Creating a Basic Collaboration Site

One of the most common collaboration needs is a team web site, where members can post documents as they are developed, background information, contact information, and group calendars. At my company we use such web sites to develop responses to complex and lengthy requests for proposal.

These team web sites are simple virtual communities. Many are built like temporary shacks, with no intention to remain in operation for a long time. They allow disparate organizations, such as companies teaming on a contract bid, to bridge their incompatible messaging infrastructure, knowledge management programs, and databases. By being hosted in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) or at a third-party site, they allow users to work together who would not grant one another trust relationships within their individual domains (see Figure 12.3).

Figure 12.3. Sample Team Web site

The most basic features of a team web site are:

• Document library . A place to post documents for download.

• Threaded discussion . Either standalone or relating to a particular document, the threaded discussion allows asynchronous collaboration.

• List of members . Profiles of members of the team, including contact information.

• Group calendar . Facility to post team events and display and print the group calendar. This does not have to be connected to individual calendars in Outlook, for instance, but it is nice to display it in a conventional calendar format.

• Ad hoc page creation . A facility for creating new web pages as desired by the users.

• Frequently asked questions.

The project management functionality provided by SharePoint Portal Server is simple to use and rather basic. It provides a place for a project team to store files and share information such as schedules, contacts, and working files. It does not attempt to store structured information pertaining to a project. It would be impossible , for instance, to write a query against a SharePoint project site to determine whether a project is on budget or on schedule.

For a more structured approach to project management, you may want to consider Microsoft Project Server, the latest incarnation of Microsoft Project. This is an industrial-strength project management system that supports more structured data along with the detailed reporting that goes along with it.