SharePoint

Empowerment:

Making Document Management andOrganizational Collaboration Easier

Dux Raymond Sy, PMPManaging PartnerQuantum X, Inc.

1-800-843-8733www.learningtree.ca

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11. What is SharePoint? . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2 Key Benefts o SharePoint . . . . . . 1

1.2.1 Enhanced documentmanagement . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2.2 Increased team productivitythrough collaboration

. . . . .

21.2.3 Convenient defnitions o who can do what, when . . . 21.2.4 Seamless Microsot Ofceintegration

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

21.2.5 Reduced burden or IT . . . . . 21.2.6 Automated businessprocesses

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.2.7 Integrated third-party datasources and systems . . . . . . 2

1.3 Components o SharePoint . . . . . . 2

1.3.1 Windows SharePointServices 3.0 (WSS 3.0) . . . . 21.3.2 Microsot Ofce SharePointServer 2007 (MOSS 2007)

. .

21.3.3 SharePoint Designer 2007 . . 3

2. Common SharePoint Solutions . . . . 3

2.1 Intranet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.2 Project Management InormationSystem (PMIS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.3 Web Portals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.4 E-Commerce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.5 Legal Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Internet Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4About Learning Tree International . . . . . 5About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Introduction

In today’s inormation-based society, managing electronicdocuments has become an increasing challenge. Personalcomputers and e-mail in boxes have become storagerepositories, shared drives are disorganized and inecientsearch tools make nding relevant inormation a diculttask. Fundamental issues arise, such as:• Inormation is scattered• There are oten multiple copies o the same document• Tracking and modiying changes is not straightorward• Merging changes rom multiple users can be problematicCoupled with document management challenges, orward-thinking business environments are tasked with promoting a culture o collaboration. Knowledge workers (those who work primarily with inormation or develop and use knowledgein the workplace) specialize in various disciplines; hence,their ability to assist and leverage one another’s capabilitiescan greatly benet the growth o any organization.Common tools available or addressing these issues can betechnically complex and dicult to integrate with existing business processes and procedures. A practical yet eectivesolution can allow an organization to ocus on delivering value to their core business instead o being burdened by inormation management roadblocks.SharePoint addresses these challenges by allowing individuals with basic Microsot Windows and Oce skills to easily create and manage their own document management andcollaborative solutions in their organization.

1. What is SharePoint?

1.1Overview

The chie advantage provided by SharePoint is anincreased organizational eciency delivered by anintegrated suite o server capabilities. Along withmanaging content and enterprise search morecomprehensively, business processes become moreecient and inormation can be shared with greateracility. In act, all o an organization’s intranet, extranetand Web applications can be supported within this oneintegrated platorm. For IT proessionals and developers,this collaboration and content management serversupplies the critical platorm and tools required orenhanced interoperability, server administration andapplication extensibility.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SharePoint

Empowerment

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1.2KeyBeneftsoSharePoint

1.2.1Enhanceddocumentmanagement

SharePoint sites provide a central documentrepository or various types o inormation, suchas group documents, address books, meeting schedules, and discussion orums. They are storedin a Web-based location that has seamlessintegration with existing Microsot products suchas Windows and Oce.More importantly, document integrity is easily achieved by enabling eatures such as:•

VersionControl:

Changes made to any document stored in SharePoint are saved in aspecic version. One can easily look up the version o a document based on a specic date,time and who modied it.•

Check-in/Check-out:

Maintains documentintegrity by preventing multiple people romediting the same document at the same time andaccidentally overwriting each others’ updates.•

ContentApproval:

Requires content to beapproved beore it can be made available inSharePoint.

1.2.2Increasedteamproductivitythroughcollaboration

A community o users can create a content-specic Web site with eatures such as shared contactsand calendars, threaded discussion orums, anddocument repositories.Since it can be accessible via the World Wide Web, itprovides remote access capability via a Web browser without the need to rely on sophisticated tools suchas VPN, Citrix, etc.

1.2.3Convenientdefnitionsowhocandowhat,when

In a SharePoint site, a site owner can dene varying permission levels or dierent site members. Thesepermission levels can range rom having read-only permission to granting ull control or those withhigher levels o authority. All this can be done with-out the assistance o technical support.

1.2.4SeamlessMicrosotOfceintegration

Document management and collaborative eatureso SharePoint are not limited to the Web browser.They can be ully utilized in Windows or any Microsot Oce product.

1.2.5ReducedburdenorIT

Although SharePoint is a Web-based technology,it is not designed to require an overly technicalindividual. In act, it is intended or knowledge workers to be able to rapidly create and managecollaborative solutions without seeking the assistanceor intervention o an IT or IS department.

1.2.6Automatedbusinessprocesses

With Workfows, users can easily convert human-based business processes, such as Vacation Requests,into automated electronic processes.

1.2.7Integratedthird-partydatasourcesandsystems

SharePoint Web Parts and Business Data Catalogsprovide the mechanism or integrating data romexisting sources and common third-party tools,such as Crystal Reports, SAP, Lotus Notes, etc., without programming.

1.3ComponentsoSharePoint

1.3.1WindowsSharePointServices3.0(WSS3.0)

WSS 3.0 is the core technology o MicrosotSharePoint. I SharePoint is a car, WSS can beconsidered the “engine.” It serves the primary purpose o providing document management andcollaborative solutions. More so, it is the ounda-tional platorm or building custom Web-basedbusiness applications. WSS is available or download at no additionalcharge and is installed in Windows Server 2003 and2008 environments.

1.3.2MicrosotOfceSharePointServer2007(MOSS2007)

MOSS centralizes organizational intranet, extranet,and Web applications into one integrated platorm.Going back to our car analogy, i SharePoint is a car,MOSS provides custom accessories or the car suchas a “GPS system.” The GPS is not required or thecar to operate, yet it can provide useul inormation. WSS is required to implement MOSS.MOSS provides organizational and managementtools or SharePoint sites such as:•

UserscancreatepersonalizedportalsrommanySharePointsites

This eature allows the aggregation o relevantcontent and inormation or users so they don’thave to traverse multiple SharePoint sites.

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LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL

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SharePoint

Empowerment