AF initiative streamlines workflows, trains personnel Published Jan. 13, 2009 By Thea Skinner 21st Space Wing Public Affairs PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- An Air Force-wide electronic file sharing collaboration space that merges content with all command-level personnel will soon be implemented here. SharePoint, an enterprise information management portal, is in phase two of three of its implementation. After Air Force Personnel Center officials endorsed an AF Workflow Processing, or AF e-WP, initiative in October 2008 during the first phase, the 21st Space Wing began the second phase Nov. 17, 2008. "SharePoint does for designing Web sites and e-collaboration what PowerPoint did for presentations - give the power to individual users," said 1st Lt. Mark Manglicmot, 21st Communication Squadron maintenance chief. "SharePoint provides a real-time updated way to process taskers, performance reports, decorations and more. By doing everything electronically, you can have many people working on a document, task, or project at the same time. This lowers routing and processing time." The use of SharePoint will decrease the present e-mail "spamming" of workflows, he said. SharePoint begins emerging SharePoint is "a collaborative environment. We can post everything the teams can work on in a central location," said Chief Master Sgt. Michael Parris, 21st Communication Squadron superintendent. "It is going to be the way of the future." SharePoint utilizes a next generation staffing system which tracks the status of tasks and projects. SharePoint also allows personnel to view the status of projects at each step of the workflow process and it shows how long each project has been with a given workflow. Paperwork, such as electronic performance reports, will be placed on SharePoint, along with postings of calendar additions, surveys and unit announcements. The workflow processes are conducted in real-time by multiple users who have undergone federal security background checks and are issued Common Access Cards. "It is a system of safeguards - only people who have the need to access the information will have access to it," Chief Parris said. "Peers will not be able to access an EPR - only authorized personnel. Everyone has the ability to create a My Site with a calendar. I will be using mine for mentoring purposes. I will post briefing slides. It is a professional My Space." My Site is an electronic template or space within SharePoint that allows for mentoring, sharing of documents and dialogue. Although similar to My Space, My Site is not a social media outlet. SharePoint provides other electronic template tools including Web sites, publishing spaces, team sites, document workspaces, meeting workspaces and blogs. The templates allow users to post pictures and documents, which eliminates the need to e-mail content. SharePoint also supplies a search engine option. SharePoint "operates the same way a Web site will. It is not accessible to the public. It is our own intranet," he said. Planning for productivity SharePoint was initiated by Air Force Space Command when leadership recognized a need to organize the "explosion of information," Chief Parris said. "It really started picking up steam early last summer," Chief Parris said. Training in progress Training has began for site owners and continues in phase two through a series of three-day training sessions. "We have to get squadron and site managers trained to create their own sites. About a quarter of our people have been through training," Chief Parris said. Personnel who use SharePoint include site owners, site managers, and end users who adhere to tasks in the workflow on a daily basis, which includes contractors. About three site managers are assigned per squadron. "Each unit has already identified site owners that are responsible for leading the development of their SharePoint page," said Lieutenant Manglicmot. "Once identified in writing, they are scheduled for a three-day class. The classes are designed to train the trainer." Currently site owners are the only ones receiving formal training, but they will provide training to the members of their units on basic end user aspects of SharePoint as implementation progresses. To see what SharePoint currently looks like, visit https://eis.afspc.ds.af.mil/Pages/Default.aspx. Phasing into the future Before the final debut of phase three, SharePoint will undergo testing for possible glitches and My Site layouts are under construction pending creation of profiles during training. Implementation of phase three is estimated around March. "I am excited. It (SharePoint) is going to make life so much easier," said Lt. Col. Tara Routsis, 21st Communication Squadron commander. "We are able to track the status of tasks. I think it will make life better and more people will be accountable."