English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

     According to Microsoft Corp., “collaboration is a key driver of business performance around the world.” A 2006 study conducted by Microsoft showed that collaboration has a significant impact on each of the gold standards of performance – profitability, profit growth, and sales growth, and that business performance is directly related to collaborative efforts. In response to the results of this study, we are proposing to outline the impact of collaboration on organizations of all sizes. In this paper, we will explain why collaboration is imperative to any business and offer supplemental success and failure stories that not only provide credibility, but also offer a peek into real world application. The intent of this paper is to inform companies that a lack of collaboration within the business environment is a serious problem, and to offer potential solutions. Although we believe that Microsoft SharePoint will prove to be the most beneficial implementation most often, we will present a number of alternative solutions, i.e. Google Groups, that would also suffice. We will also review the advantages and disadvantages of each application. Aside from how to increase and improve collaborative efforts, we will also address the various groups of our target audience, ranging from small start-up companies to massive corporations, as well as the type of implementation that would suit each most appropriately.

     The problem is a lack of collaboration. The answer: Microsoft SharePoint. SharePoint as a whole can play an essential role in collaboration for any type of business. Taking advantage of the many collaborative technologies that SharePoint provides will promote more effective utilization and sharing of information. SharePoint seamlessly integrates with the Microsoft Office suite, which is used by a hefty majority of businesses. This native support reduces the learning curve for SharePoint implementations and, in turn, imposes no impedance for most employees. A primary benefit of SharePoint is the ease in creation of collaborative services. For instance, creating a SharePoint website from scratch is quick and easy, and may contain many different forms of information management services, including document and picture libraries, task lists, discussion boards, surveys and many other services. SharePoint’s administrative interface is intuitive and makes creating these services a breeze. Coding is not necessary for many of the tools included in the SharePoint suite, but can be used to customize and create any custom service.

     Finally, it is imperative to demonstrate not only how the organization benefits from an increase in collaboration, but also how the members of the organization do as well. To accomplish this, we must first understand our target audience. The primary audience of Microsoft’s SharePoint would be new companies and current companies looking to stay in touch with its employee base as well as any collaboration with other companies or contractors. The primary audience will also include any current companies who are looking for a new provider. The secondary audience will be any developers or IT people who would be doing the implementation of the SharePoint infrastructure and services. These are the people who know exactly what is being offered and supported. They will be able to assist in advising the primary audience of the benefits and costs of implementing and upkeep of the SharePoint implementation. The tertiary audience might include students and teachers looking to stay connected on and off campus, or employees working remotely. SharePoint’s services would greatly aid in group projects as well as instructor feedback. The gatekeeper audience would consist of current employees in the company. These employees would be responsible for being up to date on the services and support that SharePoint provides. The employees can also be responsible for proofreading the white paper.