Fpweb.net SharePoint Client Case Study

Business Situation

In 2004, Gupton Marrs International (GMI) was working with one of the largest marketing/advertising organizations in the world. This organization had grown through acquisition to encompass over 1,200 agencies in 130 countries. GMI’s task was to help this company define, implement, and roll-out a comprehensive Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance program in under six months that would support worldwide testing of financial reporting internal controls at over 800 locations.

Solution

GMI quickly decided that Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) v3 would be used as the collaborative document repository for the SOX testing documents. Using SharePoint as the core platform, GMI added customized capabilities such as robust check-in/check-out, workflow, signoff and management reporting. Approximately 20,000 testing documents were created by a population of 1,000 users. Fpweb.net provided the dedicated WSS environment with 24x7 availability during the crucial three month SOX testing window.

Benefits

“WSS is a great tool, but it has some weaknesses out of the box,” said Mordechai Beizer, Managing Director at GMI. “Fpweb’s dedicated WSS environment, allowed us to customize the application through the use of our own technologies. Fpweb’s experience managing SharePoint systems was a big plus.”

As with any custom product, there are always a few wrinkles to iron out. Fpweb.net did all the work so Gupton could utilize a fully customized environment.

“Out of the gate, we experienced some potential show stoppers, but Fpweb.net was very helpful in solving the problems. I could reach a live support person at any time, which was key in making sure little problems didn’t become big problems,” said Beizer.

The Highlights:

• Fpweb.net solutions are fully customizable.
• Fpweb.net support was knowledgeable and accessible.
• GMI employees save time by accessing dedicated WSS sites from anywhere.
• Through Fpweb’s advanced Exchange solution, GMI can provide customers with secure email communication.