Building a Reference Portal for Developers

Opportunity

A global software giant was rolling out its latest operating system (OS) for internal use and testing ahead of its general production release. Internal IT developers were unclear about what changes were necessary to ensure existing internal websites and applications would be compatible with the new web browser included in the OS, and also unaware of the specifics of new corporate branding design principles that had been developed to ensure a uniform look and feel.

Solution

The key new features offered by the web browser, the critical code necessary to ensure compatibility, and the underlying design principles of the new branding were identified and documented in a simple update process and reference tool for developers. A SharePoint site that incorporated each step of the update process, and provided developers with a comprehensive library of documentation for each step was created and publicized.

Outcome

The SharePoint site and update process bridged the communication gap between the OS development team and internal IT developers and site owners. IT owners were then able to leverage the new browser features in their site code, creating a uniform look and feel across the internal IT sites.