Final Presentation For LIS 546 By David Lee Bassett

1. New Web Presence for MSC Webpage Final Presentation For LIS 546 By David Lee Bassett

2. United States Navy Military Sealift Command (MSC) • MSC is the DoD maritime transportation component (i.e. the U.S. Government’s shipping company • Mission: MSC's mission is to support our nation by delivering supplies and conducting specialized missions across the world's oceans.1 • To accomplish this MSC has a fleet of approximately 100 active ships crewed by civilian mariners and 5 major offices in the United States and overseas.

3. Current Web Presence • Military Sealift Command uses an open source content management system called Plone for content management on its classified website. • Content on the website includes various Microsoft Office documents as well as screenshots of PowerPoint slides that make up visual displays for the various web pages.

4. Example of Plone Website • Note: Due to classified nature of the MSC website an example of the current website cannot be provided here. This design is almost exactly the same as the MSC website.

5. Issue • Plone has multiple disadvantages as a Content Management System (CMS) that prevent MSC from fully utilizing CMS services on a classified network. These include: • Difficulty of use (Python programming language and Zope web application server experience requirements for website developers) • Ease, for novice users, to overwrite entire web pages of content. • Difficulty of maintaining large amounts of archival files. • Unattractive (plain, static website, acts more as limited online file storage for documents than as a repository for many different types of information as well as useful web presence).

6. Proposed Solution • This presentation will discuss the benefits of implementing MS SharePoint in place of Plone using the following evaluative criteria: • Mission Alignment • Organizational Fit (Culture) • User Access (Availability) • Will users be able to do their jobs • Security of Organization Resources • Privacy Issues • Return on Investment (ROI)

7. Mission Alignment • As previously stated MSC's mission is to support our nation by delivering supplies and conducting specialized missions across the world's oceans.1 Web presence assists in accomplishing this mission by providing: • DoD assets located across the world access to documents and website content (as long as they are on the classified network). These documents contain current information on status of ships and resources. • Authorized DoD assets the ability to manage documents and website content at various levels. • The ability for authorized DoD assets to collaborate on projects. • This ability to access, manage, and collaborate on information related to the MSC information allows offices DoD assets the ability to make informed real time decisions. • MS SharePoint Server provides a user friendly means to do this by: • Utilizing the MS Office Suite. Whereas in Plone you have to upload and download documents, in SharePoint you can edit them on the website. • Allows for collaboration and document workflow/lifecycle (i.e. different users can work on the same document and a final approving authority can post) • Allows individuals to “build query and visualization tools, scorecards, and dashboards that expose real-time enterprise data within SharePoint workspaces.”2 • Combines the items previously found on Windows Content Management Server which allows users to effectively search for web content.

8. SharePoint Capabilities

9. Organizational Fit (Culture) • The military is rapidly becoming a more collaborative culture in which all stakeholders comment on a task prior to it presentation and approval by authority. • MSC is unique in that it combines military personnel, federal employees, and private shipping businesses worldwide into one versatile shipping organization. • MS SharePoint Server would fit well within this organization in that it provides for online collaboration on documents (reducing travel) and allows individuals the ability to access information worldwide 24/7 and then personalize this information using the MySites and Portal functions on SharePoint.

10. User Access (Availability) • With the current Plone website all users with an account can access and change content on the website. This has two major disadvantages: • Ease of users deleting essential content. • Limited control over what is posted. • With a Microsoft SharePoint website user access could be controlled as follows: • Document collaboration can be controlled. • Users can check documents in and out of repositories and assign reviews to other users. • Process owners can approve documents. • Website Content Management/Web Presence can be controlled: • Users can access data through building “query and visualization tools, scorecards, and dashboards” – This allows MSC users to see only the information on ships and assets they want to see.2 • By utilizing MySites users can obtain a personalized view of resources and websites that meet their job requirements. • By utilizing blogs and wikis users can contribute to MSC’s web presence without directly affecting the background of the website.

11. Will users be able to do their jobs • MSC users gain an increased capability to do their current jobs and also have the ability to expand their productivity through SharePoint as follows: • Portals allow for document sharing for a variety of products • Database information can be expanded and manipulated using SharePoint (the caveat here is that MSC would have to migrate its current database over to MS SQL Server). • Users have a single source for MSC business and operations related information that can be used, manipulated and kept up to date by individual or groups of stakeholders. As Richman says in Transforming Your Business with SharePoint Products and Technologies organizations “need to unlock the value of business data so it is more useful to people across the entire organization” 2 • Tangible examples of this would be: • Using a Portal to draft and comment on an MSC instruction document. • Querying a ship’s schedule database for specific information using date, ship name, port, and cargo • MSC business (budget, long term planning) and operations (ship’s schedules, exercises, cargo) information all being available in the same location.

12. Example of A SharePoint Website This is an example of a SharePoint Website Demos can be found at this hyperlink

13. Privacy Issues/Security of Organization Resources • As this discussion surrounds the deployment of SharePoint on a secure classified network, an MSC SharePoint website would already have excellent security measures in place (i.e. limiting access to those with a security clearance and use of the classified network). • In addition SharePoint has built in security features that could limit access to the website to those with a need to use MSC related business/operations information. These features include: • Website developers control security policies that provide or deny access to various parts of the SharePoint site. • Users can use Single Sign On (SSO) privileges for easy access to their portions of the website. In addition Navy Common Access Card access is provided for so that users can sign on simply by placing their CAC in the CAC reader and entering their PIN number. CAC Sign On Example- Card Certificate + PIN = Login

14. Return on Investment (ROI) Microsoft issued a White Paper discussing five ways that Sharepoint saves Organizations’ money (Five Ways SharePoint Can Save You Money) 3 . These five ways Sharepoint saves money are listed here with MSC specific examples of each: • Reduce IT costs and complexity, by consolidating multiple product investments into a single infrastructure, by reducing infrastructure and support costs, and by getting all your enterprise solutions under a single product license.3 MSC Specific – Utilize Content Management System, Classified document collaboration (which previously did not exist), and database system under the SharePoint umbrella, which could be updated regularly. • Reduce development costs, by using comprehensive out-of-the-box components, by using built-in integration with the Microsoft Office 2007 suite, and by using the .NET Framework object models to reduce learning curves and development time. 3 MSC Specific – Currently MSC employs contracted developers to develop multiple database, and website systems none of which are interconnected, using SharePoint would reduce the number of developers required to develop the same systems. • Simplify management and training, by providing a single, easy-to-use interface for end users and for IT administration and governance. 3 MSC Specific – It would no longer be necessary to have to be trained on use of the IC3 database website if this was migrated into MS SQL Server and then utilized on a SharePoint website. • Improve employee productivity, by implementing collaboration workspaces, self-service Web publishing, social computing features, and business process workflow and forms. 3 MSC Specific – By providing a single source from which to share, update, and collaborate on documents and information MSC military and civilian employees would no longer have to review multiple sources of information to determine which was most current and correct. SharePoint would also reduce the number of sources of information required to be updated. • Enhance the effectiveness of customer service and sales teams, by aggregating critical information from across the enterprise and by providing rapid, easy access to information. 3 MSC Specific – MSC’s watchcenter using a SharePoint website would have rapid access to deconflicted information to provide to customers both within the organization and outside of it. This is to say that they would no longer have to check a ship’s schedule database, a daily ship’s schedule report, and the emails coming from a ship to determine its current status.

15. End State • It is essential to remember that the preceding slides were a presentation of capabilities the SharePoint website, if accepted, a SharePoint web presence still must be developed and implemented. • It is important to note that these capabilities must be developed using existing business and operational practices and processes. They are not automatic (i.e. the website has to be set up and optimized for use by all employees with network access) • It is equally important to note that consolidated training on the website for all MSC users as well as best practices for website use and maintenance. SharePoint websites can rapidly get out of control if all users are not on the same page.

16. Works Cited 1Mission and Vision [Website] Retrieved from http://www.msc.navy.mil/N00P/overview.asp 2Richman, E (2007). Transforming Your Business with SharePoint Products and Technologies [White Paper] Retrieved from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=cf5bb5e2-909d-4910-a8bb-3f4718bee8f7&displaylang=en 3Five Ways SharePoint Can Save You Money [White Paper] Retrieved from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6C9DB923-139C-4D0C-8111-A6B8C9478C1B&displaylang=en