more episodes in the future.

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