Enterprise information management specialist Intervate has completed its first customer deployment of a Web site based on SharePoint 2010, Microsoft's latest collaboration platform, which includes Web content management. It also represents one of the first South African implementations of the platform for a public Web site.
The significance of this implementation lies not only in it being Intervate's first customer Web site on the new platform, but specifically that it is the cornerstone of Stellenbosch University's ambitious HOPE Project initiative. This visionary campaign is aimed at creating hope and being of service, by putting the University's science behind society.
“Although the initial project scope was based on a SharePoint 2007 solution, we convinced the University to opt for the latest update as it offers a host of new and improved functionality from which it would benefit,” comments Marc Fletcher, Intervate Cape Town's Sales & Marketing Director. “The University has adopted a strategy around the use of Microsoft SharePoint, which has been extended to both its internal collaboration and public-facing Web sites, and therefore made the decision to go with the newer platform an obvious choice.”
“We are excited about the new Web site and the possibilities that this platform brings for the university. It is a user-friendly tool and after initial training from Intervate, our team is now able to manage content and regular updates with ease,” says Lize Esterhuizen, Head of e-Communication Development at Stellenbosch University.
The ability to quickly and simply update content on the site is seen as the primary benefit, with the university's staff taking responsibility for populating the HOPE Project Web site prior to the launch. The 'self-service' nature of the platform will go a long way to positioning the Web site as an important cog in the initiative's ability to keep communities and interested parties abreast of any new developments or progress on it reaching its goals.
Danie Gordon, Productivity Solution Manager at Microsoft, added: “Web content management is an important and very capable solution area of Microsoft SharePoint 2010. The implementation at Stellenbosch University is a great showcase of the latest technology and allows them to extend their investment in future to capabilities like enterprise search, content management, workflow and composites on the same platform.”
Fletcher says the completely redeveloped SharePoint 2010 administrative interface and features ensure the customer can take complete ownership of content management and do so without fear or trepidation.
“The technology has really moved forward in leaps and bounds with this new release, and also paves the way for us to deliver the right solution far quicker,” he concludes.
“From a user interface perspective this project has been exciting to work on; we worked with Ogilvy Cape Town, which produced the creative for us to implement the UI in SharePoint 2010, the results look amazing and shows what is capable with SharePoint 2010's new simplified master page layout and styling capability,” comments Roxanne Pearce, a designer at Intervate.
The site can be seen in English at: http://www.thehopeproject.co.za and in Afrikaans at http://www.diehoopprojek.co.za.
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