Effective knowledge sharing knows no bound-
aries. Xerox DocuShare web-based solutions
provide a virtual workspace that enables both
teams and communities of practice to easily
share their work, regardless of technical skills,
geographic location or functional responsibility.
- Dan Holtshouse
Director of Business Strategy
Knowledge Initiatives
Xerox
Knowledge Management
Volume 2
•
Case Study 5
5/99
continued on back
DocuShare: Bridging Platforms,
Communities and Skills
The IT department at Stanford University first discovered
Xerox DocuShare when it was investigating knowledge-shar-
ing systems. During a trial of the web-based software, the
group discovered it was also a tool that could be used to man-
age
IT projects more effectively.
Stanford is home to 14,000 of the world’s top students and
1,500 faculty, including several Nobel laureates and Pulitzer
Prize winners. The
IT department manages a variety of pro-
jects aimed at developing and implementing new IT applica-
tions for its business clients – the various academic depart-
ments, university administrators, university bursar and others.
Because project participants represent a wide range of tech-
nical skills, the
IT group needed a system that would be sophis-
ticated enough to get the job done, but easy enough for non-
technical users to manage.
“We wanted to design a single location with a common
interface where university clients and
IT personnel could
share information that required no technical skills to maneu-
ver,” explains Stanford
IT Project Manager, Judith Dean. “We
also needed a product that was readily accessible from the
office, home or on the road.”
The
IT team was also looking for a web-based technology
that could bridge a variety of platforms. Clients have a mix of
Macintosh and Windows-based computers, and users some-
times receive or create files utilizing applications that are not
available on everyone’s desktop. Since all clients use the web,
the university’s knowledge-sharing solution had to accommo-
date Postscript or
HTML documents created for those users
who might not have the appropriate applications.
The team chose DocuShare because it was a low-risk
alternative, was easy to access and use and required minimal
training and support. DocuShare uses an organization’s
intranet or extranet to set up a virtual information-sharing envi-
myCabinet.com
XEROX DocuShare
powered by
where groups can see what others are doing and leave their
work for comment and review. This one, simple location has
allowed us to store and exchange information in a common for-
mat through the use of a collection of templates we created,
making the merging of numerous files into a complete docu-
ment very simple.”
With each
IT project, a folder is created in DocuShare. The
folder includes such information as the names of the people
working on the project, individual project roles, timelines,
schedules, the project originator, project goals and the busi-
ness problem the project is supposed to solve. All of the docu-
ments pertaining to the project are housed in the folder.
In most cases, the user group designates a collection
manager. The collection manager determines who has read
and write access to the various documents, and when to
inform interested parties regarding changes and/or updates to
the material housed in the project folders. For example, the col-
lection manager gives notice to those who are actively
involved in writing or editing a document when a draft is avail-
able for viewing and/or editing, and notifies those with read-
access when documents are available for viewing.
User Control
DocuShare puts the power and control over the development
and distribution of information in the hands of individual work
groups. Requiring minimal support from the
IT group, which
pays for the license, installs upgrades and manages system-
level privileges, DocuShare users design and develop their
own project folders.
“We have purposely not created a lot of rules regarding
DocuShare,” says Dean. “We have found that it is better to let
our end users develop their own schemas, rather than trying to
create the perfect schema and impose it upon our clients.”
DocuShare makes it quick and easy for groups to set up
virtual workspaces, enabling timely and efficient knowledge
exchange, a key to effective project management.
“We have found DocuShare to be a fast, simple and easy-
to-learn application that can be used as a standalone product
or alongside other technologies,” continues Dean. “Most
importantly, DocuShare provides a level playing field for our
technical and non-technical people.”
■
ronment. Running on existing hardware, DocuShare installs
easily and requires little training or internal support.
DocuShare users can easily post, retrieve and search for infor-
mation housed in customizable folders.
DocuShare provides users with instant controlled access
to company and organizational information. Read and write
permissions are granted and maintained by the various work
groups within the organization. DocuShare can be accessed
by anyone with a Web browser, whether they’re working on a
PC, Macintosh or Unix computer.
Managing Projects with DocuShare
The
IT department began testing DocuShare with a limited
number of users to determine what the tool did and how it
might best be used. Soon they were utilizing DocuShare to
help manage
IT projects for a variety of university business
clients. Currently, approximately 125 users have both read and
write privileges on DocuShare with a much larger number hav-
ing read-only access.
Stanford is in the process of replacing its entire student
administration system, which is the heart of the
IT depart-
ment’s business. The massive overhaul involves a widespread
and complicated collection of information and practices
regarding student grading, class registration, billing, financial
aid and admissions. Stanford’s
IT team is using DocuShare to
share information about the multi-faceted project.
All project team members can now easily locate and work
on key aspects of the projects and documents, says Dean.
“We look at our DocuShare folders as common work spaces
Volume 2 Number 5
•
720P33874
Publisher Dan Holtshouse
Editor Debra Feinstein
Writer Kerrin Kuhn
Sponsored by the Xerox Knowledge Work Initiative,
Corporate Business Strategy.
©1999 The Document Company: Xerox. All rights reserved.
continued from front
