Box of Blue Partnership SharePoint Case Study

For some years now, Ballard Chalmers - a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with a focus on and expertise in .NET software development, Microsoft SharePoint Server, SQL Server and BizTalk Server technologies - has successfully partnered with Box of Blue for the design, development and implementation of complex SharePoint based Internets, Intranets and Extranets.

Box of Blue is a privately owned company specialising in Website design, Website development and Website marketing and promotion with a particular reputation in delivering visually enticing websites that customers and internal users will respond to.

With Ballard Chalmers providing the technical side of the solution, and Box of Blue the design and “look and feel”, the partnership has developed a reputation for delivering complete SharePoint solutions that meet existing and future requirements, and allow clients to immediately being to enjoy the benefits of complex but easy-to-use solutions, on time and within budget.

Recent projects include:

Penguin Books
Penguin Books already had an internal Intranet site (Magnet) but recognised that it was not widely used. Instead of searching the company-wide Intranet for information, staff preferred to make requests for information, company forms and policy documents. The existing Intranet, which required the Microsoft Front Page web site administration tool, was also difficult to manage and maintain and absorbed a considerable amount of time of the three editors, diverting them from other activities.

In order to encourage adoption of the Intranet as the single point for all company information, Penguin decided to replace its static Intranet with a far more powerful, feature and resource rich solution. SharePoint 2007 had already been adopted by other companies in the group, so it made sound business sense for Penguin to use these technologies for their new Magnet Intranet.

Initially, Penguin approached Box of Blue who partnered with Ballard Chalmers for the entire project. Following a series of workshops, Box of Blue designed a series of SharePoint templates that followed Penguin’s existing corporate style, to simply the process of uploading information to the new Intranet. With the designs and “look and feel” completed, Ballard Chalmers began the development phase of the project, working alongside Box of Blue to scope content, plan the structure of the new Magnet and implement the designs and templates.

Now live, Penguin’s new Magnet Intranet has transformed the way in which information is accessed and shared. Rapidly adopted by staff across the organisation, Magnet is the single repository for vast amounts of company information, including an image gallery, company news, documents, company policy information, human resource information (such as holidays and sick leave) and a wide range of forms (such as travel, expenses, etc.). A huge library of historical information has also been uploaded, saving considerable amounts of time in identifying and accessing important information. Uploading information is now a simple and error-free process, thanks to the range of templates. Instead of having to send information and requests to the original website editors, staff are now able to upload and share information themselves, increasing productivity and encouraging a far greater degree of collaboration. The Intranet has also proved invaluable as the first point of call for new employees, providing them with a wealth of company information, corporate news and announcements, and company policies and procedures.

The partnership with Penguin Books continues: currently, the Magnet Intranet is being upgraded from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010.

Leprosy Mission International
The Leprosy Mission International (TLM) is a leading international non-denominational Christian organisation, with over 130 years experience in leprosy work. Active in over 50 countries, and with a vision for a world without leprosy and a passion to eradicate the causes and consequences of leprosy TLM has over 2,000 national and international staff and works in partnership with communities, churches, national governments and other NGOs across 202 projects in 28 leprosy-affected countries.

TLM had already adopted SharePoint as its Extranet platform but had developed the Extranet around standard, “out of the box” SharePoint templates. Recognising that it needed a more customised Extranet solution that more closely mirrored the aims, objectives and design style of the Mission, TLM approached the Ballard Chalmers/Box of Blue partnership.

The existing Extranet was already widely used by local project managers throughout the world to provide and share information on projects and initiatives. As well as enhancing this capability, TLM also wanted to encourage a greater degree of collaboration and raise awareness on projects, both internally and with a select number of 3rd party organisations.

Working in partnership, Box of Blue designed a series of new templates for the new TLM Extranet in keeping with the existing image and style, simplifying the process of uploading information. Ballard Chalmers then developed a test site and thoroughly tested the new Extranet before deploying it on a worldwide basis.

The new TLM Extranet has delivered a wide range of improvements. Users are able to upload and share information for more easily, and identify and access the precise information that they need as all of the information is now accessible from a single point. In addition to close collaboration between its members, TLM has also seen and improvement in relationships with 3rd party organisations as these too, are able to access and share valuable information in their fight to eradicate causes and consequences of leprosy.

TalkTalk
TalkTalk is the UK's leading value for money provider of fixed line broadband and voice telephony services to consumers and business users, serving over 4.8 million customers across the UK under the TalkTalk, AOL Broadband and TalkTalk Business brands. Over the past five years, through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions, TalkTalk has have built one of the UK's largest broadband and voice customer bases.

Keeping its employees fully informed of developments and company news is crucial to the ongoing success of an organisation the size of TalkTalk. Historically, the company published an in-house magazine - Up to Speed - for its staff but recognised the inefficiencies of this process. In addition to the costs of printing and circulating the magazine, the time taken to produce the magazine meant that information was out-of-date before it reached the staff, and it was almost impossible to include recent, important news items. Back copies of the magazine had to be physically stored in libraries, making it difficult for staff to refer to older information and past articles of interest.

To alleviate these issues, reduce costs and make “Up to Speed” more interactive, TalkTalk decided to replace the printed version with an online version, and approached the Box of Blue/Ballard Chalmers partnership. TalkTalk had already adopted SharePoint 2007 for its corporate Intranet and recognised the advantages of producing and delivering the new version of “Up to Speed” via this platform. Working in partnership, Box of Blue designed a set of templates to simplify the layout, uploading and editing of the magazine “pages” whilst Ballard Chalmers designed and developed the SharePoint platform, initially via a test site before rolling out the solution of a corporate wide basis. As the magazine editors had little or no previous SharePoint experience, the partnership created administration templates so that the magazine’s editorial staff could complete the layouts of text and images quickly and easily. To ensure that there were no problems in the design and publication of the electronic versions of “Up to Speed”, the partnership also provided training and knowledge transfer sessions.

Now live, the new SharePoint based “Up to Speed” magazine has been enthusiastically received. The magazine is produced quickly and cost-effectively and made available to all TalkTalk staff via the central SharePoint Intranet. Back copies are also available on line, allowing staff to access past information and new issues can be produced quickly, incorporating the very latest news.

So impressed was TalkTalk with the design and capabilities of the new electronic “Up to Speed” magazine, they asked the Ballard Chalmers/Box of Blue partnership to roll out the designs across the entire Intranet.

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