Scenario Background
This scenario shows you how to use SharePoint to support the Internet platform for a medium-sized software product company. This firm has the following roles that will be publishing or consuming information from the Internet presence:
Marketing: The product marketing team is responsible for creating marketing materials such as datasheets, product overviews, and whitepapers that are posted on the Internet site.
Public Relations: The public relations group is responsible for issuing and archiving press releases.
Web Managers: The Web managers run the Internet services and are responsible for the content, maintenance, and design of the Internet site.
Support Engineers: The support engineers provide assistance with customer problems and author technical articles that provide workarounds and information on bugs.
Management: The management team provides product direction and executive decision-making.
Customers: The Internet presence is intended to provide information on products and support to current and potential customers.
Table 22.1 outlines the specific requirements that the solution must satisfy for the portal to be considered a successful implementation.
| Requirement | Goal |
|---|---|
| No publishing is allowed to Internet-facing server | Reliable service enhanced by not allowing connections directly to public service |
| Public must be able to anonymously access content | Internet audience should not be required to provide information |
| Internet presence must be professional, clean, and consistent | Consistent look and feel |
| Easy navigation | Consistent navigation throughout site |
| PR group needs to publish occasional press releases easily | Ease of publishing for group that is not expert Web publishers |
| PR press releases must be archived to records management center | Archive of company history |
| Support engineer management and product developers want to see flow and feature area of active bugs | Understand trends of areas that need help |
| Support engineers will be publishing technical articles based on bug information that needs to be reviewed by technical editors before release | Fast bug fix information posting that is edited before release |
| Site content needs to be in English and Latin | Ability to appeal to two-language audience |
| Web managers require site auditing information to make key publishing decisions | Informed site management |