SharePoint Online Services via BPOS

BP's Oil Spill Response included two key data collection systems.  One was called Vessels of Opportunity (VOO) and the other Vessel Demobilization System (VDS).  This post is about the innovative use of SharePoint Online Services for both these systems.  The business requirement was to create site collections for each of the branches of BP's response centers for access by Admins, Ship Owners, key Business Stakeholders, including the US Coast Guard and BP.  So what were the key requirements for these systems?  Here's a short list:

• Fast development and deployment process
• Unified security and easy access from anywhere in the world
• Simple to implement with relatively low cost
• Inherently well oranized and structured pages with proper taxonomy
• Easy to extend across other departments, divisions or agencies

Guess what technology meets these needs: SharePoint Online Services via the Business Productivity Suite or BPOS.  Using BPOS, the Site Admins were able to create Users as requested, and the SharePoint Developers (including myself) were able to respond to the business needs within hours of the request.  We created several "department dashboards" that allowed Users to see their department status in one area.  The Site Permissions took care of the security and access levels. 

So if these were the pros of this technology, you ask what the cons were?  The downside was that Developers had no access to the Servers, or in effect there was no straight forward ability to run stsadm commands.  Here's a summary of features NOT Available in Microsoft BPOS:

1. Anonymous users supported
2. UI enhancements
3. Server control
4. Customization / Code Deployment
5. 3rd party web parts installation
6. Unlimited user account creation with no additional fees
7. Daily site backups
8. Custom domain names supported
9. Dedicated solution for any number of users

The other interesting aspect of this project was that there was a 'consultant circus' with so many IT Consulting firms all involved with parts of the same project, from Infosys to Microsoft Consulting, to Neudesic, to ComSys, Deloitte and private contractors. However, it all worked out well on these projects at Houston, TX, Houma, LA and Mobile, AL. 

One of the technical challenges came about when one of the business requirements for the VDS system was custom workflows, custom access levels and real time data charting.  That's where SharePoint Online Services began to appear as not fitting the bill.  So we migrated the technology to Windows Azure, writing a custom .NET application hosted in the Cloud.  It was a classic example of where .NET still rules, when customization and granular access outweigh simplicity, ease of use and fast deployment times.