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Internet hosting company AIT strives to continually provide its customers with solutions and services that help them succeed. Recently, the company heard from their small- to medium-sized business customers that they were looking for an effective tool that would help them communicate and share information without the expense of having an intranet and an information technology (IT) staff to support that intranet. At the same time, AIT was going through a physical as well as organizational restructuring, and, like its customers, needed a way to simplify and facilitate effective task and project management. Microsoft's new information sharing technology, SharePoint™ Team Services, proved to be the perfect solution for both AIT's customers and its internal needs.
Needed: New Tools for Business Processes
AIT always has its ear to the ground, listening to its customers so that it can provide them the best services available. Not long ago, the company realized that its core constituency, small- to medium-sized businesses, was grappling with several challenges. Companies were looking for a way to create a centralized place where their teams could more easily and more effectively communicate with their members as well as collaborate on projects. In essence, many were looking for an intranet, but could not afford the development resources and IT staff it would require. Many were also looking for ways to give their employees the freedom of a mobile office.
At the same time it was discovering this need among its customers, AIT also realized that internally the company could use something similar. Alex Lekas, Corporate Communications manager of AIT, puts it this way: "When the company had just 40 people a few years ago, we barely needed electronic mail (e-mail) to communicate. You could almost yell across the room at somebody else. But as the company grew and it expanded, bringing subsidiaries online, we began wondering, what would allow for better coordination of activities within various departments?"
Then the company heard about SharePoint Team Services. Developed by Microsoft, SharePoint Team Services-based Web sites enable teams to instantly create ad-hoc workspaces on the Web that they can access through their browser and easily contribute to, collaborate on, customize, and control. With AIT hosting SharePoint Team Services, its customers don't need to worry about maintaining their own server. By simply logging on to the Internet from any computer, SharePoint Team Services users can have full access and control of their team Web site.
Internal Deployment a Success
But before offering this service to its customers, AIT tested SharePoint Team Services internally to make sure it would provide a great solution. Gregory Gatti, chief technical officer of AIT, provisioned a SharePoint Team Services-based Web site for each of AIT's eight departments, with some departments having multiple sites. Because Microsoft FrontPage® version 2002 web site creation and management tool integrates seamlessly with SharePoint Team Services , Gatti was easily able to customize the sites to meet the company's specific needs such as adding logos, specifying layout and adding pages, changing the design, and even publishing the customer newsletter on the SharePoint Team Services-based Web site.
In deploying SharePoint Team Services, AIT had several goals in mind. To sell the services to customers, the company needed to fully understand how SharePoint Team Services worked and the benefits of using it. AIT was also interested in using SharePoint Team Services to improve communication and task and project management within its various departments.
AIT has seen several benefits from using SharePoint Team Services internally. It has greatly improved inter- and intradepartmental communication and information sharing, according to Lekas. AIT is an around the-clock operation with managers working primarily during the day. In the past, says Lekas, communication between managers and workers who oversaw operations during the night shift was not always efficient. Now, employees who may only see each other once or twice a week have centralized locations to post important information, assign tasks, announce events, and share documents. "It keeps things from getting lost in the e-mail shuffle," says Lekas, "and it streamlines communication." Because their SharePoint Team Services-based Web site can be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection and a browser, employees can check in with their departmental site any time they need to, even if they're at home or on the road.
While information sharing has improved for AIT because its departments are using SharePoint Team Services, task management has also been enhanced. With a recent physical and organizational restructuring within the company, the ability to track a tremendous number of tasks through a SharePoint Team Services-based Web site has been a great benefit. "It's a good means for coordinating our projects," says Lekas. "SharePoint Team Services has made it easier to keep up with things as they move along their designated timelines." Gatti appreciates that he can always be on top of the changes to his department's project list. "It gives me more control over project management," he notes.
Sharing SharePoint Team Services with Customers
Because SharePoint has worked so well for AIT, they have been thrilled to offer the services to their customers. Since November, various customers, including governmental organizations and law firms, have been using SharePoint Team Services via a hosted service from AIT. Lekas notes that customers are finding SharePoint Team Services to be a valuable technology for improving their business processes. "It's a sharp tool that fits into what a lot of companies need," he says.
Many small businesses especially like the fact that SharePoint Team Services provides employees the ability to do work and keep up with projects even out of the office. "Folks like the mobile-office aspect of it," says Lekas. "It's allowed them not to have to be chained to a desk, and yet not feel disconnected." The advantage of having AIT host the services is that anywhere workers can plug their PC into the Internet, they can access their SharePoint Team Services-based site. "If you have your laptop, you have your office with you," says Lekas.
Most of AIT's customers use their SharePoint Team Services-based Web site as a place where employees can check in, post documents and other important information, and assign tasks to facilitate collaboration. "SharePoint Team Services is very good for team collaboration," says Gatti. "It's tailor made for that-it's like an intranet-in-a-box." Lekas puts it this way: "It's a nice way for smaller companies to have a big league tool without having the accompanying big league expense."
AIT Acclaim, one of AIT's subsidiaries, uses the SharePoint Team Services in an innovative way. An information technology training company, AIT Acclaim offers distance learning and uses SharePoint Team Services to deliver that learning. Not only are class schedules and course listings posted on the site, the course content is also available. Once a student pays for their training, they are given access to the site and can conduct their entire online training over the site.
SharePoint Team Services: Part of Growing Windows-hosting Demand
Offering SharePoint Team Services to its customers is part of AIT's trend in offering more of the Microsoft Windows® operating system server-based services. Says Gatti, "Windows 2000 and some of the newer products that Microsoft has launched for the hosting environment have dramatically improved our Windows-based offerings." The response has been immediate and extremely positive. AIT has had more than a 250 percent increase in their Windows-based hosting, month-by-month, since it began offering the service in the summer of 2000.
The positive results and feedback from customers on the SharePoint Team Services means that AIT will continue to offer it as part of their rapidly expanding Windows 2000-based hosting services. In fact, one of AIT's subsidiaries is currently considering offering customization services for the SharePoint Team Services-based Web sites. AIT would offer the hosting of the services while its subsidiary would use FrontPage version 2002 to customize the site to fit each customer's unique needs.
For AIT, SharePoint Team Services fills a need that is felt both internally and by its customers. Says Lekas, "This is a tool that people can actually use and derive great benefit from. We foresee SharePoint Team Services continuing to be an important part of what we offer."
For More Information
To find out more about this company, visit the AIT Web site.
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This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS
SUMMARY. The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication.
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