4-page Case Study - Posted 7/23/2007

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Microsoft Entertainment & Devices

Streamlined, Customized Workflow Demonstrates Power and Flexibility of Development Platform

Situation

Through the first year and half of production nearly 13 million Microsoft® Xbox® 360 video game systems were sold. Each console contains over a thousand parts which are assembled by contract manufacturers. To support business reporting requirements as well as business decision-making needs—such as budgeting and forecasting—the Microsoft Entertainment and Devices (E&D) business group gathers, compiles, and analyzes a variety of data every month from its manufacturers and internal operations. These include reports on Cost of Goods Purchased (COGP), Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), Inventory levels and planned Bill of Materials (BOM) configurations.

Disconnected Reporting
The previous process for gathering this information was both disconnected and labor-intensive (see Diagram 1). Every month, manufacturers submitted reports in the form of Microsoft Office Excel® spreadsheets and Microsoft Office Access™ database software reports. It then took an entire week for a process expert to compile and merge all the data; identify, track down, and obtain any missing information; and confirm the accuracy and completeness of each report. Because this information came via file shares and e-mail messages, additional phone calls, e-mails, and meetings were often required to make the reports as complete and accurate as possible.

Diagram 1 - Previous Reporting Process

Labor-Intensive Workflow
Once all the reports were collected and confirmed, various other business activities were kicked off to accurately analyze and effectively use this information. Because many of these over 140 separate activities are reliant on each other, any delay, missing data, or inaccuracies had a severe impact on the process and results. Therefore, extensive time and energy were invested to ensure that each piece of information required for the financial reports (both internal and to Wall Street), analysis, and projections is current, accurate, and complete. This laborious sequence of tasks usually dictated more phone calls, emails, and meetings. 

Disrupted Workflow
Another challenge to the previous workflow occurred whenever an activity was re-assigned within the business group or at a manufacturer. Because so much of the workflow occurred on an ad hoc basis, it was especially difficult to both train new workers and integrate them into the process, causing further complication and delays. This was especially disruptive when the primary process expert left the group. At that time, many reports remained incomplete, limiting the business group’s ability to identify areas to reduce expenses or increase productivity.  It also reduced the group’s ability to provide adequate forecasting, budgeting, and analysis to executives and Wall Street.

Streamlined Workflow Needed
Therefore, to significantly improve profitability and reporting, the Xbox E&D group wanted a solution that would:

• Unify and streamline reporting from disparate sources.
• Automate the collection of data from the over 30 Excel and Access report stores each month.
• Quickly and effectively reconcile data to improve its reliability.
• Provide easier access to and visibility of information.
• Empower workers by automating as much of the process as possible.
• Provide a collaboration platform across team members and business roles.
• Improve user productivity by integrating workflow tasks with Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 communication and collaboration client.

Diagram 2 - New, streamlined reporting process built on the 2007 Microsoft Office System

Agile Development Model Challenges
An additional challenge in developing the solution was the methodology chosen by the business group, which included:

Requirements that were subject to change

• Frequent intermediate deliveries with working functionality
• The need to develop frequent risk and mitigation plans
• A daily status discussion with the offshore team, impacting the work/life balance due to time differences
• Time-box phase execution

Solution

Thanks to the extensibility and flexibility of the features and functionality of the 2007 Microsoft Office system, a handful of developers were able to develop an Office Business Application (OBA) for financial workflows and reporting in only about 45 days. The OBA accomplishes the desired orchestration of previously disconnected actions, workflows, applications, reports, and data and provides a single location where everything can be tracked and information can be easily accessed, viewed, and analyzed (see Diagram 2).

A Solid, Flexible Development Platform
One key to the speed at which this highly customized solution was developed is the ease by which the rich set of functionality and features of the 2007 Office system can be extended, connected, and even altered as needed along the way. This empowered developers to focus their expertise on extending and assembling 2007 Office system components to align with specific business needs, rather than developing the same components from the ground and risk scrapping code if business requirements changed. 

According to Robert Meshew, Application Architect, “If you want to design a car, you don’t want to have to start by designing the ball-bearings. With this solution, we were able to focus our effort and expertise on designing the exact solution that the business required even as requirements changed or expanded.” He adds, “Because the solution is primarily an assembly of components, it is also incredibly flexible, not only throughout development, but after deployment as well.”

One example of this flexibility came when the business made substantial changes to the workflow structure mid-way through development. Rather than throwing out code and starting over, the development team was able to quickly adapt. Thanks to the flexibility of the 2007 Office system, the workflow change required only a simple change to the workflow definition.

Geehan Handunge, Program Manager, comments, “The agile model of the 2007 Office system allowed us to easily adapt to changing requirements. In most cases the development team was able to complete any change overnight! Even the few custom extensions that we developed are flexible and re-usable, allowing us to deliver exactly what the business needs now and into the future.” 

Because the various components of the solution can be developed separately, the team was also able to:

• Easily delegate components to team members based on expertise
• Re-use components as needed for this or other applications.

Raja Shekhar, Technology Architect, concludes, “We simply chose the building blocks we needed and built on that foundation. Once we learned the capabilities of each block, we were able to quickly implement, re-use, re-configure, and replace as needed. Also, because we can develop each custom component (calendar-based tasks, calendar view, financial month, etc.) as a named feature, we will be able to re-use those blocks within this or any other solution we are asked to develop.”

 Diagram 3 - Diagrams of E&D Portal Solution (top) and COGs Portal Solution (below)

An Easily Developed, Rich User Interface
Another key to the speed by which this complex solution was developed was the ease by which the team could customize and present all the data to users in a familiar, intuitive interface. Thanks to the robust features of the 2007 Office system, the UI was developed without a single line of code.  This was accomplished by simply implementing the standard functionality of SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft Office InfoPath® 2007 information gathering program. 

Figure 1 - Customized user control to specify and create report requests

The SharePoint Server 2007 UI provides a single location where users can access the most current, complete, and official data to inform and drive decision making. Rich out-of-the-box UI and UI extension mechanisms, such as master pages and views on lists and libraries, coupled with an understanding of the feature set and the enforcement of a ‘Zero Code UI’ philosophy enabled the team to develop, refine, and test the UI in a minimum amount of time.

One Site Fits All
By providing one location where data is uploaded, collaborated on, analyzed, and integrated, the business group now has a “single version of the truth,” and therefore, immediate access to the most current, complete, reliable information to empower confident, timely business decisions (see Diagram 3, above).

• Streamlined data collection: Whereas previous reports were submitted in different forms and could reside in different places at different times throughout the process, the new portal provides a single location where reports are uploaded to a document library by each manufacturer. Once uploaded, an event handler directs Excel Services to pull specific data from each spreadsheet and push that data via Web services to a data warehouse.
• Customized user control to specify and create report requests: The solution also provides end users with the ability to copy any file from the extranet to the portal by defining parameters on a custom page (see Figure 1). (Previously, the solution for reporting was addressed on an individual basis and the business always had to consult IT to add a reporting requirement to the portal.
• Fast access and better views for data: In addition to providing a single site for reporting, the portal also provides customizable views of data to inform business decisions, such as forecasting, budgeting, and procurement. Using Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services, the business group can derive timely, seamless views into the supply chain, customized to identify and report on any details required.
• Collaboration to leverage knowledge, streamline processes, and fill gaps: The portal also provides a single location where different team members with different roles can collaborate on reports, activities, and processes. By collaborating through the portal, previous issues around versioning and confusing email threads have been eliminated and the location of the most current version of information is always known. The solution also provides wikis (standard component of SharePoint Server 2007) to improve various processes and activities, such as training.
• Effective application integration: The portal is also the vehicle by which various back-end applications and data are integrated. Using the Page Viewer Web Part, the team has provided a way for workers to interact with various applications, including ProClarity (see Figure 2). Additionally, information from other SharePoint Server 2007 portals is aggregated, and Excel-based dashboards enable connection to data cubes lying in systems outside of the solution. Using Excel Services Excel-based models can be standardized on the portal. According to Meshew, Application Architect, “By using the improved programmability of features such as Excel Services, we were able to integrate a SharePoint Server 2007 front-end with a service-enabled back-end and provide optimal integration across multiple applications.”
• Workflow accomplished through Outlook UI: Because the workflow is integrated with Outlook 2007, users do not have to learn another new tool, but can do their work through the familiar Outlook UI. Now, workers can simply click an edit task button in an email and fill out the InfoPath form that pops up to complete the task or manage the activity with familiar flags and reminders (see Figure 3, below).

Figure 2  - Access to ProClarity through the E&D Portal via Web Parts

Developing a Streamlined Workflow
Whereas the previous process was disjointed, labor-intensive, and opaque, the improved workflow is streamlined, automated, and clear. 

• Development tools: Using the rich workflow capabilities of SharePoint Server 2007, integrated with InfoPath 2007 forms and InfoPath Forms Services, the team orchestrated 143 separate monthly activities, aligning them to the specific requirements of the business group. The workflows were developed and integrated using Visual Studio® 2005 development system. By tying the workflow to SharePoint lists, business users can easily define their own tasks using the list with the calendar view. And, because SharePoint Server 2007 can use Visual Studio® 2005 in a standard way, the workflow components were easily and seamlessly developed and deployed as needed across the application.
• Improved workflow components: Previous document-centric workflow was limited. For example, it was possible to change navigation on a page, but any significant customization required extensive work with Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003. Even then, template changes would not have any effect on the specific page. According to Andy Day, Sr. Applications Developer, “Now, it’s pretty simple to make changes to the top or side navigation, pages, lists, anything. Pages can be linked to other sites or applications and pop up in another window. This agility also means that changes can be made quickly, while sitting with a customer.”
• Synchronous document event handlers: The addition of synchronous document event handlers now enables real-time response for success, failure, or validation errors when a user uploads a document. Previous document event handlers (asynchronous only) would trigger an event, but wouldn’t affect the user process or interface. Now, errors are reported right back to the screen before the document is uploaded. By catching and correcting errors immediately, significant delays and retreating in the workflow process is eliminated.

Figure 3 - Outlook UI with pop-up, web-based InfoPath form

• Content Types: The introduction of Content Types in SharePoint Server 2007 made it easy for the team to identify and connect data, based on the actual use and function of documents, rather than on their format. Because Content Types can be extended to meet specific requirements and taxonomy, the team was able to easily tag everything from documents and products to regions and subsystems, and encapsulate every process from end to end.
• Web-based forms: The team also used InfoPath 2007 to develop forms that are rendered to users as web-based forms via InfoPath Forms Services, a component of SharePoint Server 2007. Thanks to InfoPath Forms Services, these forms do not require users to have InfoPath 2007 installed on their machine. These forms, customized for each activity, provide a simple way for users to complete each activity, identify its status, and provide any necessary comments.
• Built-in flexibility: Thanks to a rich set of properties that can be developed on each task and the ability to connect tasks with little or no code, the workflow is extremely flexible. Using the .NET Framework to integrate the workflow means that if the business wants to change the workflow in any way, they can do it without intervention from IT staff.
• Automated tracking: Automated tracking within the workflow eliminates unnecessary emails, phone calls, and meetings. At any moment, it is now clear who does what, when they need to do it, and how far the task has progressed (see Figure 4, next page). Using alerts to both task owners and managers and allowing for comments within the InfoPath form for each activity, any issues that arise throughout the process are automatically recorded and tracked. The solution also leverages Excel Services to provide a view of the process as measured against various key performance indicators (KPIs), including arrows based on thresholds to give better trend visibility (see Figure 4).
  

Figure 4 - View of Tasks (top) and Excel Services View of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) (below)

Customized View of Workflow
In addition to orchestrating the various activities according to the exact specifications of the business, the team was also able to develop a custom view of the workflow consistent with the current financial calendar (see Figure 5). This was surprisingly accomplished with only about 100 lines of custom code, thanks to the extensibility of the 2007 Office system.

The calendar view of workflow as it occurs across financial cycles is expected to significantly improve both the management and rhythm of the process. This was accomplished using lists and data in lists which are then presented in a calendar fashion. By developing a widget to span across the start and due date, the team was able to define sequences of tasks based on calendar dates. This was further enhanced to let users maintain their calendar template, based on a logical calendar and generate dates based on specific fiscal calendar dates. Users are also able to add, update, and delete entries from the logical calendar, while the solution automatically refreshes the workflow calendar with the changes.

The development team was also able to let the business group determine how many months into the future it would like to schedule the workflow. For this, all it took was an extension of a re-usable workflow that is entirely data-driven.

Also, because the workflow is data-driven, the source of data can change without affecting the workflow. This also means that the workflow can be re-used for similar solutions, drawing from different data sources.

Figure 5 - Custom built calendar view of workflow, aligned with financial calendar

Efficient Deployment
The 2007 Office system also empowered the team to tie custom assemblies, content, sites, document libraries, and taxonomy around each piece of functionality and deploy as a package. And, because each component is version-able and can be isolated from the SharePoint Server 2007 deployment, no reworking or reproduction is required.

According to Day, “Previous deployment included a hodgepodge of assemblies that were not always tied to the content that surrounded them, such as site layouts, taxonomies or anything else that were standard SharePoint features. This meant that we had to rework any changes across development, test, and production, requiring a lot of effort to make changes to the site."

The improved deployment process for installing Web Parts and Document Event  Handlers to SharePoint Server 2007 also provided a much more manageable process for deploying both development and production packages. Automatic versioning and the easy process around what is published means that site downtime is reduced because you can go back to old versions while upgrading to new.

Benefits

Gathering complete, reliable business intelligence from disparate sources and providing a streamlined, calendar-view of workflow through extensive, separate business activities are significant challenges. However, the power and flexibility of the 2007 Office system empowered the team to quickly and efficiently develop such a solution, providing extensive benefits to the business.

Business Benefits
The business group now enjoys the following benefits:

• A complete solution, tailored to its specific and changing requirements
• More accurate, consistent, timely reports
• Seamless data connectivity with supply chain partners
• Agile workflow that can be improved without IT involvement
• Improved integration across applications to remove “white space” between activities
• Ability to identify and improve workflow inefficiencies without IT involvement.
  

End-user Benefits
End user productivity has been significantly increased as the solution provides:

• One place to go to get work done and the ability to fulfill activities without leaving the familiar interface of Outlook 2007.
• The ability to incorporate ad hoc collaboration, including comments throughout the process.
• A way to view business tasks in calendar fashion along with other Outlook activities.
• Automatic alerts, flagging, and scorecard views to better manage responsibilities.

Developer Benefits
Thanks to the power and flexibility of the 2007 Office system, the development team was able to:

• Develop a powerful solution three times faster. The solution was built in about 45 days.  According to the development team, a similar solution, built from the ground up, would have taken at least three times longer.
• Develop a flexible solution to meet changing requirements. According to Handunge, “Throughout development, we needed to respond quickly to changing business requirements. So, the ability to leverage as many of the native features and functionality of the 2007 Office system was key.”
• Reduce development costs. Much of the code that was eventually unused or removed from the solution in response to changing requirements can be used for other, similar applications. The team was also able to leverage extensive, out-of-the-box functionality and simply customize and extend that functionality via SharePoint Designer and minimal coding. Finally, because each component could be developed separately, the team was able to delegate development based on levels of expertise.
• Focus effort on designing and building the best solution. Rather than being mired in developing minutia, developers were able to better invest their time assembling and extending available components to create the exact solution they needed. 
  

Never Look Back
Meshew concludes, “There is a learning curve to building solutions on the 2007 Office system. However, the return on that investment is well worth it. And, if a developer already has skill using ASP.NET, the learning curve is drastically reduced. What we have discovered is that SharePoint Server 2007 is like ASP.NET on steroids and once someone starts using the 2007 Office system, they’ll never look back.”

Microsoft Office System

The Microsoft Office system is the business world’s chosen environment for information work, providing the programs, servers, and services that help you succeed by transforming information into impact. For more information about the Microsoft Office system, go to: www.microsoft.com/office

For More Information
For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to: www.microsoft.com