Access to information and services remains a powerful driver in
the public sector for the adoption of basic enabling technologies
like Web content management. But IT shops in government and health
agencies are increasingly turning to the more commanding
functionality that ties the software to business process
applications in the back end.
Better content management means public-facing Web portals are
benefiting from wider knowledge sharing across the organization and
enhanced workflow productivity behind the scenes. Users of
Microsoft's SharePoint Portal Server and Windows SharePoint
Services, for example, say the platform's collaborative tools are
helping to sort data into information that's relevant and useful to
the end user.
It's like a human services intranet for communities to share
information resources and collaborate in both a public and private
environment, says Jody Cameron, who has tied together 1,200
not-for-profit organizations across the City of Greater
Sudbury.
"Human services organizations provide tremendous value to the
community. But they never seem to have the capacity to be able to
utilize technology because it's usually been cost-prohibitive for
them," says Cameron, project manager for the City's mysudbury.ca
initiative.
The City of Greater Sudbury uses Microsoft's Content Management
Server for its corporate Web site, but Cameron has implemented the
SharePoint Portal and Services to extend that information
management functionality to every not-for-profit organization in
the City's database.
"They each get their own SharePoint site to build a community
portal, and that means citizens can become more aware of what these
not-for-profit organizations are doing," says Cameron.
The benefits reach further than improved access to information
as each organization is able to integrate its SharePoint site with
other applications in the back-end. Communities can offer online
services such as soccer registration and volunteer services.
The Elizabeth Centre, a long-term care facility, is able to
manage the supply and demand of volunteers, for example. People can
search opportunities and apply online through the SharePoint
community site.
For the Niagara Health System, a collection of seven hospital
sites across the regional municipality of Niagara, Windows
SharePoint Services is giving physicians a place to collaborate
online and helping to better manage internal documents.
Dale Maw, Niagara Health's regional director of information
technology, describes Windows SharePoint Services as an integrated
portfolio of collaboration and communication services designed to
connect people, information, processes and systems.
The software is packaged as part of Windows Server 2003 R2, or
available as a free download with Windows Server 2003, and Maw says
he was initially hooked by the collaborative tools built into an
intuitive Web presentation.
"Our physician community, between 30 and 40 members of the
Medical Advisory Committee, wanted a place to collaborate outside
of our organization, a place they could hit from the Internet, to
upload and share documents," says Maw.
"So basically we decentralized our control from ICT out into the
community, for who has access to what. Now we just say, put it up
on your SharePoint site and collaborate as, and whenever, you
want."
The other problem was internal. Maw says he supports about 4,500
users, who were having difficulty finding and tracking documents.
"We were using the e-mail server as a collaboration server," he
says. "Information just gets lost in the milieu of what you're
doing on a daily basis."
Taking structured and unstructured information and putting it
into a Web-friendly environment was where SharePoint really started
to evolve, says Joel Martin, vice-president of enterprise software
for Toronto-based research company IDC Canada Ltd.
"Through the portal you're able to build information into
structured workflows and team collaboration, tie together business
processes, and gain access to interactive information such as
business intelligence," says Martin.
Users are able to pull data from SQL databases and enterprise
applications to create a role-based, contextual view of relevant
information, he says, adding that SharePoint's real strength is
that it's native to other Office applications.
Microsoft plans to fold the full functionality of Content
Management Server into its upcoming release of SharePoint Server
2007.
"This will enable enterprise-scale search features and content
management across the entire organization," says Carsten Knoch, who
was involved in both Sudbury and Niagara's SharePoint deployments,
as vice-president of project delivery for Toronto-based services
provider Navantis Inc.
Microsoft is also working to expand its content management
functionality to include interfaces and templates for records
management, says Elizabeth Caley, SharePoint product manager for
Microsoft Canada Co.
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