Case Study: Knowledge Management

U.S. Army SharePoint Introduction

SharePoint was introduced as a collaborative technology at our U.S. Army Command client in 2002. The Command needed a solution that fostered collaboration among various staff sections, as well as a way to share information throughout the Command. The Digicon Team designed the SharePoint architecture and installed, configured, and tested the SharePoint servers.

After that, the Team began developing solutions to meet the particular business needs of the Command. Since its introduction, the use of SharePoint has grown and the Command has implemented SharePoint MOSS 2007. Digicon personnel have created and customized additional SharePoint sites, as well as developed custom web parts. SharePoint has been an effective tool in assisting our U.S. Army client Commander and his staff in executing critical mission functions. It has greatly enhanced the staff's ability to collaborate with members of both internal and external organizations, manage and find documents quickly, automate work flows, share calendars, and improve the efficiency of operations.

Problem

The Command must move its headquarters from Ft. McPherson, Georgia, to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina as part of the Government's Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) initiative. Since many of the people supporting the Headquarters are civilian employees or contractors, they have the option of not moving with the Headquarters. This means that the knowledge possessed by current employees must be captured and transferred to their replacements without losing mission capability. Since the current employee may depart before the new employee is hired, capturing knowledge from the current employee is critical.

Action

Digicon personnel created a collection of sub-sites that enables each individual in the Command to create a “Continuity Book” with detailed information about their job. The Continuity Books allow for two levels of approvals, with e-mail notification and digital signatures for each approver.

Result

The Command has a way to capture job knowledge from each individual and transfer that knowledge to the employee's replacement as needed. The Continuity Books are easy for employees to create and use, and can be accessed directly from the SharePoint Home Page. They are protected from unauthorized changes and are in a database that is routinely backed up to prevent loss.

To learn more about the benefits of Digicon's SharePoint Solutions, call us at 703-621-1000.