Document Management with workflow using SharePoint
If you require more than just a simple document management and workflow, MS SharePoint provides you lot more than that, but you have to spend some extra penny. Apart from document management and workflow, the MS SharePoint 2007 provides you portal and business management. Now let's implement the Microsoft's SharePoint 2007 server. We tried out this software on Window Server 2003 Core2 Extreme machine with 4 GB RAM and 120 GB HDD. Installation of MS SharePoint 2007 was an easy task. Once the system was installed, we configured it with the default configuration which took couple of minutes and the system was ready. Next we created a portal, in other words a site to share XYZ information with different people, personalized the user experience and content as well.

Apart from email settings, OWL configuration also allows you to customize your web page, search results, etc.

For creating a site, log on to SharePoint 2007 web management console with administrator privilege. Next click on the 'Sites' link on the top navigation bar, and then click on the 'create site' link on the right hand side of the page. Type out the necessary information which include title, description, url, template and then specify the user permission, category that the site belongs.

If you don't want to show the administrator navigation panel on the newly created site, then select 'No' in 'Use top bar from parent website and finally click on 'Create' button. This will take couple of seconds and you will be directly taken to this newly created site with administrator privilege. Now upload some documents and then create some users. Now let see how you can make a workflow in the SharePoint server for your newly created site. Suppose you have written an article or report and that needed to be approved by someone. First you need to upload the file to the site, click on the dropdown button on the file uploaded, and select the workflow option. Now click on the 'Approval' link, write the name of the approvers and then click on 'start'. You can also give date for the approval of the document and also can notify other people associated with the workflow. Now let see how we can create a KPI (key performance indicator) which lets you know how much progress is made till date on a particular project, it even lets you to track that the task in on time or not. For creating a KPI, login with administrator privilege, click on 'Site Action' and then click on create option. Click on the KPI list link provided under Custom list option and provide a name for the KPI and click on 'create'. Now to add a KPI to your newly created KPI list, click on new drop down menu and choose 'indicator data in SharePoint list'. Give a name to the new item and provide the URL.

Next specify the goal value the number when reached, i.e. the project is completed and warning value, so that the task is not completed on the date mention then the indicator turns yellow. Finally you have created your KPI. It can also take inputs from Excel workbook, SQL 2005 Analysis service and manually entered information.