Canviz created a SharePoint Client-Side Object Model (CSOM) based deployment engine to minimize the number of manual steps required for deployments.  This resulted in consistently applied deployment steps for each environment, less likelihood for human error, and faster deployment times.

Every sprint (2-3 weeks) a set of deployment tasks is required to deploy fixes/updates/new-features to all of the SharePoint 2016 on-premises environments (INT, TEST, PPE, PROD). These tasks were originally done by hand, based on documented deployment steps generated by the development team while they made the required fixes/updates. These tasks included things like copying new/changed files, updating/creating site/list object schema, content within specific pages, updating web part properties, updating list data, etc.

Now, many of the tasks are completely automated.  Deployment tasks and artifacts are contained within a “package”, which is a pre-defined folder structure for assets, including an xml manifest defining the order and specific steps to take. PowerShell is used to process the steps, copying files and making environment changes, using CSOM and leveraging the SharePoint PowerShell Pnp PowerShell library.