Spreadsheets, word processing, e-mail, desktop publishing, and all the other applications that we use each day provide levels of efficiency that were incomprehensible just a few years ago. But all this technology has led to such an explosion of information, that the newest business challenge, is how to not drown in this sea of information. SharePoint is your life vest.
At its simplest, Microsoft’s SharePoint collaboration and data management tool that brings order to the chaos of unorganized data. Using a familiar web portal approach, SharePoint has become the tool for businesses of all sizes to aggregate their information into appropriate silos where it and the people who can access it are easily managed. From this organization basis, Sharepoint can be used to provide the framework to integrate various line-of-business applications, establish workflows, automate systems, etc. The options are virtually endless.
The end result of a SharePoint implementation is an intuitive set of web pages that make your company’s information easily accessible to those who need to access it. But implementing SharePoint requires more than just an understanding of the SharePoint technology. You need deep business experience and a keen understanding of how data is created, used and shared; to build a SharePoint environment that delivers the operational improvements you seek. IsoSoft has the technical skills and business experience you need.
IsoSoft starts each SharePoint engagement with a full business review to gather the data needed to design the SharePoint Sites, workflows, reports, and document management rules that will meet your organizational objectives. Upon completion of our review, IsoSoft will present its recommended SharePoint configuration for comment and confirmation that all your needs have been addressed. From workflow, to collaboration, to document management, to access control, to SQL integration, to full reporting, to SMS/Phone integration: IsoSoft will provide a SharePoint solution that is powerful enough to meet your business needs, yet easy enough to use so your staff adopts it.
CASE STUDY: Major League Baseball Players Association
Most focus on the game of baseball and forget that Major League Baseball is a Billion dollar per year industry. As such team owners, use every available tool to monitor and manage their teams to ensure that they maximize the revenue they can earn. Likewise, as owners of unique skills that the team owners need, the players also need to ensure that they can maximize the salaries that they can earn.
To level the playing field between the players, and the team owners, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) contracted with IsoSoft Solutions to build a SharePoint environment with multiple user sites to provide access to five discrete types of data.
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Agents access to player statistics to assist with contract negotiations and arbitration.
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Forms to make it easier for agents to report specific information regarding their actions as required by the MLBPA.
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Results of agent disputes
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Player access to information regarding their contracts, rules, benefits, and their union – the MLBPA.
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Utility – Due to the size of the overall MLBPA SharePoint project, IsoSoft build a dedicated SharePoint site to manage the MLBPA’s SharePoint environment
Technical Specifications for the MLBPA SharePoint sites:
- Each environment uses: two SQL servers, 1 SharePoint Web Server, 1 SharePoint Configuration Server, and 1 Domain Controller.
- Active Directory is used to maintain all users.
- Web based and client/server based applications maintain user information and keep it in synch with the data warehouse databases.
- MSMQ is used to transmit messages between applications and between sites. Specific SharePoint code was written to send SMS messages based on specific events.