The ONLY guide that prepares your SharePoint for Microsoft Copilot and AI integration.
109 pages of battle-tested strategies with real examples from HR, Legal, Marketing & Project teams.
Finally resolve the folders vs. metadata debate with proven hybrid approaches that actually work.
Transform your SharePoint from a chaotic content repository into an intelligent, AI-ready business asset.
This comprehensive 109-page guide provides the strategic framework and practical tools you need to build SharePoint environments that scale, perform, and evolve with your organisation.
The Problem You're Facing
Is your SharePoint a sprawling, unmanageable mess? Are your teams struggling to find critical documents, leading to lost productivity and endless frustration? In today's fast-paced digital world, a chaotic SharePoint isn't just an inconvenience – it's a direct threat to your organisation's efficiency, collaboration, and even its readiness for the AI revolution. Many organisations invest heavily in Microsoft 365, yet fail to harness its full power because their foundational Information Architecture (IA) is broken. Without a strategic approach, your digital workplace becomes a liability, not an asset.
The Solution You Need: Your Expert Guide
After 18 years of transforming digital workplaces, Liza Tinker, Information Management Consultant and creator of Simply SharePoint, has distilled her unparalleled expertise into one definitive resource: "Modern Information Architecture in SharePoint and Microsoft 365: Practical Strategies for Organisational Success and AI Readiness." This isn't just another document. It's your comprehensive blueprint to build an efficient, user-centric, and future-ready digital workplace that truly maximises your Microsoft 365 investment.
What Makes This Guide Indispensible?
This guide provides a holistic framework, drawing on real-world examples and best practices to ensure your SharePoint and Microsoft 365 environments are: User-Centric: Empower your teams to easily find and access the information they need, boosting adoption and reducing frustration. Governed & Compliant: Implement clear rules and processes for content management, ensuring consistency and meeting regulatory requirements. Scalable & Adaptable: Design an architecture that grows with your organisation, effortlessly accommodating new content and evolving business needs. AI-Ready: Critically, this guide prepares your organisation for the future of work, ensuring your data is structured perfectly for AI integration, especially with Microsoft Copilot.
18 Years of Proven Expertise: Benefit from Liza Tinker's nearly two decades of hands-on experience helping organisations structure, govern, and optimise their digital workplaces. This is practical, battle-tested advice, not just theory.
Comprehensive & Actionable: Dive deep into every key component of modern SharePoint IA – from Libraries and Views to Metadata, Permissions, Workflows, Content Types, and Document Sets. Get clear guidance on when and how to use each.
Master the "Flat World" Principle: Understand how to leverage modern SharePoint's strengths, balancing intuitive folder structures with powerful metadata for optimal findability.
Future-Proof Your Investment: Learn the critical steps to prepare your information architecture for AI. Ensure Copilot amplifies your organisation's knowledge, not its chaos, delivering accurate and relevant insights.
Avoid Costly Pitfalls: Identify and prevent common mistakes that lead to content sprawl, inconsistent user experiences, and failed implementations.
Build Sustainable Governance: Establish robust, ongoing strategies and processes to maintain a clean, organised, and AI-ready SharePoint environment long after the initial setup.
Who is This Guide For?
This guide is designed for: Executives & Business Leaders: Understand the strategic importance of IA for organisational efficiency and AI readiness. IT Leaders & Administrators: Get practical guidance on implementing robust and scalable SharePoint architectures. Intranet Owners & Content Managers: Learn how to create user-friendly and easily discoverable content environments. Business Stakeholders: Maximise your department's investment in SharePoint and Microsoft 365.
What You'll Discover Inside
Understanding Modern IA: Core principles, evolution from classic SharePoint, and the "flat world" approach. SharePoint Libraries: Best practices for content management, and when to use multiple libraries vs. metadata. Mastering SharePoint Views: Creating effective default views and advanced techniques for content display. The Strategic Use of Folders: Debunking myths and balancing folders with metadata for optimal user experience. Metadata: The Backbone of Intelligent IA: Deep dive into Site Columns vs. List Columns, Managed Metadata vs. Choice, and planning for governance. Content Types: Structuring Information Consistently: Leveraging inheritance and the Content Type Hub for enterprise-wide consistency. Permissions and Security Architecture: Best practices for site, library, and item-level permissions, inheritance, and external sharing. Workflows and Process Automation: Modern automation options with Power Automate for efficiency and consistency. Preparing Your IA for AI and Microsoft Copilot: Essential metadata requirements, content organization strategies, and AI-specific governance. Implementation Roadmap: A structured approach from assessment and planning to pilot implementation, training, and continuous improvement.
Your Path to AI-Powered Success Starts Here
Don't let a messy SharePoint hold your organisation back. Invest in the clarity, control, and confidence that comes with a truly modern and AI-ready information architecture.
$497.00