Within most organisations an intranet of some form exists which in general is an ad-hoc collection of information that has been built over a period of time by various members of the organisation. While the initial aim might have been to provide users with the information they think they need, it’s usually developed in a piecemeal manner. Unfortunately, this method of intranet development often leads to a disjointed solution that does not allow for ease of navigation or provide any real methodology within its design. You also tend to find that developers will build solutions from a technology perspective and take requirements very literally. The Department of Correctional Services in SA had an outdated html-based intranet that was being managed by their IT team and updated when time permitted. This intranet in general wasn’t being used and didn’t meet the organisation's requirements. In order to address this, the management team decided to move to the SharePoint 2013 platform and start afresh. The development team engaged Coritsu to help them design a new solution in conjunction with a select team of end users from within the organisation. The end result is a solution that not only tells the story of the Correctional Services; but also allows users to find what they want, when they want it and without relying on a search functionality. Taking this approach humanised the service the system provides by moving away from the traditional organisational language and structure that only makes sense to each functional area, to one where everyone within the organisation can see where they fit into the puzzle. This presentation will take the audience on a journey outlining how we came up with the overall system design from concept to execution and the challenges we have had to overcome on the way.

• published: 11 Sep 2014
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