CIPS Intranet Project - CIPSNet
CIPS are the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply - a global membership organisation serving the procurement and supply profession. During 2010 PSP Ltd were asked by CIPS to design and develop a new Intranet within Microsoft SharePoint 2010 replacing their existing Intranet. Our project team worked alongside various CIPS staff members to create a fully functional Intranet suitable for all departments of the business which allowed the organisation to move away from their dependency on shared drives. Essential functionality included booking facilities with workflows incorporated into the system.
Requirements
The CIPSNet system has been evolving steadily as requirements develop. The project began with basic functionality to allow colleagues to access, share and manage documents. As experience and usage grew, the system evolved and PSP have been asked to provide additional, more sophisticated functionality.
2010 Requirements:
- Room booking facilities with workflow.
- Car booking facilities with workflow.
- Document libraries.
- Homepage designed to work with SharePoint's fluidity.
- Team pages.
- News and announcements.
2011-2012 Requirements:
- 'Look and feel' rebranding and improved functionality.
- Changes in navigation menus.
- Addition of a News scroller control.
- Purchasing department's requirement of incorporating purchasing contracts.
- Measures - KPI tracker .Net plugin.
- Project Zone - Separate sub-site to store internal project management.
- InfoNet - Learning tool addition provided to aid CIPS staff with better brand and product knowledge.
Solution
CIPS decided to switch from their legacy system to Microsoft SharePoint. PSP reviewed the existing Intranet with a clear plan as to what was to be migrated to the new system and what would be removed. Once completed, discussions were held confirming in detail the required functionality for the new site. A detailed functional specification was produced with key areas focusing on the booking facilities for cars and rooms, with their relative workflows.
From 2011-2012 there have been various upgrades and improvements to CIPSNet. .As CIPS' needs evolved so did the needs for this site. A major change was triggered by CIPS’ branding changes which required a redesign of the Intranet. Other areas of expansion saw various other plugins and sub-sites incorporated, to improve the client's business processes.
CIPS is now able to keep track of its performance against customer service target by using an integrated .Net plugin called KPI Tracker. This plugin uses RAG (Red/ Amber/ Green) identifiers to reflect achievement against set targets. There was a user-friendly interface and reporting available to ensure the users of this system were able to utilise the functionality effectively.
Additionally, PSP created a sub-site called Project Zone that was separated from the main CIPSNet site. This allowed CIPS to store internal project management documentation with the added ability to upload content to help users to manage their projects effectively. Finally, internal staff was given better product and brand knowledge.
The introduction of an additional tool called InfoNet. This was essentially a sub-site that allowed CIPS to use bespoke page type templates that PSP Ltd had developed to inform and educate staff.
Our involvement in the on-going evolution of this site is testament to our continued success in supporting the needs of our client. Consequently, we have developed systems that are bespok to the needs of their organisation.
Our thorough quality assurance testing and documentation of the service / product provided, ensured the solution offered was bespoke to the client’s needs.
Our adaptable offering allows clients the flexibility of changes throughout the life cycle of the project and confirms our service is of the highest quality.
"The work undergone by PSP on a wide range of our web projects have impressed me highly. We have worked with PSP for some time now and I would highly recommend PSP to any company looking to develop and improve their IT services."
