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 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, and 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 needed a centralized way to share documents and information in a timely manner. There was no easy way to share information across staff sections and quickly notify personnel of upcoming events. The Commander also wanted to be able to post the Command's mission statement, his intent on how to execute the mission and a set of priorities to ensure that individuals understood what needed to be done with each task's relative importance.
Action
An unclassified portal was designed to be compatible with the Command's organizational structure. Separate sub-sites were created for each division, as well as a Collaboration page. In addition, the Home Page included tabs for Announcements, a Commanders Corner, Conferences, a hotline for Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) items; and links to other sites, document libraries, and lists. This architecture provided flexibility and maximized opportunities for expansion. Users were also given the ability to control access to their sites and documents.
Result
The result was a robust, user-friendly portal that allowed users to share documents and information, collaborate with other staff members and post items of interest without needing assistance from IT personnel.
Information could be distributed to those who needed it while protecting it from those who did not have a need to know.
To learn more about the benefits of Digicon's SharePoint Solutions, call us at 703-621-1000.