Case Studies \ A SharePoint Implementation
Our client wanted to develop a corporate intranet portal that would provide their employees with a centralized platform to store and share information with each other and also provide them with a host of tools that they could use in their day-to-day work. Based on their requirements we developed and integrated various web parts in Microsoft SharePoint. Some of the tools provided in the solution include a web based e-mail client (integrated with Microsoft Web Outlook), a project dashboard (allowing employees to track their projects), holiday calendar, meeting scheduler, document repository and address book.
Business Requirements
Our client required a solution that would help improve employee productivity by proving them with a centralized platform wherein employees, across departments, could share information with each other and also have access to various tools. To be built as separate web parts, each feature was to be integrated in Microsoft SharePoint.
Development of web parts to be integrated with SharePoint Server
Benefits:
- Allows for easy sharing and collaboration among employees thereby increasing productivity
- Employees have access to centralized information enabling better & informed decisions
- Provides tools that help in simplifying day to day tasks such as planners, messages etc
Users:
The users of the system will be the employees of the company using the application. Access to the various modules of the application will be based on the roles assigned.
- Administrator: Has complete control over the functioning of the website. Also has complete access to the back-end administration console.
- Registered Users: Users who have registered with the website to purchase products online.
Solution:
TBased on the requirements, Icreon developed and integrated various web parts. These include:
Employee Database: Contains details of all employees including general information such as department, designation, work history, studies during tenure etc. The employee database can be managed by the administrator or other authorized users.
Holiday Schedule: The holiday schedules of all employees can be maintained within the system. Employees can submit holiday requests, these requests are them made available to the concerned department manager. Holidays that are yet to be approved are marked as pending on the holiday calendar.
Meeting Planners: Employees can schedule meetings and can send invites to the meeting. The employee who scheduled the meeting can edit the meeting details, reschedule or cancel the meeting.
A meeting room calendar has also been integrated allowing employees to check the availability of the meeting room before scheduling a meeting.
Invitees to the meeting can indicate their acceptance or rejection of the invite. In case of rejection they can enter their reasons for doing so and also propose a new date/time for the meeting.
Projects: This section can be used to track projects. Projects can be created and team members can be assigned to it. Multiple tasks can be added to a project with options to track the status of each task.
Employees can search for and browse through the details of projects that he/she has created or that have been assigned to her/him.
Document Repository: Employees can upload documents to a centralized repository. Documents stored in the repository can be check-out for editing; other employees can access the document only after it has been checked-in. The system maintains a log of all modifications made to documents.
Communication Board This section can be used to post announcements to all or specific employees of the company. Employees can browse through all posted messages.
Reception: Messages regarding telephone calls that an employee could not attend can be recorded within the system. These messages are then made available to the concerned employees.
Mail: Microsoft Web Outlook has been integrated with SharePoint to provide e-mail functionality
Address Book: The addresses of all contacts available in the Exchange Server will be displayed.
Manuals Contains a listing of all manuals available in the system, with options to search and download the same. Authorized users can upload manuals to the system.
Internet Access: This section can be used to manage a list of website that can be accessed by employees. Administrators can manage these links.
Survey Polls: Opinion polls can be created and assigned to specific employees who can participate in the polls. An employee can participate in a poll only once. On submission the results of the poll are displayed. The survey polls can be created by the administrator or other authorized users.
Weekly Download Planning: This section can be used to view and update the weekly downloading (i.e. products that have to be moved from the warehouse) planner. The planner (for a specific week) details out the estimated and actual shipping dates, the estimated and actual arrival dates, warehouse transfer dates etc. On submission of the planner, e-mail notifications are sent to concerned employees.
Technologies used in developing this application are:
