Building Solutions with SharePoint Technologies …...9 Document and Content Approval • SharePoint comes with a simplistic one-tier approval process: – A user adds an item to a

Building Solutions with SharePoint Technologies

August 31st, 2005

1

Overview

• Introduction to the SharePoint Platform • SharePoint Features

– Windows SharePoint Services (WSS)– SharePoint Portal Server 2003 (SPS)

• Value Creation Potential• Business Scenarios

– Document and Content Approval– Team and Project Collaboration with WSS Sites– Document Versioning– InfoPath Submission of Expense Reports– Targeting Information to Specific Audiences– Personal Workspace for a SPS User– Branding Customization

• Case Study: North American Development Bank• Questions and Answers

2

Introduction to the SharePoint Platform• Allows organizations to easily create, manage and distribute

collaborative web applications• Integrates with many Microsoft technologies:

– Active Directory– InfoPath– Exchange– Office platform– BizTalk Server

• Highly scalable• Functional as both an intranet and extranet

3

SharePoint Features –Hierarchy Overview• SharePoint Services

– Sites, sub-sites– Ad hoc hierarchies

• Portal Server 2003– Areas, Sub-areas– My Site– Clearly defined hierarchy

• Backend Servers– WSS/SPS Front End– Search and Index– SQL Database

• Web Parts embedded into Areas, Sites, & My Site

SPS/WSSFront-end Server(s)

SQLServer(s)

Optional Search& IndexingServer(s)

Sub-area Sub-area

AreaArea Area

Sub-area

Portal Home

Site Site Site Site Site Site Site

Sub-site

Sub-site

Conceptual SharePoint Portal Server / Windows SharePoint Services Boundary

Site

4

What is a Web Part?

• Definition from Microsoft.com:– A modular unit of information that consists of a title bar, a frame, and

content. Web Parts are the basic building blocks of a Web Part Page. A Web Part is the combination of a Web Part Description file (.dwp) and a Web Part assembly file (.dll). All Web Parts are based on Web Custom Controls.

• Can be targeted to specific employees• Connectable with other web parts• Easily administered and customized

5

WSS Features

• Alerts• Standard Web Parts

– Document and Picture Libraries– Lists (Listings, Links, Tasks, Issues, etc.)– Discussion Board, Surveys– Content Editor

• InfoPath 2003 and FrontPage 2003 Integration• Templates• Workspaces

Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) allows businesses project-and team-based collaboration leveraging the .NET framework to create interactive information repositories.

6

SPS Features

• Topics, News areas• Personal sites (My Site)• Site Directory• User profiles• Single Sign-on Service (SSO)• BizTalk integration• Complete WSS feature set

SharePoint Portal Server 2003 (SPS) integrates all aspects of a business to create a secure, scalable enterprise portal for datamanagement, collaboration, information targeting, and advanced searching both internally to SPS and externally.

7

Value Creation Potential

• Integration with legacy software applications• Data aggregation• User collaboration• Intranet / Extranet capabilities• Scalability, extensibility, and reliability• Rich administration features out-of-the-box• Extensive 3rd Party application set• Powerful and efficient searching

8

Scenarios

• Document and Content Approval• Team and Project Collaboration with WSS Sites• Document Versioning• InfoPath Submission of Expense Reports• Targeting Information to Specific Audiences• Personal Workspace for a SPS User with Outlook Integration• Branding Customization

9

Document and Content Approval

• SharePoint comes with a simplistic one-tier approval process:– A user adds an item to a list or library– A content approver either approves or rejects the item– If approved, the item becomes visible to all user of the list/library

• Utilizing alerts in tandem with content approval reduces the time an item spends in a “pending” state

• Numerous 3rd party applications extend the default functionality of SharePoint approval, with GUI-driven workflow modeling and the ability to create a complex approval process

10

Team and Project Collaboration with WSS Sites

• Sites are created through the Site Directory area

– Site Directory acts as the central repository for all sites in SPS

• When a site is created, listings to other areas can feed into the new site

– All or specific users are made aware of the new site for easy, quick collaboration

11

Document Versioning

• Allows a user to revert to a previous version of a document

• Filename versioning is no longer required

– i.e. Doc_v1.doc, Doc_v2.doc, Doc_v3.doc

• Each document in SharePoint contains its versioning information

• Version history can be viewed:– In SharePoint– With the Office 2003 product that created the

document (Word, Excel, etc.)

12

InfoPath Submission of Expense Reports

• SharePoint integrates with InfoPath to create dynamic forms that harness XML

• Dynamic properties of InfoPath forms:– Field validation– Repeating fields– Custom fields, such as drop down lists, radio buttons, and calendar controls– Auto-generated data based on user identity, form template location, etc.– Submission of InfoPath forms to SharePoint form libraries

• Properties of the InfoPath form can be published and utilized inside of SharePoint

13

Targeting Information to Specific Audiences

• Audience targeting is:– A way for SPS users to become aware of new information in a timely

manner.– A means of pushing data onto multiple sources without publishing to each

distinct source.– An approach to leverage Active Directory (AD) groups to maximize how

users learn about important data.

• Audience targeting is not:– Security in and of itself. Security of areas/sites/web parts must be managed

separately.– Dependent on AD but is far easier to administer with AD.

14

Personal Workspace for a SPS User

• My Site is automatically generated for each user when they firstaccess the “My Site” link

• Created with two views:– Personal view – Storehouse of personal or draft documents– Shared view – Simple way to publish documents for portal-wide searching

• My Site acts as a Digital Dashboard, displaying only the most pertinent data to the user

• Fully integrates with Outlook inbox and calendar

15

Look & Feel – Branding Customization

• DenimGroup.comhome page

• Created using:– ASP.NET– HTML

16

Look & Feel – Branding Customization

• SharePoint Area “skinned” to have the DenimGroup.combranding

• Created utilizing custom site definitions

17

Side by Side Comparison

18

Case Study:North American Development Bank

19

NADB: Organization Profile

• Created because of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

• Jointly funded by the United States and Mexico• Addresses environmental issues in the border area between the

United States and Mexico• Provides loans to projects with an environmental impact in the

US/Mexican border region

20

NADB: Business Challenge

• Employee travel is integral to the NADB mission• Paper-based process for submitting and approving travel

requests, travel reports and expense reports• Multiple levels of approval required• Manual processes were prone to error and placed a tremendous

burden on managers

21

NADB: Solution

• Create an online workflow system for the request and approval of travel requests

• Microsoft SharePoint technologies selected as the platform– Collaboration infrastructure– Future use of other features

• Microsoft InfoPath used to create forms submitting data to the system

• Microsoft Active Directory used to seed user accounts• 3rd party workflow solution used for multi-step approvals

22

NADB: Screen Shots

23

NADB: Screen Shots

24

Questions and Answers

Denim Group, Ltd(210) 572-4400www.denimgroup.com

Dan Cornell, MCSD – [email protected] Brown, MCAD – [email protected]