Reduction in Lost Information

With SharePoint Portal Server, every document will be stored together with a series of meaningful, individually definable metadata and profile data so that not only the content, relevant project, and search categories can be determined from the outset, but also the complete workflow for the document and a detailed release schedule. For example, the Technology Center archives documents after two or five years, depending on the project with which they are associated. In the future, this will be a completely automated process. Central safeguarding of all documents will also be automated in the future which, given the T-Nova Technology Center's network approach to project work, is an outstanding advantage that makes the life of IT specialists considerably easier and drastically reduces the loss of information.

In addition, frictional losses during project work, resulting from previously unavoidable inconsistencies between versions, no longer occur. SharePoint Portal Server's complete version and revision management capability allows transparent rollback to any stage of work. A detailed, role-based script determines who has read-only access or writing privileges at which stage of document production, all the way through final release and subsequent intranet publication. Additional collaborative features also offer significant potential for optimization: documents will mesh more closely than ever before with a project's team-oriented work sequence.

For users, another advantage may be even more obvious, namely, SharePoint Portal Server's universal search capabilities. Long searches for information and worries about whether the information found is current no longer deprive Technology Center employees of valuable work time. The highly developed retrieval features are easily available as intranet portals and in the tried and tested design of the digital dashboard. These features also extend to public files in Exchange, intranet, and Internet sites and to non-Microsoft products such as CorelDRAW and Adobe Acrobat.

SharePoint Portal Server is equipped with a complete Software Development Kit (SDK). With the SDK, you can customize SharePoint Portal Server to meet a company's current needs by using scripts. For the Technology Center, developers used these SDKs with Microsoft Visual Basic^® 6 to construct a complete conversion tool that consolidates all documents and meta-information from existing systems in SharePoint Portal Server.

The Technology Center obtained the expertise needed for this directly from the source. Under the terms of an Enterprise Agreement, Microsoft Consulting Services is available to the Technology Center for planning and implementation of its sophisticated document management project through an Enterprise Strategy Consultant. This Microsoft consultant serves Deutsche Telekom companies exclusively.