Convverge worked with a privately held natural gas fuels organization to define and implement a technology solution that solves key issues around access to information, collaboration, workflow, and data insight. Our client has staff dispersed across office and field locations and wanted a consistent user experience with simplified access to the files, data, and workflow that make work easier regardless of location or role.
Prior to working with Convverge, our client accessed documents across an inconsistent file structure, had data stored in multiple locations (no single source of truth) lacked effective collaboration tools and required better integration with remote staff. Common workflows were inconsistent and almost entirely manual; relying on email for communication and information sharing. Collaboration across departments was inefficient and their teams required better access to data insights supporting their important business decisions.
Project Goals
Convverge began by meeting with key departments including Operations and Engineering, Corporate Development, Sales and Marketing, to understand their key issues and clearly understand their business requirements. This process included working alongside the client to envision the solution that best aligned with their objectives, culture, and goals.
Together, our client and Convverge identified the following goals:
- Improve and simplify how information is shared and made accessible to staff who are in the office, the field, or travelling in between.
- Digitize and automate key business processes and workflows
- Enable business intelligence through insights into company data
The Solutions
Our client’s new “digital workspace” solution incorporates the SharePoint, Power Apps, Power Automate and Power BI platforms. A new corporate intranet site, department team sites, and forms and workflows are the result.
Corporate intranet site
Convverge created a corporate intranet that is a starting point for daily activities for staff. The site reflects their company goals and simplifies how staffaccess information, data, and files. The intranet is made of key components and is configured to include:
- A nearly “out of box” SharePoint Online end-user experience (no paid third-party products)
- An overview of the company’s goals, objectives and KPIs through home page and department site dashboards
- News feeds that are current and relevant to the natural gas fuels industry
- Quick links to the most accessed resources like templates, forms, and documents
- Sections to display corporate events and company social media feeds
- Staff directory lookups with highlights of the leadership team
- Individual staff personalization, including links to most recently accessed documents
Department sites
The intranet also hosts individual department sites for Operations and Engineering, Corporate Development, Sales, and Marketing. Each site is specific to the needs and priorities of the department staff. For example, the Operations and Engineering site includes key information for different divisions within the department. Each department has their own unique mix of features but includes:
- Integration of department dashboards to share KPIs and key data insights
- Direct access to department document libraries and quick links to the most used resources
- Links to digital forms
- Team directory
Forms and workflow
Our client also wanted to digitize several paper-based, manual processes. Convverge developed PowerApps for capturing sales quotes. equipment maintenance records, job inspections, and managing vendor on-boarding.
- PowerApps are accessible from SharePoint and launched from either the intranet site or a mobile device.
- The data captured from the apps (record data, photos) is made centrally available through native SharePoint features and Power BI.
- Workflow approvals, notifications and escalations are delivered configured through Flow.
The Outcome
Our client’s solution has become the central hub of their day to day operations. Technology is enabled to improve the efficiency for day-to-day workflows and create a high standard for how staff access, share, and use information throughout the business. Staff understand where to find the tools and information they need, and company-wide they’re better equipped to collaborate and share common resources and applications. In summary:
- Technology is standardizing how our client collects, manages, and shares the information and data that is important to their business.
- Staff have centralized access to the tools and information they need to be efficient and consistent in how they contribute.
- The organization and staff have embraced Microsoft cloud technologies to stay focused on and informed about what’s important to the success of the company.
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