WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M., March 11, 2010 - White Sands Missile Range is enhancing the ability of its employees to share information through the use of Microsoft's SharePoint.
In an attempt to get away from a restrictive shared drive based system, WSMR is converting over to a SharePoint based system. SharePoint is a system that uses a web interface to allow workers to upload information to a shared intranet site so that other employees can access it, allowing users to upload images, calendar events, documents and other types of files. "As we moved forward (beyond shared drives) we moved on to something like Facebook, where you can just log on and change things yourself... SharePoint works the same way, it gives out permissions to people that can then control what they share," said Scott Underwood, a network engineer with Caelum Unitech.
One of the problems with the shared drive system is that one user could save a file at a time, and if another user had the file open then it could not be edited and used by another. While SharePoint still limits the ability for multiple users to edit the same file at the same time, now each user must check out the file. Like checking out a library book this marks the file as in use, and records who is working on it. SharePoint can also save a history of different versions of a document allowing users to revert back to a previous version should they decide not to use the current version for whatever reason. Users can also lock files, restrict access and set up approval systems for content.
While the basic interface for most users resembles that of a social media webpage page, the systems' use extends far beyond simple sharing files between employees. SharePoint is also being used by emergency management personnel on WSMR to respond to emergency situations. In locations like the Emergency Operations Center, installation representatives have to communicate their organizations abilities and resources as well as their activities to each other quickly and efficiently. Under a new SharePoint based system each representative will be able to upload and document their organizations' abilities and activities. "One of the requests was to try and keep people from yelling (information to people across the room)," Underwood said.
This flexibility even extends to information that will be shared with the outside world. Using SharePoint the WSMR website is also being converted to a SharePoint based system, allowing the management of portions of the website to be returned to their owning organizations.
While the interface is user friendly, WSMR employees can find training for everything from basic use to advanced administration at https://wsdm.wsmr.army.mil/training.
Social Sharing