Case Study - U.S. Army PM-LTV

Creating a Web-Based Collaborative Work Environment
For U.S. Army PM-LTV

Challenge:	To provide the U.S. Army's staff in Project Manager for Light Tactical Vehicles with an online, secure location for collaborating and sharing information.
Solution:	CherryRoad Technologies designed, developed, and implemented a web-based Knowledge Center - a controlled access knowledge management solution. CherryRoad built on its success in support of the U.S. Army's "Army Knowledge Online" program, which features Knowledge Centers as one of the key components of the U.S Army's award-winning portal.
Features:	Lotus Domino R5 application server and a custom-developed suite of templates.
Benefits:	Information is more readily accessible and easily disseminated, allowing PM-LTV staff members to collaborate more effectively with work partners within and outside the organization.

Project Manager for Light Tactical Vehicles (PM-LTV) is a U.S. Army organization that develops, acquires, produces, fields, and sustains safe, reliable, effective, and supportable light tactical vehicles for the joint war fighting community. PM-LTV manages approximately 70% of the Army's tactical vehicle fleet.

CherryRoad Technologies had supported the Army's Chief Technology Office in establishing and maintaining web-based "Knowledge Centers" for Army Knowledge Online (AKO), a highly successful Army portal with more than a million users. So when PM-LTV decided to establish a Knowledge Center - to enable the organization to work collaboratively, in real-time, sharing critical knowledge with authorized users - it, too, turned to CherryRoad.

Knowledge Centers - A Knowledge Management Solution with Customized Flexibility

A Knowledge Center is a web-based workspace where members of an organization can collaborate, communicate, and share information. The Knowledge Center allows users to track progress, stay in the loop, make informed decisions, and bring new staff members up-to-date quickly. Based on CherryRoad's prior Knowledge Center experience and on PM-LTV's needs, it was determined that the PM-LTV system needed to provide:

The ability to control access to information, with access varying by organization and user
Flexibility for users to manage content and expand the site
Ability for authorized team members to post content

CherryRoad Technologies designed the Knowledge Center as a suite of templates using Lotus Domino, the leading platform for collaborative Web applications. Based on these templates, PM-LTV defined customizations needed by their organization, which CherryRoad developed and incorporated back into the templates. The templates and tools provide a high level of end-user flexibility in managing content and growing the site as needed.

Security of Documents and Information

The ability to control access to information and documents is a key requirement for PM LTV. The "public" area of the Knowledge Center provides information targeted for the entire AKO community; however, the core work areas of the Knowledge Center are controlled areas, targeted specifically and exclusively for the PM LTV organization. Depending on the programs they are associated with, some users are able to post information and documents, while others are restricted to reading published content.

CherryRoad designed the Knowledge Center architecture to meet this critical security requirement, with plenty of flexibility to accommodate varying levels of access. CherryRoad incorporated Lotus Domino's robust security features into the Knowledge Center templates. Each area has its own access control list.

"On-the-Fly" User Management

After working with PM-LTV to define many of these functions and how the Knowledge Center administrator would use them, CherryRoad developed a comprehensive user registration process and suite of user management tools that enable the Knowledge Center administrator to:

Approve or reject registration requests
Modify the access level requested on a new registration prior to approval
Change levels of access for a registered user
Revoke Knowledge Center access

With these tools, PM-LTV can manage their Knowledge Center's user base effectively and efficiently, ensuring that the right people have access to the documents and information they need, when they need it.

On-Line Collaboration