"Skinny Manufacturing" Operations / Process Improvement Call / Net Meeting

CLICK HERE for Conference Call / Net Meeting / Training System Information

*Call Invitations*	*Tom's Comments, Training Notes, Examples*	*Horror Stories, Lessons*
New Product Development, Product Lifecycle Management - Pipeline of New Product Requests, Ideas - Master Schedule and Budget for Product Development - Hurdles, Gates, Approvals for Next Stage - Sales Activity, Best Return from Every Dollar Spent - Critical Path Management of R&D, Engineering People and Tasks - Subcontractor Management with Visual Order Tracking - Skunk Works / Departmental Projects - Engineering Change Order Management - Library of Engineering and Product Documentation
Quality, Non-Conforming Materials Jumpstart
Purchasing, Procurement, Supply Chain Management - Opportunities, Applications, Paybacks CLICK HERE - Purchasing: CUSTOM WEB SITES for VENDORS TO SUBMIT QUOTES - CUSTOM WEB SITES for CUSTOMERS, SUPPLIERS, 3RD PARTIES Reduce costs by letting outside people "do it themselves" - Vendor Performance Tracking
Capacity Planning: Best example of tools: Video Example 1 Example 2 (further examples pending)
Skinny Manufacturing "Skinny MRP" session 09/03/13 video PDF (password = asco71)
Skinny Accounting - Revenue Recognition Example - Solved with SharePoint Video Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 (password = asco59) - Reconciliations with Excel: Use SHAREPOINT Instead Video Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 (password = asco59)
Audit, SOX Compliance - Flowserve Case: Our Best Example Estimated savings of $350,000+ per year for SOX Compliance using multiple tools
Human Resources Job Definition and Performance Evaluation (password=asco18) Performance Management Problem Person Example (password=asco59)
Legal
Regulatory Compliance: - Audit Readiness and Remediation - One Page Executive Outcomes Process Chart - Swimlane Process Flow Master with Workflow Functional Documentation - Workflow Full Documentation Example - Test Scripts - Full Application Video and PDF - Status Dashboard with Red Green Yellow Lights - InfoPath Form Documentation Video and PDF - Safety Audit (example pending) - ISO Certification and Reporting
Visual Order / Project Tracking - Job Order / Work Order Status Reporting, Management (Simple): Best Example of Tools to Manage Status
Order Processing Time Reduction from 5 Days to 1 1/2 Days. Project completed in 90 days. CLICK HERE for technical details.*
Rapid Dashboards
Rapid Mobile, Mobile Signoff
Advanced Reports On Business Unit Leader Performance: Reporting on the RIGHT LEADING INDICATORS with SHAREPOINT (instead of lagging financial reports)
Costing and Time Capture: How do we get better COST / PROFIT INFO ON HIGH VALUE SERVICES AND PROJECTS? - Time Capture for Salaried Workers for Better Costing
CHANGE ORDERS, GET PAID FOR ALL YOUR WORK but avoid the "sales prevention squad"
Convert Excel Spreadsheets, Other Systems to SHAREPOINT - Video Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 - 8 Excel Problems Solved with SharePoint
Getting Data from Big Systems, Working Around Old Systems - Get data from Oracle, SQL Server and other large databases with SHAREPOINT BCS Video Example 1 Example 2 - Daily Project Status Reduce 5,000 Line Daily Report to 40 Action Items CLICK HERE - Complaint Management System: SQL Query lookup InfoPath form Video and PDF -
- Inventory: Best Example of Tools for Managing Inventory - Dashboard Simple Complex video Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex PDF Complex Example PerformancePoint PDF (password=asco59)
Marketing - MEASURE COMPLIANCE with Marketing Program Rollouts - MAKE SENSE OF THE CHAOS: Use SHAREPOINT to distill meaningful information from the CRM / Social Media mass of data - Better MARKET / SALES ANALYSIS - Collect and Track Customer Input / Feedback - Competitive Intelligence, Reports (example pending)
Customer Service - Service Time Reduced from 5 Days to 1 1/2 Days Through Process Improvement - Large scale, nation-wide PROCESS IMPROVEMENT with SHAREPOINT How we helped a client save $7.5 million over three years. - Parts and Product Availability - Warranty and Returns Processing
Pricing, Costing, Quoting, Estimating, Tied to Production and Delivery: Advanced topic, see "Skinny CRM" Sales Support Systems as a beginning.
Invitation Number: PI1OverviewofConcepts Subject: Overview of Process Improvement, No-Code Solutions, 5X Concepts Regarding: SharePoint power user training, Designer, Workflow, InfoPath, Forms, SQL, other tools tips, techniques for PROCESS / OPERATIONS IMPROVEMENT. [[First Name]]- You are invited to join us for our call this Friday, Noon to 1 pm Central. CLICK HERE to register for this call. This week's topic will be an overview of results we have achieved with "No-Code Solutions, 5X Concepts", including: -BEFORE ($400 million per year of work used to flow through this process) -AFTER (optimized, $2.5 million/year cost savings, $10 million/year sales gains) -BEFORE (Quality Problem plus Customer Service example): -AFTER (Shows dramatic process consolidation and bottleneck removal) -Order Processing Reduced from 5 Days to 1 1/2 Days CLICK for BEFORE and AFTER No-Code Solutions, 5X Concept: We teach your operating people how to create their own systems and solutions (instead of waiting for IT to do it). We coach them on rapid results and process improvement techniques. Together, we can produce the systems, processes and results you need *5X faster, better and cheaper than you have ever seen...* Your first two calls are free. There is a cost thereafter. IF THIS CALL IS NOT FOR YOU: Sorry to bother you - feel free to forward to others who might benefit or reply with REMOVE if you do not want these invitations in the future. Need more info about us? We provide training, tools and support to help your people become "SharePoint Power Users" and quickly create the systems you need for sales operations. See www.tomingraminc.com or call 972-394-5736. Join us for the call if you can- Regards, Tom Ingram, PMP, CMC(e) 972-394-5736 tom@tomingraminc.com

"Skinny MRP" session 09/03/13 video PDF (password = asco71)

"Skinny CRM" Success: $6.5 million sold in 30 average sales Plus Penetrated New Marquee Account: $5.5 million sale to Proctor & Gamble: see Item (1.3) on home page www.tomingraminc.com

Big Picture Introduction:

a. Our best example: BEFORE: ($400 million per year of services work used to flow through this process)

b. Our best example: AFTER: (optimized, $2.5 million/year cost savings, $10 million/year sales gains)*

c. 25 high-payback projects proposed by our pump company clients ($2 million/year est. payback)

Non-Conforming Materials, Quality Jumpstart Examples:

d. Non-Conforming Materials Report plus Customer Service (RMA) example: BEFORE

e. Non-Conforming Materials Report plus Customer Service (RMA) example: AFTER

f. Electronic form for NCMR and Customer Service (RMA) Created in 10 days: CLICK HERE

f.1 DASHBOARD: Visual Project Tracking Quality Defect Resolution CLICK for Video CLICK for PDF

f.2 Quality Defect Tracking Workflow Original PDF

f.3 Opportunities, Payback Areas

Other Examples:

g. Aircraft Engine Part Overhaul / Refurbish Process BEFORE CLICK HERE

h. Order Status Visual Tracking Dashboard for Parts Example CLICK HERE

i. 32 Standard, Persistent Bottlenecks: Engineered To Order Pump and Others Process BEFORE.pdf CLICK HERE

j. Daily Project Status Reduce 5,000 Line Daily Report to 40 Action Items CLICK HERE

k. Rough Cut Capacity Planning for 11 Plants CLICK HERE

Product Development, Product Lifecycle Management

q. Product Development as a Project Management Task Process Flow

r. Engineering Product Documentation Change Order Management

Purchasing, Procurement, Web Sites, Vendor Portal

s. Purchasing Web Sites, Vendor Portal

s.1 Purchasing Payback areas

(Summary items are immediately below. Full articles on key topics at bottom.)

Session 1: SharePoint, Process Improvement, Basic and Advanced Capabilities Overview

1.1 SHAREPOINT BASICS
1.2 PROCESS IMPROVEMENT with SHAREPOINT How we helped a client save $7.5 million over three years.
1.3 SHAREPOINT WORKFLOW TOOLS: Video Example 1 Example 2 Summary Example 3
1.4 Convert Excel Spreadsheets to SHAREPOINT Video Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
1.5 Convert Lotus Notes, Access and other databases to SHAREPOINT Video Example 1 Example 2
1.6 Use SHAREPOINT BCS to get data from Oracle, SQL Server and other large databases Video Example 1 Example 2
1.7 Use INFOPATH forms with SHAREPOINT to make complex data entry easy for users Video Example 1 Example 2

1.8 DASHBOARDS, Advanced Reporting Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex video Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex PDF Complex Example PerformancePoint PDF

1.9 How to Migrate a List (Database) from SharePoint to MS SQL Server for advanced applications, SharePoint Activity Logging Database to see "who is doing what". CLICK HERE for video CLICK HERE for PDF

Sessions 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6: SharePoint Workflow (Designer) Key Tools and Techniques

1.3a Big Example, PROCESS IMPROVEMENT with SHAREPOINT How we helped a client save $7.5 million over three years.

1.3b Smaller Example, Workflow Process Quality Manufacturing Defects Flow Chart Work Flow / process flow for logging manufacturing defects

1.3c Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance video Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance PDF

1.3d Workflow from the User's Perspective: Workflow For Document Approval AUTO-CREATED VISIO CHART

1.3e Complex Workflow Bugging Email

1.3aa BASIC WORKFLOW BUILDING BLOCKS:

1.3.1 INFOPATH FORMS: Make it easy for user to enter data, with fewer mistakes, and start the workflow

1.3.2 Start Workflow as soon as entered, based on Priority (or HOLD workflow until condition is met)

1.3.3 Assign Task 1 TO Owner (put task in their WORK QUEUE), notify owner by email

1.3.4 Assign Task 2 to Owner (after owner completes Task 1)

1.3.5 If Task Due Date has Passed, send owner reminder emails (until completed)

1.3.6 Assign Task to Next Owner (after owner completes all tasks, e.g. to manager for approval)

1.3.7 APPROVALS: If value exceeds $X, assign task to higher level supervisor for approval (also works with priority, due date, customer name, etc.)

1.3.8 COMPLETION: When done, log all tasks as complete and remove from all owner's work queues

1.3.9 ARCHIVE: After 90 days, archive the task to a storage area and delete from active work area

1.4 INVENTORY WORKFLOW CONCEPTS: Inventory Add Relieve Audit Trail Parent Child Workflow Video Inventory Add Relieve Audit Trail Parent Child PDF Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex video Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex PDF Inventory Add Relieve Complex Form video Inventory Add Relieve Complex Form PDF

1.4.1 Add or relieve (remove) inventory items, with audit trail so have record of who removed what and why

1.4.2 PREVENT COMMON MISTAKES: (e.g. negative quantities, confusing user so data entered wrong, etc.)

1.4.3 AUTO REORDER: If quantity drops below reorder point, automatically send email to inventory manager requesting reorder

1.5 UNDERSTANDING COMMANDS THAT ALLOW RELIABLE WORKFLOWS TO BE CREATED:

1.5.1 STEPS

1.5.2 IF-THEN-ELSE (e.g. IF Status=OK, Set "Completed" column to "YES")

1.5.3 IF PAST-DUE = YES (e.g. send email reminder)

1.5.3 CREATE NEW LIST ITEM (record)

1.5.4 CHANGE STATUS for a Column

1.5.5 RECORD DATE and TIME of last action

1.5.6 UPLOAD ATTACHMENT (e.g. add attachment to the work flow record)

1.5.7 PAUSE UNTIL (Condition is met - e.g. Status=COMPLETE)

1.5.8 LOOKUP (e.g. get data from one SharePoint list and match it to the list you are working in)

1.5.9 UPDATE a DIFFERENT LIST (with status from the current list)

1.5.10 ADD COMMENT

1.5.11 CALCULATE

1.5.12 SET TIME

1.5.13 COLLECT DATA FROM A USER

1.5.14 STARTING, STOPPING and CHECK STATUS of Workflows

1.5.15 Diagnosing PROBLEM WORKFLOWS

1.5.16 Format and SEND EMAIL (e.g. owner clearly understands what is required, "one click" to complete task)

1.6 HARDER, ADVANCED CONCEPTS:

1.6.1 Documenting Work Flows so people understand them (We use Visio)

1.6.2 VARIABLES

1.6.3 DIGITAL SIGNATURES

1.6.4 BACKUP and RECOVERY of Workflows (harder than you might imagine)

1.6.5 PARALLEL PROCESSING of Tasks (assigning work to a pool of people, rather than sequentially - one person at a time)

Session 2,3,4: Sales and Marketing Problems and Solutions with SHAREPOINT:

Sales Support
2.1 Complex Price Lists and Analysis: Better, Faster, Easier
2.2 Complex Sales Reports: Better, Faster, Easier
2.3 Sales Forecasts:    Better, Faster, Easier
2.4 Commissions and Compensation Administration:    Better, Faster, Easier
2.5 Territory and Named Account Management:    Better, Faster, Easier
2.6 Advanced Reports for Top Execs: Reporting on the RIGHT LEADING INDICATORS with SHAREPOINT (instead of lagging financial reports)

Inside Sales
3.1 CUSTOM WEB SITES for YOUR CUSTOMERS: Increase sales, reduce costs by letting customers "do it themselves"
3.3 Measure and reward the RIGHT SALES ACTIVITY (Pipeline management, reporting activity against standards)
3.5 Increase CLOSE RATE
3.6 Special Problem: Part Time Sales / Part Time Customer Service People - How to capture their time and measure performance RIGHT SALES ACTIVITY

Outbound / Direct / Major Account Sales
4.1 Measure and reward the RIGHT SALES ACTIVITY (Pipeline management, reporting activity against standards)

4.1.5 BEST OF THE BEST: See Viscotech 1/0 Sales Self Management System
4.2 BETTER PROSPECTING: "15 qualified approaches = 5 meetings = 3 proposals = 1 close"
4.3 CRITICAL SERVICE OVERSIGHT: Stop wasting sales time making sure customers get what they were promised

4.4 CUSTOM WEB SITES for YOUR CUSTOMERS: Increase sales, reduce costs by letting customers "do it themselves"

4.5 Job Definition and Performance Evaluation: See examples for Merchandising Services Companies

4.5.1 Performance Management Problem Person Example

Special Sales Process Problems
4.10 PROVEN SALES GAINS IN 90 DAYS with Email marketing and click through tracking Example 1 Best Results in 24 hours
4.11 Bid / Proposal / Quote systems that provide necessary controls but avoid the "sales prevention squad"
4.12 CONTRACT APPROVAL, STATEMENT OF WORK system that provides necessary controls but avoids the "sales prevention squad"
4.13 CHANGE ORDERS, GET PAID FOR ALL YOUR WORK but avoid the "sales prevention squad"
4.14 Costing: How do we get better COST / PROFIT INFO ON HIGH VALUE SERVICES AND PROJECTS? (click through again if you get an error on the first try)

4.15 Order Status Visual Tracking for Parts Example CLICK HERE

Sales Skills and Strategies - Beyond Systems and Process - Interviews with the Experts
4.20 Get more meetings with SENIOR EXECUTIVE DECISION MAKERS (video)
4.21 SHORTEN SALES CYCLES (video)
4.22 BE A PARTNER NOT A COMMODITY (video)
4.23 Move Customers Away from INSANE FOCUS ON COST (video)

4.24 HIRE BETTER SALES PEOPLE

4.25 START SELLING HIGH MARGIN SERVICES with your product

4.26 SELL MORE HIGH MARGIN SERVICES

4.27 GROW DIRECT SALES TO MAJOR ACCOUNTS (Instead of through distribution or resellers)

4.28 Turn Order Takers into NEW BUSINESS HUNTERS
4.29 Get HIGHER QUALITY LEADS
4.30 Customer Success Stories and testimonials that are PROVEN TO RESULT IN SALES

Session 5: Marketing Problems and Solutions with SharePoint and other Help

5.1 MEASURE COMPLIANCE with Marketing Program Rollouts
5.2 MAKE SENSE OF THE CHAOS: Use SHAREPOINT to distill meaningful information from the CRM / Social Media mass of data
5.3 Better MARKET / SALES ANALYSIS

5.4 Collect and Track Customer Input / Feedback

Session 6: Financial Analysis, Planning, Reporting Problems and Solutions with SharePoint and other Help

6.1 Complex Price Lists, Sales Reports, Forecasts, Analysis: Better, Faster, Easier
6.2 Commissions and Compensation Administration:    Better, Faster, Easier
6.3  Advanced Reports for Top Execs: Reporting on the RIGHT LEADING INDICATORS with SHAREPOINT (instead of lagging financial reports)
6.4 Bid / Proposal / Quote systems that provide necessary controls but avoid the "sales prevention squad"
6.5  CONTRACT APPROVAL, STATEMENT OF WORK system that provides necessary controls but avoids the "sales prevention squad"
6.6 CHANGE ORDERS, GET PAID FOR ALL YOUR WORK but avoid the "sales prevention squad"
6.7  Costing: How do we get better COST / PROFIT INFO ON HIGH VALUE SERVICES AND PROJECTS? (click through again if you get an error on the first try)

Session 8: Product Development / Engineering Problems and Solutions with SharePoint:

8.1 Sharing specifications and image documents (in one place, a single point of truth) SHAREPOINT BASICS of File Sharing
8.2 Change Orders and Specification Changes: Work flow to develop and approve Video Example 1 Example 2 Summary Example 3
8.3 Archive, storage and retrieval of specifications and files that need to be kept permanently (SPECIAL DISCUSSION REQUIRED)

8.4 Work Flow / process flow for logging manufacturing defects, the solution and making sure the solution is added to documentation, procedures and training (to prevent recurrence) Work Flow Process Flow Chart

8.5 DEFECT TRACKING: Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance video Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance PDF

8.6 DASHBOARDS, Advanced Reporting Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex video Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex PDF Complex Example PerformancePoint PDF

8.7 Inventory Add Relieve Audit Trail Workflow video Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance PDF

8.8 New Product Development Tracking: Large Scale, Nation Wide Task Tracking (different context, same tools)

8.9 CHANGE ORDERS, GET PAID FOR ALL YOUR WORK

Session 9: Customer Service Problems and Solutions with SharePoint:

9.1 Large scale, nation-wide PROCESS IMPROVEMENT with SHAREPOINT How we helped a client save $7.5 million over three years.

9.2 Smaller scale, easy to understand case: Service Time Reduced from 5 Days to 1 1/2 Days Through Process Improvement

9.3 WORKFLOW TOOLS: Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance video Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance PDF
9.4 Convert Excel Spreadsheets to SHAREPOINT Video Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
9.5 Convert Lotus Notes, Access and other databases to SHAREPOINT Video Example 1 Example 2
9.6 Get data from Oracle, SQL Server and other large databases with SHAREPOINT BCS Video Example 1 Example 2
9.7 Make complex data entry easy for users with INFOPATH forms Video Example 1 Example 2

9.8 CHANGE ORDERS, GET PAID FOR ALL YOUR WORK but avoid the "sales prevention squad"
9.9 Costing: How do we get better COST / PROFIT INFO ON HIGH VALUE SERVICES AND PROJECTS? (click through again if you get an error on the first try)

9.10 Complex Price Lists, Sales Reports, Forecasts, Analysis: Better, Faster, Easier

9.11 Time Capture for Salaried Workers for Better Costing (click through again if you get an error on the first try)

9.12 CUSTOM WEB SITES for CUSTOMERS, SUPPLIERS, 3RD PARTIES Reduce costs by letting outside people "do it themselves"

9.13 Inventory: Best Example of Tools for Managing Inventory

9.14 DASHBOARDS, Advanced Reporting Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex video Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex PDF Complex Example PerformancePoint PDF

9.15 Warranties and Returns: Best Overview Example video Best Overview Example PDF

9.16 Field Service, large scale, nation-wide PROCESS IMPROVEMENT with SHAREPOINT

Session 10: Operations / Production Problems and Solutions with SharePoint:

10.1 Large scale, nation-wide PROCESS IMPROVEMENT with SHAREPOINT How we helped a client save $7.5 million over three years.

10.2 Smaller scale, easy to understand case: Service Time Reduced from 5 Days to 1 1/2 Days Through Process Improvement

10.3 Operations WORKFLOW TOOLS: Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance video Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance PDF
10.4 Convert Excel Spreadsheets to SHAREPOINT Video Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
10.5 Convert Lotus Notes, Access and other databases to SHAREPOINT Video Example 1 Example 2
10.6 Get data from Oracle, SQL Server and other large databases with SHAREPOINT BCS Video Example 1 Example 2
10.7 Use INFOPATH forms with SHAREPOINT to make complex data entry easy for users Video Example 1 Example 2

10.8 CHANGE ORDERS, GET PAID FOR ALL YOUR WORK but avoid the "sales prevention squad"
10.9 Costing: How do we get better COST / PROFIT INFO ON HIGH VALUE SERVICES AND PROJECTS? (click through again if you get an error on the first try)

10.10 Complex Price Lists, Sales Reports, Forecasts, Analysis: Better, Faster, Easier

10.11 Time Capture for Salaried Workers for Better Costing

10.12 CUSTOM WEB SITES for CUSTOMERS, SUPPLIERS, 3RD PARTIES Reduce costs by letting outside people "do it themselves"

10.13 Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance PDF

10.14 Inventory: Best Example of Tools for Managing Inventory

10.15 DASHBOARDS, Advanced Reporting Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex video Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex PDF Complex Example PerformancePoint PDF

Session 11: Audit, Sarbanes Oxley Compliance Problems and Solutions with SharePoint:

11.0 Flowserve Case: Our Best Example Estimated savings of $350,000+ per year for SOX Compliance using multiple tools
11.1 Large scale, nation-wide PROCESS IMPROVEMENT with SHAREPOINT How we helped a client save $7.5 million over three years.

11.2 Smaller scale, easy to understand case: Service Time Reduced from 5 Days to 1 1/2 Days Through Process Improvement

11.3 WORKFLOW TOOLS: Video Example 1 Example 2 Summary Example 3 Work Flow Process Flow Chart
11.4 Convert Excel Spreadsheets to SHAREPOINT Video Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
11.5 Convert Lotus Notes, Access and other databases to SHAREPOINT Video Example 1 Example 2
11.6 Use SHAREPOINT BCS to get data from Oracle, SQL Server and other large databases Video Example 1 Example 2
11.7 Use INFOPATH forms with SHAREPOINT to make complex data entry easy for users Video Example 1 Example 2

11.8 Complex Price Lists, Sales Reports, Forecasts, Analysis: Better, Faster, Easier

Session 12: Accounting Problems and Solutions with SharePoint and other Help

12.1 Flowserve Case: Our Best Example Estimated savings of $250,000+ per year using multiple tools

12.2 Reconciliations with Excel: Use SHAREPOINT Instead Video Example 1 Example 2 Example 3

12.3 8 Excel Problems Solved with SharePoint

12.4 Revenue Recognition Example - Solved with SharePoint Video Example 1 Example 2 Example 3

12.5 Complex Price Lists, Sales Reports, Forecasts, Analysis: Better, Faster, Easier
12.6  Advanced Reports for Top Execs: Reporting on the RIGHT LEADING INDICATORS with SHAREPOINT (instead of lagging financial reports)
12.7 Bid / Proposal / Quote systems that provide necessary controls but avoid the "sales prevention squad"
12.8  CONTRACT APPROVAL, STATEMENT OF WORK system that provides necessary controls but avoids the "sales prevention squad"
12.9 CHANGE ORDERS, GET PAID FOR ALL YOUR WORK but avoid the "sales prevention squad"
12.10  Costing: How do we get better COST / PROFIT INFO ON HIGH VALUE SERVICES AND PROJECTS? (click through again if you get an error on the first try)

12.11 Time Capture for Salaried Workers for Better Costing

12.12 Get data from Oracle or other big systems to speed up month end close, financial reporting, reconciliations, etc. with SHAREPOINT BCS Video Example 1 Example 2

Session 13: Manufacturing Problems and Solutions with SharePoint:

13.1 OVERVIEW: A Simple approach to manufacturing process improvement: Service Time Reduced from 5 Days to 1 1/2 Days

13.1.1 Large scale, nation-wide PROCESS IMPROVEMENT with SHAREPOINT How we helped a client save $7.5 million over three years.
13.2 Bid / Proposal / Quote systems that provide necessary controls but avoid the "sales prevention squad"

13.3 Job Order / Work Order Status Reporting, Management (Simple): Best Example of Tools to Manage Status

13.4 Sharing specifications and image documents (in one place, a single point of truth) SHAREPOINT BASICS of File Sharing

13.6 SPECIFICATION CHANGES, CHANGE ORDERS, GET PAID FOR ALL YOUR WORK but avoid the "sales prevention squad"

13.7 Inventory: Best Example of Tools for Managing Inventory

13.8 Bill of Materials: (When simple, quick tools are the best solution) Best Example of Tools to Create and Manage Simple BOM

13.9 Purchasing: CUSTOM WEB SITES for VENDORS TO SUBMIT QUOTES

13.10 Shipping: Best Example of Tools to Manage Shipping

13.11 Complex Price Lists, Production Reports, Sales Reports, Forecasts, Analysis: Better, Faster, Easier

13.12 Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance video Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance PDF

13.13 CUSTOM WEB SITES for CUSTOMERS, SUPPLIERS, 3RD PARTIES Reduce costs by letting outside people "do it themselves"

13.14 Convert Excel Spreadsheets to SHAREPOINT Video Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
13.15 Convert Lotus Notes, Access and other databases to SHAREPOINT Video Example 1 Example 2
13.16 Get data from Oracle, SQL Server and other large databases with SHAREPOINT BCS Video Example 1 Example 2
13.17 Make complex data entry easy for users with INFOPATH forms Video Example 1 Example 2

13.18 DASHBOARDS, Advanced Reporting Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex video Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex PDF Complex Example PerformancePoint PDF

13.19 Capacity Planning: Best example of tools: Video Example 1 Example 2 (further examples pending)

Session 14: Quality / Continuous Improvement Solutions with SharePoint:

14.1 OVERVIEW: A Simple approach to continuous improvement: Service Time Reduced from 5 Days to 1 1/2 Days

14.1.1 Large scale, nation-wide PROCESS IMPROVEMENT with SHAREPOINT How we helped a client save $7.5 million over three years.

14.3 Job Order / Work Order Status Reporting, Management (Simple): Best Example of Tools to Manage Status

14.4 Sharing specifications and image documents (in one place, a single point of truth) SHAREPOINT BASICS of File Sharing

14.6 SPECIFICATION CHANGES, CHANGE ORDERS, GET PAID FOR ALL YOUR WORK but avoid the "sales prevention squad"

14.7 Inventory: Best Example of Tools for Managing Inventory

14.9 Purchasing: CUSTOM WEB SITES for VENDORS TO SUBMIT QUOTES

14.11 Complex Price Lists, Production Reports, Sales Reports, Forecasts, Analysis: Better, Faster, Easier

14.12 DEFECT TRACKING, Resolution, Reporting: Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance video Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance PDF

14.13 CUSTOM WEB SITES for CUSTOMERS, SUPPLIERS, 3RD PARTIES Reduce costs by letting outside people "do it themselves"

14.14 Convert Excel Spreadsheets to SHAREPOINT Video Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
14.15 Convert Lotus Notes, Access and other databases to SHAREPOINT Video Example 1 Example 2
14.16 Get data from Oracle, SQL Server and other large databases with SHAREPOINT BCS Video Example 1 Example 2
14.17 Make complex data entry easy for users with INFOPATH forms Video Example 1 Example 2

14.18 DASHBOARDS, Advanced Reporting Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex video Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex PDF Complex Example PerformancePoint PDF

Session 15: Other Problems and Solutions with SharePoint:

15.1 Large scale, nation-wide PROCESS IMPROVEMENT with SHAREPOINT How we helped a client save $7.5 million over three years.

15.2 Smaller scale, easy to understand case: Service Time Reduced from 5 Days to 1 1/2 Days Through Process Improvement

15.3 WORKFLOW TOOLS: Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance video Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance PDF
15.4 Convert Excel Spreadsheets to SHAREPOINT Video Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
15.5 Convert Lotus Notes, Access and other databases to SHAREPOINT Video Example 1 Example 2
15.6 Get data from Oracle, SQL Server and other large databases with SHAREPOINT BCS Video Example 1 Example 2
15.7 Use INFOPATH forms with SHAREPOINT to make complex data entry easy for users Video Example 1 Example 2

15.8 CHANGE ORDERS, GET PAID FOR ALL YOUR WORK but avoid the "sales prevention squad"
15.9 Costing: How do we get better COST / PROFIT INFO ON HIGH VALUE SERVICES AND PROJECTS? (click through again if you get an error on the first try)

15.10 Complex Price Lists, Sales Reports, Forecasts, Analysis: Better, Faster, Easier

15.11 Time Capture for Salaried Workers for Better Costing

15.12 CUSTOM WEB SITES for CUSTOMERS, SUPPLIERS, 3RD PARTIES Reduce costs by letting outside people "do it themselves"

15.13 Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance PDF

15.14 Inventory: Best Example of Tools for Managing Inventory

15.15 DASHBOARDS, Advanced Reporting Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex video Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex PDF Complex Example PerformancePoint PDF

Session 16: Supply Chain, Purchasing, Distribution, Inventory, Logistics Solutions with SharePoint:

16.1 OVERVIEW: A Simple approach to manufacturing process improvement: Service Time Reduced from 5 Days to 1 1/2 Days

16.1.1 Large scale, nation-wide PROCESS IMPROVEMENT with SHAREPOINT How we helped a client save $7.5 million over three years.
16.2 Bid / Proposal / Quote systems that provide necessary controls but avoid the "sales prevention squad"

16.3 Job Order / Work Order Status Reporting, Management (Simple): Best Example of Tools to Manage Status

16.4 Sharing specifications and image documents (in one place, a single point of truth) SHAREPOINT BASICS of File Sharing

16.6 SPECIFICATION CHANGES, CHANGE ORDERS, GET PAID FOR ALL YOUR WORK but avoid the "sales prevention squad"

16.7 Inventory: Best Example of Tools for Managing Inventory

16.8 Bill of Materials: (When simple, quick tools are the best solution) Best Example of Tools to Create and Manage Simple BOM

16.9 Purchasing: CUSTOM WEB SITES for VENDORS TO SUBMIT QUOTES

16.10 Shipping: Best Example of Tools to Manage Shipping

16.11 Complex Price Lists, Production Reports, Sales Reports, Forecasts, Analysis: Better, Faster, Easier

16.12 Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance video Workflow Best Overview Example Quality Assurance PDF

16.13 CUSTOM WEB SITES for CUSTOMERS, SUPPLIERS, 3RD PARTIES Reduce costs by letting outside people "do it themselves"

16.14 Convert Excel Spreadsheets to SHAREPOINT Video Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
16.15 Convert Lotus Notes, Access and other databases to SHAREPOINT Video Example 1 Example 2
16.16 Get data from Oracle, SQL Server and other large databases with SHAREPOINT BCS Video Example 1 Example 2
16.17 Make complex data entry easy for users with INFOPATH forms Video Example 1 Example 2

16.18 DASHBOARDS, Advanced Reporting Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex video Reorder Point Dashboard Simple Complex PDF Complex Example PerformancePoint PDF

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Payback and Rapid improvements Possible in Custom Pumps and Accessories Industry

The following projects were suggested by my clients primarily in the Custom Pump and Accessories industry (not by me). Details have been altered to protect client confidentiality.

Payback Class*:

Small: $20,000 or less in cost savings or sale gains (rough estimate)

Moderate: $20,000 to $200,000 in cost savings or sale gains (rough estimate)

Large: $200,000 or more in cost savings or sale gains (rough estimate)

No. / Payback Class*	Org / Depts.	Functional Area	Project
1 / Large	High Volume Pumps, Manufacturing, Production Planning	Rough Cut Capacity Planning across numerous plants including Sales Forecast	Entering live production schedules in big ERP systems is so complex and time consuming that it is help to "rough up" the production schedule quickly, before entering formally into ERP system - Improve on time shipments - Reduce unused capacity - Reduce overall cost of production - Reduce expediting and stress on people - Quick prototype to validate approach, get quick results (instead of waiting for long-term, “big bang” project)
2 / Large	Parts and Service Sales, Manufacturing, Planning, Purchasing, Engineering, Customer Service, Sales, Quality	Non-Conforming Material Reports, Consistently Resolve both Immediate Problem and Root Cause "Defect Tracking"	Consolidate Non-Conformance (Testing, Exception, “Not Accomplished as Planned”) Reports from numerous plants. Currently done differently at each site. Prevent same problem in future Difficult because many hand-offs, many locations, many owners
2.1 / Moderate	High Volume Pumps, Parts and Service Sales, Manufacturing, Purchasing, Project Management, Engineering, Customer Service	Vendor Testing and Certifications Database	Needs workflow to track vendor testing and certifications, make sure current. Requires secure access for external suppliers and vendors so they can self-serve
3 / Large	Sales, Production, Customer Service, All Departments	On Time Delivery, Percentage Improvement	Enormous, long term, hard issue. Issues are not just process and IT, but culture, buy-in, discipline and priority based. Example: Only 79% on time scorecard after years of effort to improve. Piloting small-win solutions is best approach to tackling big issues
4.0 / Large	Customer Service	Sales Support: Inside Sales, Increase Sales from Account Managers, Service People	Emphasis on: - “Better management of pipeline of sales and revenue opportunities” - The capabilities of a CRM tool such as Salesforce.com, but without the cost, delay and unneeded complexity
4.2 / Moderate	Seals, Systems	Sales Support: Quotes Easier to Create, Completed on Time, Close Ratio	On Time, Time Outstanding, Close Ratio, Easier, Better Creation
4.3 / Moderate	Custom Pumps, Cyclones, Valves	Sales Support: Sales Forecast, Sales Activity Management, Qualify Prospects	Key components: - Easy for sales people to enter activity acurately - Helps sales people self-manage, focus on the right prospects - Shows who to reward, who to replace - Reliable sales forecast by measuring tangible prospect actions Example: Currently dealing with “Excel Problem”, plus need Help for Coping with Aging or Large ERP Systems.
5.1 / Large	Reseller Sales	Customer Self-Serve Web Sites: Joint Inventory System with Resellers, Other Big Customers	- Reduces cost to serve resellers and customers - Increase sales by making it easier to buy - Increases reseller and customer “cost of switching” - Often doing this now, with Excel spreadsheets, complex, labor intensive, risky - Requires secure access for customers
5.2 / Large	Customer Service, Multiple Departments	Customer Self-Serve Web Sites: Customers Able to Check Status of Orders	Customer is able to (reliably) see progress of order through: - Design - Approval - Sourcing - Manufacturing - Testing - Delivery
5.3 / Large	Customer Service, Multiple Departments	Customer Self-Serve Web Sites: Customer Enters Their Own Orders	Make it easy for customer to buy on-line, harder to switch Best for simpler orders
6.0 / Large	Customer Service All Departments	Critical Document Handling: Sales Order / Contract, Engineering Specs Creation, Changes, Approval	Needs sign-off and workflow to include other locations around the world, external suppliers, vendors, customers Special workflow routing based on risk, approval levels, possibly to CEO for major projects All critical documents need management through process: - Creation - Change - Approval - Escalation if needed - Secure storage - Easy retrieval - Audit trail of “who changed what” - Recovery from mistakes, previous versions - Archive permanently or destroy “Single Point of Truth” (Prevent too many versions, uncertainty, duplication, mistakes)
6.1 / Large	Sales, Service, Manufacturing	Critical Document Handling: Change Orders	Contract request / add / change / approval workflow. Routed correctly from: - Originator (to) - Approving manager (to) - Order Entry (to) - Budgeting See “critical document handling” above.
6.2 / Moderate	Sales, Operations, Customer Service	Lack of Certifications / Documentation Problems, Causes Delivery Delay	- In the Custom Pump industry, the delays are caused by lack of "Certification" documents that attest to the part meeting required specifications - In the aircraft part (engine) refurbish industry, the certification document is called Form 8130, which certifies that the part is fit for installation in aircraft. The parts and forms are serial number based, creating many problems with duplicate or incorrect data entry. In some cases, this is the #1 cause of quality / customer return issues.
7.0 / Large	CEO and General Management from Multiple Companies	CEO and Senior Executive Reporting on "Right Leading Activities" (Instead of Lagging Financial Results), Executive, Misc. but Important	Reporting system drawn from multiple sources so CEO knows that the "right activities" are taking place, months ahead of lagging financial reports. Components mentioned by multiple CEOs: - Revenue side: Active quotes vs. date of inquiry, Contracts presented and number of revisions requested, approximate profit contribution of leads in the sales pipeline - Operations / Execution / Manufacturing side: First pass yield (manufactured correctly the first time), Total labors hours paid vs. standard hours earned (based on units produced, from standard cost system.)
7.2 / Moderate	Sales, Production, Collections	"Ship to Cash" (Not Just "Order to Ship"), Executive, Misc. but Important	Getting paid is often forgotten in the press to meet customer needs. Critical because of need for cash, but also because customers won't pay unless that get what is promised.
7.3 / Moderate	General need for all organizations, Especially Sales, Customer Service, Project Management	Mobile devices, Allow Basic Workflow Sign-offs, Executive, Misc. but Important	Very helpful to allow busy execs on the go to easily sign-off on basic workflow approvals.
8.0 / Large	Operations, Sales, Customer Service	Inventory and Parts Management at Multiple Service Center Locations. The "Hoarding" Problem	Sales and customer service want to have local inventory to keep customers happy. Can result in duplications and inventory waste, production schedules producing product not really needed while other, critical production needs are not met. Also results in customer confusion as to where they should get product from. Optimizing can mean more efficient sharing of inventories and customer service. Sales and customer service must believe that manufacturing will produce the needed parts in time (or they will resist by "Hoarding"
9.1 / Moderate,	Custom Pumps, Seals Valves, others Managing Projects Operations, Service, Project Management, Quality Assurance,	Project Status System: Across Multiple Locations and Countries, Small, Rapid Projects by Line People (rather than big staff effort)	Sometimes simple, sometimes very complex (Example, very large scale), Daily 5,000 line reports: Consolidate, Summarize, Simplify, Daily Mass Reports to “Daily Hot List” Requiring Action (40 items or less) on key items: - Required Finish Date - Changes to “on time” status - Changes to key activities - Comment changes that may affect project Help for Coping with Aging or Large ERP Systems, especially if support, modifications or help is difficult to get
9.2 / Moderate, Rapid, Small Projects by Line People (rather than big staff effort)	Custom Pumps, Seals Valves, Small Company in Rapid Startup Mode	Simple Purchase / Project Planning and Action Item Tracking for Multiple Subcontractor Steps, , Small, Rapid Projects by Line People (rather than big staff effort)	Multiple requests for this. Common steps are: - Quote the work - Close sale / get P.O. - Issue RFQs to subcontractors, get bids, select winners, award bids - Plan and manage project / order through key steps: * Acquire parts * Machine (forge, cast, mill, grind, etc.) * Finish (paint, plate, heat treat, etc.) * Receive * Assemble * Inspect * Ship and invoice * Collect
9.3 / Moderate	Custom Pumps, Seals Valves, others Managing Projects	Action Item Tracking System, Across Multiple Locations and Countries, Small, Rapid Projects by Line People (rather than big staff effort)	- Needs to include accountability and ownership for completion - Extend to customers and vendors - Make easier to track specific orders - Example: Especially difficult to track orders across Group’s 30 business units
9.4 / Moderate	Valves, Seals, Customer Service, Engineering, Quality, Product Development	Warranty and Returns Database, Small, Rapid Projects by Line People (rather than big staff effort)	Opportunity for quality feedback plus to recover costs from vendors Great example of business people, close to the work, solving the problem
9.5 / Moderate,	Valves, Manufacturing	Production Downtime Issues Tracking Database, Small, Rapid Projects by Line People (rather than big staff effort)	Oracle reports possibly integrated?
9.6 / Moderate,	Seals, Purchasing	Local Outsourcing / Bid / Award Website, Outsource Lower Value Production, Small, Rapid Projects by Line People (rather than big staff effort)	Local Plant Creates Their Own Purchasing Outsourcing / Bid / Award / Website Requires secure access for external suppliers and vendors Great example of business people, close to the work, solving the problem, getting something done without waiting for systems or IT
9.7 / Small,	Seals Group, Purchasing, Manufacturing, Customer Service	Purchase Requisition / Preparation System, Small, Rapid Projects by Line People (rather than big staff effort) )	Help manage all the specifications, RFI / RFQ, bids and vendor selection PRIOR to entering a P.O. into SAP / Oracle purchasing systems.
11.0 / Moderate	Custom Pumps	Product Development: Make Sure New Products Have Features and Benefits Customers Will Pay For	In the case mentioned to us, reliable delivery turned out to be far more important than advanced product features. Should have focus on the right customer need.
11.3 / Moderate	Seals, Engineering, Product Development	Product Development: Engineering Specification / Document Management	Replace Current Engineering Specification / Document Management System - not effective, not being used. See “critical document handling” above.
11.5 / Moderate	Custom Pumps	Product Development: Task Tracking for Entire Product Development Portfolio	Particularly difficult with multiple locations, multiple countries, customer and vendor involvement
12.1 / Moderate	Reseller Sales, Senior Management, Reseller Sales, Reseller Service	Resellers: Joint Market Planning System	Database and workflow to track Market Planning process for 50+ resellers. Currently “Excel Problem”. Requires access for external customers - Resellers need to perform or be replaced
12.2 / Moderate	Reseller Sales	Resellers: Database of Products Sold Through Resellers and Installed at End Customers	Database of Installed Pumps and Accessories sold through Resellers. Difficult to accomplish, may not be practical - Great example of “quick prototype, rapid test by business people close to the work” to see if practical
12.3 / Moderate	Reseller Sales	Resellers: “Reseller Info” Web site	Replace Current “Reseller Info” Web site. Allows business people, close to the work, to “self-serve” provide documents and support to resellers directly and quickly (without waiting for technical help.)
15 / Moderate	Valves, Engineering, Quality, Product Development, Production, Manufacturing, Misc.	ISO / Quality / Environmental / Safety Management System	Create Your Own instead of Purchasing a System. Waiting over a year to purchase big system Great example of “rapid results, get something done now, even if less than perfect”
18 / Moderate	Valves, Customer Service, Engineering, Quality, Product Development	Aging or Large ERP Systems, Help Coping With	Dashboards to help compare and consolidate massive reports from Oracle, SAP, etc. (no specifics) Consolidate, Summarize, Simplify, Daily Mass Reports to “Daily Hot List” Requiring Action (40 items or less) Excel import to summarize big reports Help during conversion between big systems, such as SAP to Oracle Possible to get access to data in the Oracle, SAP or SQL Server databases
25.5 / Low	Customer Service	General need to “keep up with change”	- Example: Sales person leaves, venue for supporting international customer changes, company is accidentally not complying with confidentiality and other rules or laws Need quick prototypes, flexible systems, rapid solutions, Test and validate quickly (or abandon)

================================

18 Advanced SharePoint Capabilities:

By Tom Ingram, PMP, CMC, March 1, 2012

No.	Capability	Why important
1	Your own secure Site Collection, under your control and direction	SITE COLLECTIONS are the primary and best way to organize the work of separate departments RESPONSE TIME and CERTAIN LARGE TASKS, especially use of LARGE EXCEL SPREADSHEETS, are GREATLY AFFECTED This is a CRITICAL TECHNICAL ISSUE and may prevent you from accomplishing desired projects. Contact me for details
2	Immediately create your own unlimited SharePoint sites	MUST have to quickly prototype and test different ways to organize the work
3	Practical, advanced tools for using SharePoint to help with large Excel Spreadsheets and mass reports from ERP systems	MUST have so SharePoint can help consolidate, analyze and REDUCE LARGE REPORTS from ERP and other systems to DAILY HOT LIST ACTION ITEMS Example: Take daily 6,000 line spreadsheets showing world-wide project tasks and status and boil down to ONLY THE ITEMS THAT HAVE CHANGED SINCE YESTERDAY and REQUIRE ACTION NOTE: Simple tools for Excel ARE NOT ADEQUATE FOR HANDLING LARGE, DAILY REPORTS Example: Our system has easily handled spreadsheets of 35,000 rows and 175 columns WITH NO RESPONSE TIME / SLOWNESS FOR OTHER USERS
4	Four hour resolution of SharePoint questions and problems (Our average resolution time is actually less than four working hours)	MUST HAVE because of SharePoint’s complexity PEOPLE WHO MUST WAIT DAYS OR WEEKS for resolution become frustrated and STOP USING SHAREPOINT, especially for the more ADVANCED PROJECTS
5	Grant secure access to external customers and suppliers	MUST have to capture savings and sales gains from reducing unneeded steps and waste between customer and vendor: - Make it EASY FOR CUSTOMERS TO BUY - Make it HARDER FOR CUSTOMERS TO SWITCH VENDORS - Reduce costs by allowing customers and vendors to SELF-SERVE
6	Full control over your user's access permissions (read, write, create, delete, limited access to certain data)	MUST have to maintain security, but allow people to see what they need
7	Create and rapidly duplicate standard site templates	MUST have to rapidly duplicate sites for customers and vendors ESSENTIAL for standardizing SharePoint processes MOST SHAREPOINT SYSTEMS ARE CONFIGURED FOR “Publishing”, which DISABLES THIS FEATURE. Some clients duplicate standard sites 100+ times, saving 2-3 hours per site!!!
8	Full access to Site Collection Administrator rights and rapid-response to Central Administration setting change requests	ESSENTIAL. OTHERWISE PEOPLE BECOME FRUSTRATED and the project stalls. 12+ settings in these two areas greatly affect daily practical usage
9	SharePoint Designer rights to create special forms	VERY HELPFUL for practical usage. Allows easy creation of simple forms for simple tasks and complex forms for complex tasks, A SINGLE POINT OF CONTROL FOR PROCESS.
10	SharePoint Designer rights to create work flows	NECESSARY for practical medium and large scale workflows
11	SharePoint Designer rights to modify your web sites	VERY HELPFUL when sites are accessed by external customers and suppliers. Allows site to be attractive, but remain simple and efficient
12	SharePoint Designer rights, training and support to create Non-SharePoint web sites in connection with SharePoint projects	ESSENTIAL for some more complex uses Example: VIDEO FILES (for training, sales, etc.) work much BETTER IN A STANDARD INTERNET WEB SITE than from within SharePoint Note: We teach people how to create and maintain these sites WITHOUT LEARNING TO PROGRAM (in HTML)
13	InfoPath forms creation, make complex data entry easier, with fewer mistakes	VERY HELPFUL for more complex tasks. Note: SCREENS DEVELOPED HERE CAN LATER BE USED with MS SQL Server, PRESERVING THE COST / INVESTMENT in getting the work process right
14	Business Connectivity Services: Allows SharePoint to get data from Oracle, SAP, SQL Server and other large databases	VERY HELPFUL, ESSENTIAL FOR SOME TASKS. VERY HELPFUL if SUPPORT IS UNAVAILABLE, or you are TRANSITIONING FROM ONE LARGE SYSTEM TO ANOTHER We have done this, and it is practical – but some complexity and cost are involved
15	Visio Workflow Diagrams	VERY HELPFUL for preventing FRUSTRATION with workflow solutions. HELPS PEOPLE TO VISUALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING ON NOTE: The simple, native SharePoint solution is not practical
16	Advanced workflows in Visual Studio for advanced needs	Some VERY LARGE PAYBACK projects can be accomplished with a small amount of programming Some IT departments may object to this, but the technical issues are easily managed
17	Fix for bug in SharePoint that allows people to defeat the “who did what when” audit trail log	MAY BE IMPORTANT in some projects Some IT departments may object to this, but the technical issues are easily managed
18	Rapid development of Microsoft SQL Server database and programming needed if solution becomes more complex than SharePoint can handle	ESSENTIAL TO PRESERVE YOUR COST / INVESTMENT in SharePoint solutions, but provide an UPGRADE PATH if the solution REQUIRES AN ADVANCED DATABASE and other tools Includes making use of InfoPath Forms already developed and more sophisticated capabilities Some IT departments may object to this, but the technical issues are easily managed
19	Dashboards, Simple, Complex	RED / GREEN / YELLOW / GRAPHS / CHARTS EXTREMELY HELPFUL in some cases. SharePoint has a simple capability that works well. The advanced capability, Performance Point, requires significant effort and cost - but may be right for some situations
20	SharePoint Designer rights to create customized printed reports	IMPORTANT IN SOME CASES when SharePoint remains the central database but complex printed reports are desired

Candidate Projects for DIY (Do IT Yourself) Process Improvement with SharePoint

Articles, Tips and Tools Below

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Article #12: SharePoint^® 101 for Sales Process Improvement

Begin With Outcome In Mind - 4 Key Capabilities. There are four primary uses of basic SharePoint. This week we'll focus on those four uses and how they support sales operations improvement.

If you are not familiar with "business process / problem thinking", see Key Processes Where We Have Used SharePoint Effectively and Process Inventory for Services Industry Master for a place to start.

1. Document Management: Also called "store and retrieve". A good example is real estate contracts. Easily scanned, along with any supporting documents and organized into folders. The documents do not change - great use of SharePoint. Other examples include specifications from customers for work to be done, HR documents, policy and procedure documents, resumes, historical data on customers, etc. One key issue is understanding how you want to search the documents - SharePoint can be great or a real pain. The other key is that the documents change rarely if at all. Note that SharePoint is a great solution unless you are, say a title insurance company or a law firm, which might have 100,000+ of these documents to manage. If you have this type of volume, there are specialized software packages that are better.

2. Collaboration / File Sharing: Abe Lincoln would use the term "file sharing" instead of "collaboration." Nobody knows exactly what collaboration means, and he hated ambiguity. When we move from simple "store and retrieve" to multiple people working with the same file, we are in the center of what SharePoint does well. I remember one Excel spreadsheet - everyone had to email their updates to one person, who spent half a day cutting and pasting. With SharePoint, we got it down to minutes because 75 people were able to update the same spreadsheet without overwriting or conflicting with each other. Other great uses are when multiple people need to contribute are contracts or the creation of sales presentations. SharePoint is great at keeping versions of documents so it is easy to recover from mistakes and keep audit trails.

3. Intranet / Extranet / Portal (Access to Existing Systems through SharePoint): I dislike these buzzwords. Simply put, an intranet is a web site giving internal employees access to data they need. An extranet gives external parties (like customers and suppliers) access to data they need. SharePoint does both of these things quite well - very helpful for process improvement. The term portal is just annoying because it means nothing. The next major function is providing access to the data in existing systems through SharePoint (called "interfaces".) We are now in the major leagues. Lot's of rhetoric, some good stuff, lot's of reasons to be careful and get the right help - but it can be done. Just be sure to count the cost first.

4. Process Improvement / Workflow: Workflow is seen in the process maps in my case studies (below). Process improvement is the difference between "before" and "after". It all begins with the business problem, and the business process that solves that problem. I have seen a dozen clients reduce costs or increase sales by 30%+ through process improvement. Generally, it involves all four of the key capabilities, so I urge you to master them all. This is the outcome we want to have in mind when we start with SharePoint.

CLICK HERE for full case study. $7.5 million in sales operations labor savings over three years.

==============================

Join us for the call if you can-

Tom

Article 11: Call Subject: "10 Lotus Notes Problems Solved with SharePoint.. and How to Convert..." This week's call will cover:

1. LOTUS NOTES DECLINING, STAGNANT WHILE SHAREPOINT GETS BETTER: Lotus Notes is a wonderful product, but it is not being expanded, enhanced or improved as SharePoint is. SharePoint is Microsoft’s #1 fastest selling business / server application. Following are the most important practical implications and solutions.

2. EASY TO UNDERSTAND, WORKS LIKE EXCEL: A lay business person can easily understand how SharePoint works because it works like Excel – a tool they already know.

3. NO MORE SYNCHING, UPDATING, REPLICATING, CONFUSION, FRUSTRATION: Updates are made nearly instantly, available to all users. Much simpler, easier to understand and practical for the lay business person.

4. SIMPLE TO DO ADVANCED TASKS, WITHOUT A PROGRAMMER OR IT DEPARTMENT: Lotus Notes can do many advanced applications such as alerts, work flow, audit trails, recovery from mistakes, advanced databases, etc – but can a business user do these things without help? SharePoint is substantially better.

5. SUPPORT FOR PHONES, TABLETS, TEXT MESSAGES: Support for mobile devices is strong in basic SharePoint, with no enhancements. Some things are less than perfect, but steadily improving and much more practical than in Lotus Notes.

6. SUPPORT AND HELP GETTING BETTER FOR NEXT FIVE YEARS: Lotus Notes help and support is getting harder to find – both inhouse and outside. Capable SharePoint help grows by the thousands every year.

7. VIEWING DATA FROM ORACLE, SQL SERVER, OTHER LARGE DATABASES, COMBINING WITH OTHER DATA: This can solve very important business problems. We have done this for a client, seen it work as a practical solution, and expect the capability to get better and better. I don’t believe this is practical with Lotus Notes.

8. WORKS WELL WITH MICROSOFT Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF files, Video files, Graphics files. Many compatibility problems go away and advanced features work better with SharePoint.

9. RESPONSE TIME, SPEED FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS: Important applications get larger over time. I have personally seen SharePoint systems with 100,000+ files / records where response times are fine. Many reasons to believe SharePoint will continue to improve while Lotus Notes runs the risk of slower response times.

10. UPGRADE OPTIONS BETTER AS COMPLEXITY, SIZE GROW: Important applications get more complex over time. Considering cost, hassle, time and practicality, SharePoint and Microsoft offer a much better path.

Major Steps in Converting a Lotus Notes Application to SharePoint:

Exporting a Notes application to an Excel, CSV format
Cleaning up the data - always required due to field differences between Notes and SharePoint
Importing the spreadsheet into SharePoint
Creating views
Fine tuning the application to replace and improve upon the Notes application
Process Flow / Workflow to streamline and improve approvals, prevent errors

CLICK HERE for a live example of converting a complex Notes Application (Contracts Revenue Recognition) to SharePoint, including Workflow

Register for the call and join us if you can-

Tom

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Article 10: Call Subject: SharePoint BCS (Business Connectivity Services) Call / Net Meeting: How to Connect SharePoint to Legacy, Other Systems with a Read/Write Interface. Three Key Benefits.

Business Connectivity Services is a Microsoft tool that adds large capabilities to SharePoint. There is some cost and hassle, and it is not to be understaken lightly, but there are three critical benefits that we will demonstrate on the call:

1. How to Connect SharePoint to SQL Server and (Hopefully) Other Legacy Database Systems with a Read/Write Interface. We will show a working system with SQL Server. Microsoft's marketing materials would have us believe that this will work for Oracle and other applications written to XML standards. (We are skeptical at the moment, but believe this will eventually work.)

2. How to Use SharePoint to Have Users "Own Their Own Screens and Reports" While Programmers are Responsible for Just the Database. This is a dream that many of us have longed for. See if you agree.

3. Solve the Master / Detail Record Problem In SharePoint Lists: Lists are my favorite tool for having users solve their own process problems, but they are limited to a single table. This solution is not yet 100% cooked, but looks like the best solution I've seen so far...

OUR PRESENTER: David Wier is with UT Southwestern Medical Center. He also provides help via his web site www.allthingsdotnet.net

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Article 9, Call Subject: SharePoint InfoPath Call / Net Meeting: Advanced Data Collection, Complex Applications, Question and Answer Session

CLICK HERE to view new example - complex form application for Controls Testing - Sarbanes Oxley, Audit Compliance

InfoPath is a free Microsoft tool that gives SharePoint a big additional punch.

It allows for complex gathering of data and complex interactions with users. Jason Pringle, who has been an InfoPath specialist for several years, will be showing us some of these complex examples, which include:

- Conditional data entry screens (if user selects A, they are prompted to fill out B)

- Make full, attractive use of data entry screens (SharePoint's native screens are great for simple things but a little wasteful and rudiementary)

- How to use InfoPath to create Lists and entire applications (almost one step solutions!)

- Dropdown selection maintenance and complexity can be significantly reduced

- Great for complex tasks such as Sarbanes Oxley compliance: "Is cash being reconciled daily?" If yes, skip to question 12

Here is a complex data entry example that Jason developed surrounding expense reimbursements. Note all the conditional sections and places where InfoPath populates data for the user.

Join us for the call if you can-

Tom

CLICK HERE for additional SharePoint topics.

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Article 8, Call Subject: User Programming Solves Compliance, Audit Problems without IT Department Some items to be discussed include:

Audit and compliance departments often get very low priority from their IT departments, but their work is critical for legal compliance and shareholder confidence (which directly affect stock price.) What to do? One of our clients has used SharePoint to meet their own IT needs - with no help from their IT department and no custom programming. Following is a summary of some problems and solutions that worked for them.

1. Revenue Recognition - special problems, special solution:
- How to get a world-wide organization to accurately justify how revenue is recognized?
- How to recognize revenue monthly on long term contracts - in a controlled fashion?

- Solution: We helped the client set up a work process for both the initial recording of revenue from contracts sold and the ongoing monthly recognition of that revenue. One key included initial review of the justification for revenue recognition by the site controller, region controller, division controller and policy director (if contract was big enough to warrant all levels of review.) The idea for monthly revenue recognition is to require the site controller to "forecast" the revenue expected for each month for the life of the contract, then check actual to forecast each month. This way, management only needs to deal with the exceptions (revenue way ahead or way behind the projected recognition.) We are currently proposing special video training which includes testing built into the videos to be able to verify that people watched and understood the video training.

2. Streamlining work flow, cutting steps, preventing duplicate documents, "single point of truth" for:
- Internal audit documents
- Pass / Fail Assessments
- Statutory Audits / SAS 70 reports
- Solution: By setting up SharePoint Libraries and Lists for various audit and compliance documents, we were able to help the client enforce "a single point of truth" (a single copy of each document, accurate, up to date, with audit trails for who modified what, in a known, controlled location). The client was also able to require the completion of key items such as date of review, reviewer, outside auditor, location, dates for mandatory follow up, exception items, etc.

3. Providing read-only, limited access to:
- External auditors
- Tax department
- Others as needed
- Solution: SharePoint's security allowed the client to provide external auditors with read-only access to everything while allowing some internal employees read-write and allowing others to modify sites and views.

4. Travel problems for auditors - access to information, able to work while traveling, backup.

- Solution: We are providing the client with inexpensive software that synchronizes SharePoint data to two computers. This provides two independent back-ups in case of disaster plus allows auditors to work with their SharePoint documents while in airplanes or otherwise unable to connect to the internet.

Details: See below for more info on advanced SharePoint topics.

FOR THOSE NEW TO SHAREPOINT: CLICK HERE for Article Number 4 This will give you a good start at understanding SharePoint.

Cost: None, but registration for the call is required - call is limited to first ten reservations. We will only hold the call if we have at least 3 attendees.

Join us for this week's call to discuss this and other SharePoint topics-

Tom

===============

Past Articles, Topics, Helpful Links: See below. Our goal is to keep a summary of the most important SharePoint process improvement issues on this page.

Outline of Process Improvement Concepts

Best Business Process Improvement Tool Checklist

SharePoint Primary Value

Key Processes Where We Have Used SharePoint Effectively

Process Inventory for Services Industry Master

ADDITIONAL SAMPLES OF TRADITIONAL BUSINESS ANALYSIS, PROCESS IMPROVEMENT, REQUIREMENTS GATHERING, SOFTWARE SPECIFICATION, BID PACKAGE, VENDOR SELECTION (CLICK HERE)

Why are Internal IT Departments Inherently ineffective?

Article Series: SharePoint® Process Improvement Call: Big Picture, Big Results

Article #7: Advanced Workflow Tracking With Lists

Discussion Points included:

Basics of Work Flow
Assigning Work and maintaining accountability
How to hold people accountable for completing tasks
Designing process flows
Advanced, large scale, many-person workflow concepts
Escalating exceptions

These are the items we discussed in our call on August 13, 2010

Join us for the next call if you can-

Tom

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Article #6: "8 Excel Problems Solved by SharePoint"

1. MULTIPLE USERS ABLE TO ENTER DATA AT SAME TIME. (Practical for real, day to day use – prevents people from creating problems for each other while working in the same data.)

2. HOLD PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE for entering data correctly and on time.

3. REDUCING RISK OF MISTAKES, ERRORS, FRAUD: Automatically keeps "audit trail", so you know who entered what.

4. RECOVER DATA, RECOVER FROM MISTAKES: When mistakes do happen, easy, reliable recovery of data.

5. WORKFLOW, ALERTS, PROCESS IMPROVEMENT: SharePoint has simple, easy to understand alerts that can notify people when action is due, notify a supervisor when a dollar amount is exceeded, route work to the next available person, etc. SharePoint also has medium and advanced workflow capabilities that lay business people can understand.

6. COMPLEX DATA ENTRY with FEWER MISTAKES, EASIER FOR USER: InfoPath and other tools create screens for SharePoint that help do complex tasks with fewer mistakes and less fatigue.

7. EASY, SECURE ACCESS FOR 3^RD PARTIES: Easily create web sites that both internal and external users can access - only allow them to see the data you want them to see.

8. UPGRADE OPTIONS BETTER AS COMPLEXITY, SIZE GROW: Important applications get more complex over time. Considering cost, hassle, time and practicality, SharePoint offers a much better path.

"Give me your tired, your poor, your ugly, nasty Excel spreadsheets and I will turn them into SharePoint LISTS of beauty (with audit trails.) All kidding aside, the recession has caused many departments to solve their own business problems with complex spreadsheets.

I'm a big fan of Excel, but we've all seen situations where the business process and problem are just too complex for Excel - but the IT department has no time, money or people to help the business user solve his or her need. SharePoint LISTs are a great next step, and we will show you how in our next call, focusing on the following points:

Key Discussion Points:

During a down economy, with IT budgets cut back, many departments have to solve their own problems with complex Excel spreadsheets...
SharePoint's LIST function acts like an Excel spreadsheet on steroids...
Solves common problems...allows multiple users in the same spreadsheet at the same time - without conflicts...saves enormous "cut and paste" time...
Provides a record (audit trail) of "who entered information and when"...provides versions on each row so mistakes can be easily corrected and accountability for entering accurate information can be maintained...
Allows read-only access to some users and read-write to others...
Provides simple to medium complexity math...
Alerts can notify managers about the status of hot items...
User logs can quickly tell bosses if their people are doing their jobs...
Work assignments allow the spreadsheet to become part of the full work flow for the department, maintaining accountability for completion of every step...

Example #2 for the call - A WHOPPER SpreadSheet - Requiring Both SharePoint and Custom Development to Solve the Problem: This is a current client we are working with, so I will have to show you work in process during the call. This is for a small business that has grown rapidly, using Excel spreadsheets because there are no custom software packages for their niche industry. My guess at this point is that custom development of their entire system would cost $250,000+. We should be able to meet the need with SharePoint and a little custom development for $75,000 or so.

CLICK HERE for software specification and bid document showing old spreadsheets (very large document - takes a while to load)

Join us for the call-

Tom

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Article #5: REPORTING on the RIGHT STUFF: Use Alerts to Manage Right Leading Activities, Not Lagging Financial Indicators.

Example #1: "You can't measure their performance. Things are too different." How to use SharePoint to compare business unit and leader performance when variance in markets, opportunity, geography and difficulties make objective comparison almost Impossible. CLICK HERE for example. This example from my practice shows the power of using SharePoint to start with the data from financial systems - but not be limited to just that data. We used SharePoint as the collection vehicle for critical daily information on key leading indicators that would forecast sales. We added information available from paid public information services, with the total view giving a complete picture. This is the best example I have witnessed in 30 years...

Most top level senior executives end up running their businesses from reports that are byproducts of the financial reporting system. Financial systems usually are focused on accounting issues, regulatory, legal and accounting standards, compliance and "counting the beans." They also must produce very accurate reports of historical facts - when top managers would be better served by approximate reports of the right leading indicator activities.

Key Concept: Whenever possible, design work and process flows so that measures of the "right leading activities" are produced as a byproduct of getting the normal day to day work done.

Example #2: Using SharePoint Alerts to make sure sales people are calling on qualified prospects that have the money to buy services (instead of reading the profit and loss report 180 days later and discovering that sales are in the toilet.) This is an example from my own practice. This is all public data, so I will show you the real thing.

We track job postings on company web sites as a leading indicator of their health coming out of the recession. Good hiring = good health = can afford to hire us. The following three emails showed up in my in-box.

Imagine you are the senior vice president of sales. Which prospect would you want your sales people spending their time calling on?

This is a trick question. The answer is that both Chesapeake Energy and EmCare Holdings are hiring, and good prospects. Sales time should not be spent on Carlson Restaurants.

The big payoff is that with SharePoint Alerts and a good work design, it only took my administrator 4 clicks to set up a PERMANENT ALERT that will notify me each month of the hiring patterns as the data comes in.

For almost ZERO COST, I am managing a critical leading activity (selling to healthy prospects) instead of a lagging financial report - bad sales six months later.

Another Example: Job Definitions and Performance Reviews - Capturing "Performance Notes" between annual reviews. A nagging problem in HR and performance reviews is that managers wait until the annual review and give employees all the bad news at once. Let's imagine you are an upper level manager and several of your subordinate managers are guilty of this failing.

How would you solve the problem with SharePoint and Alerts?

Design the performance review system so that whenever a one of your "problem managers" enters a note during the year, you get alerted. You will know they are doing what they should be doing and can say "good job". You will also know (due to the absence of alerts) who is not doing what they should be doing...

Click on these links for more examples: Key Processes Where We Have Used SharePoint Effectively and Process Inventory for Services Industry Master.

Join us for our next call to discuss...

Tom

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Article #4: SharePoint^® Process Improvement Case Study: $7.5 Million Saved, Part 4

Begin With Outcome In Mind - 4 Key Capabilities. Met with SharePoint Dude recently. He explained four primary uses of SharePoint that bear repeating. This week we'll focus on those four uses and how they support process improvement. CLICK HERE to join our weekly SharePoint® Process Improvement Forum. (Fridays, Noon to 1 pm, Central time, no cost.)

CLICK HERE for full case study. $7.5 million in labor savings over three years.

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Article #3: SharePoint^® Process Improvement Case Study: $7.5 Million Saved, Part 3

Last Friday's call and net meeting focused on building a practical solution to a business user's process problems. We drew a process flow chart for a key customer service process for one of our attendee's companies. We identifed the SharePoint document libraries and lists needed to meet the process flow. We developed one of the lists in SharePoint. This week we will continue with the same process flow, lists and document libraries. We will demonstrate some advanced SharePoint capabilities and process improvement techniques. . (This series is based on lessons from running a large process improvement project, using SharePoint, which saved $7.5 million dollars. See below). CLICK HERE to join our weekly SharePoint® Process Improvement Forum. (Fridays, Noon to 1 pm, Central time, no cost)

This week's focus:

1. Process Mapping: Big Deal, Lost Art. Continuing with the example from last week of improving a key service process... We will discuss the concept of an "AS_IS" process flow and a "TO-BE" process flow - and when you need each. We will discuss what symbols and tools to use in your flow charts. How detailed should you get? How do you handle approval decisions? How do you handle escalating problems with SharePoint? How do you reduce hand-offs between departments? How do you reduce approval steps? Can we design a process flow where 80% of the transactions flow through automatically, and only the exceptions have to be touched by a human being?

2. Process Mapping Practice. I will ask each participant begin mapping a process of their own. Our goal will be to identify SharePoint document libraries and lists needed to solve the business need. If you plan to join us, see Key Processes Where We Have Used SharePoint Effectively and Process Inventory for Services Industry Master. Think about what business process problem you would like to solve with SharePoint.

3. Basic and Advanced SharePoint® Features that Help with Business Process Improvement: Here is my short list of SharePoint features that work well and help with process improvement efforts. We will discuss them as we develop process flows together.

Check in / check out documents, avoid conflicts, avoid lost work
Version retention
Search file names and document content
Meta Data “Data about Data”, requiring Meta Data to be completed
Access / security / permissions - especially for those customers and vendors outside your organization
Usage tracking
Document retention policy enforcement
Manage storage space
“A SINGLE POINT OF TRUTH”, using ONE COPY of key documents, minimize duplicate files
Alerts when documents changed or added
Assigning tasks and alerting people when work is assigned

Stay tuned, check us out at www.tomingraminc.com or CLICK HERE to join our weekly SharePoint® Process Improvement Forum

CLICK HERE for full case study. Some results from the project:

· $7.5 million in labor savings over three years.

· Consolidated 36 offices to 13 with nation-wide set of standard processes

· Removed 250,000 potential errors per year. ($30 saved per error prevented.)

· Reduced order error rates from 15% to less than 5% in some cases.

· Freed up 63,000 sales and sales support hours per year.

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Article #2: SharePoint^® Process Improvement Case Study: $7.5 Million Saved, Part 2

We had a great call last Friday discussing SharePoint and some lessons from running a large process improvement project which saved $7.5 million dollars. (Summary of case below). CLICK HERE to join our weekly SharePoint® Process Improvement Forum. (Fridays, Noon to 1 pm, Central time, no cost)

This week we will focus on:

1. Setting yourself apart by focusing on business results with SharePoint. In our last call we had agreement that focusing on business results is the right thing to do (especially when many others are distracted by technology, buzzwords, playing with new toys, etc.). The question is HOW to get started. See Key Processes Where We Have Used SharePoint Effectively and Process Inventory for Services Industry Master for a great place to start. Think about these examples. Which areas of the company are the most important? Which have the most urgent, compelling, unmet needs? Which could be helped rapidly with SharePoint? (I like replacing big, ugly spreadsheets.) Ask your business users "How could I help you with sales pipeline management? How could I help you with creating proposals, statements of work and complex PowerPoint sales presentations?" (Examples from last call - problems solved with SharePoint.)

2. More on Getting Executive support and User Buy-In. It takes time to learn to speak and think in "business results" terms (instead of "technology"). Finding an urgent, compelling business problem (usually from the above process list) and getting the user some rapid help is my secret weapon. Sounds obvious and easy? You have to stop talking in fuzzy buzzwords and technical acronyms and talk "business results". (I particularly dislike "collaboration".) You will have competing pressures, time demands and fires to fight. The hard part is finding more and more time to work on important business problems. Helping the business user learn to solve their own problems with SharePoint® is particularly effective. As you get better at these skills, you will notice that you are more credible with senior executives - and more likely to get support.

3. SharePoint® and Business Process Improvement: Good News / Bad News. SharePoint's great power is that users can solve their own process problems for almost no cost - if we avoid the traps. SharePoint is particularly effective at solving business problems not addressed by Oracle, SAP and other big software packages. We'll discuss how in this week's call. We'll also discuss the bad news. (SharePoint's workflow limitations, search problems, file multiplication problems, user frustration, things that don't work as reasonably expected, etc.)

Stay tuned, check us out at www.tomingraminc.com or CLICK HERE to join our weekly SharePoint® Process Improvement Forum

CLICK HERE for full case study. Some results from the project:

· $7.5 million in labor savings over three years.

· Consolidated 36 offices to 13 with nation-wide set of standard processes

· Removed 250,000 potential errors per year. ($30 saved per error prevented.)

· Reduced order error rates from 15% to less than 5% in some cases.

· Freed up 63,000 sales and sales support hours per year.

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Article #1: SharePoint^® Process Improvement Case Study: $7.5 Million Saved, Part 1

I had the privilege running a nation-wide SharePoint® process improvement project that produced some remarkable results:

· $7.5 million in labor savings over three years.

· Consolidated 36 offices to 13 while creating a nation-wide set of standard processes and enforcing compliance with the new processes.

· Removed 250,000 potential errors per year. (At an estimated $30 saved per error prevented.)

· Reduced order error rates from 15% to less than 5% in some cases.

· Freed up 63,000 sales and sales support hours per year. This gave sales execs and support people what needed most – time to work on the right things.

How did we accomplish this? CLICK HERE for full case study. Below is the first of a series on how this was accomplished. Also, you can CLICK HERE to join our weekly SharePoint® Process Improvement Forum. (Fridays from Noon to 1 pm, Central time, no cost, pre-registration required, attendance limited.) Some big lessons from our success:

1. Resist the seduction of technology. Focus on business results. Say “Where is the business value?” “Where is a 10-fold payback for the time, cost and hassle of this great new technology?” See Key Processes Where We Have Used SharePoint Effectively for a starting point. In this project, we generally resisted the technology distraction by using only the parts of SharePoint® that worked (consistently) and were free. Click Here for Tom’s List of Primary SharePoint® Value. Note that we accomplished this result with $0 software cost for SharePoint. The technology fascination that we see everywhere is driven by vendor profit motives and personal desires to be “techno leaders.” I encourage you to set yourself apart – and earn the respect of your business people – by focusing on solving high-value business problems.

2. Three great fundamentals: Executive support, user buy-in and scope control. I learned these 20 years ago, and they still apply. We got executive support by concentrating on a single high-value business problem: Reducing the cost of sales as a percent of revenue. We got user buy-in by teaching the users to solve their own problems with SharePoint® (especially Lists – this was spectacularly successful because the users knew Excel®, and Lists behave like “Excel® on steroids”). We had users teach other users why they should use the new system and how. We contained scope by focusing on results that could be produced in 90 days. SharePoint® helped in this area, because we wanted to get things done without software development. This limited us to simple solutions, which could be rapidly implemented.

In future articles, we’ll discuss:

· SharePoint® and Business Process Improvement: Mostly good news, some bad news.

· Process mapping: Big deal, lost art.

· What you need to learn about the business side.

· The Dark Side: Understanding and preventing the things that will hurt your project.

· Personal and Career Suggestions.

Stay tuned, check us out at www.tomingraminc.com or CLICK HERE to join our weekly SharePoint® Process Improvement Forum

* Success stories, client quotes and payback estimates are provided as general illustrations of past performance and represent summaries of long term, complex efforts. They are often used to teach concepts and lessons learned, and may have been simplified considerably. Estimates of financial impact are estimates only, and not intended to convey exact financial information. Some have been altered to protect confidential information. We ask that prospective clients contact our references and request specific details of relevant success stories prior to any decision to use our services.