Moving up the chain of command in SharePoint goes as follows :

Site Visitor – Site Member – Site Owner – Site Collection Administrator – Server Administrator

A Site Collection Admininstrator is known as a Tier 3 level of rights.  To become one you need to have :

• A very good understanding of what SharePoint can offer out of the box
• How it integrates into the different Office versions
• An understanding of what effect all the settings have
• A very clear understanding of the security model of SharePoint
• Preferably some knowledge management expertise
• Expertise in your business - the documents you need to manage, the processes involved in getting tasks done, as well as how your teams interact with each other

This person does not necessarily have to be in IT; savvy business users are perfect for this role provided they understand the implications of what they are doing.  They have access to everything in the collection, including enabling and disabling features.  Business users are sometimes better bets than IT guys because they haven't learnt any bad habits yet.

 

For a start, attend a good end user course.  Make sure the content covered is manageable for you.  I have my own courses but not sure it's ethical to advertise them on here :-).

Then basic and advanced HTML once you have done SharePoint end user and are comfortable with it.  You will get clever quickly and want to do your own troubleshooting, understanding HTML will go a long way in achieving this.  You can also do a lot more on your site if you know the basics of this, especially with look and feel.

Search is also going to be part of your duties, and this is where knowledge management experience is going to come in handy.  You need to have your taxonomies set up properly to get the best from search.  In the meantime, learn good habits - start filling in the fields in the Document Information Panel from today on every single document you create, (Office button - Prepare - Properties).

Basically you need to be an all-rounder with a good understanding of your business.  Once you understand your business processes and challenges, mapping them to SharePoint and managing them accordingly becomes easier. 

To understand why you are doing things is important, Essential SharePoint by Scott Jamieson, Mauro Cardarelli and Susan Hanley is my bible i this instance! 

If you can't find the right course for you, try SharePoint 2007 The Definitive Guide (O'Reilly), it's great!  It has a bit of everything and is easy to understand, and explains how to use the product, screen dumps and all, (and at 795 pages I should hope so).   There is also a 2010 version available. 

Following blogs is essential to keep up to date with latest trends and how things work.  When you see an article you like, check out the other things they have written and subscribe them if you like what you see, (RSS feeds).

These are the settings you will have access to as a Site Collection Administrator, make sure you understand them well.  As always, Google and Bing (and IW) are your friends :

Users and Permissions	Look and Feel	Galleries	Site Administration	Site Collection Administration
People and Groups Site Collection Administrators Advanced Permissions	Title, Description and Icon Tree View Site Theme Top Link Bar Quick Launch Navigation Save Site as Template Reset to Site Definition	Master Pages Site Content Types Site Columns Site Templates List Templates Web Parts Workflows	Regional Settings Site Libraries and Lists Site Usage Reports User Alerts RSS Search Visibility Sites and Workspaces Site Features Delete this Site Related Links Scope Settings	Search Settings Search Scopes Search Keywords Recycle Bin Site Directory Settings Site Collection Usage Reports Site Collection Features Site Hierarchy Portal Site Connection Site Collection Audit Settings Audit Log Reports Site Collection Policies

If you want more access – volunteer.  Most SharePoint implementations are short of power users and it’s likely that the SharePoint Project Manager will jump at the chance to bring someone on board.  (Repay them by managing your site collection well and evangelizing SharePoint to the rest of business).   

 

If you are already and site owner, ask for a site collection of your own in a test environment.  Create a little hierarchy of sites and add some users and content, then go and play with each and every setting you have access to.  All the courses in the world are going to be meaningless without practical, hands on experience.

 

If you are just a site visitor or member, again, volunteer for more responsibility. 

 

Ask!  When you get stuck, ask the forum for help.  There is no such thing as a stupid question.  There are plenty of people in your position.  If you don't get joy from IW, here is a list of other sites I frequently use.

Regardless of your access or experience level, it will be on your own initiative to use the product every day, research it, and come up with solutions to business challenges and errors.  Mentors are few and far between so you will need the tenacity to persevere yourself.  You do not need to be an IT expert to do this; you just need the will and the passion to want to succeed in SharePoint.  Yes it is a lot of work and can become overwhelming.  Just take one topic at a time and work through it.

 

There is no certification path for end users at this point.  You can only write exams for technical topics.

 

For more useful information, read this article on Endusesharepoint.com.

 

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