Project.  PdM Tactical Battle Command, Battle Command Common Services

Customer Background.  PdM Tactical Battle Command (TBC) located at Fort Monmouth, NJ provides Army units at the Division and Brigade echelons with support for Microsoft SharePoint server as part of its Battle Command Common Services (BCCS) architecture. BCCS was designed with the goal of standardizing the tactical enterprise architecture eliminating the need for units to undertake integration efforts between enterprise services and Army Battle Command System (ABCS) while improving modularity.

Business Challenge.  Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server has been used by tactical Army units for several years and was formerly provided as part of PEO C3T PM Tactical Radio Communications Systems (TRCS).  In January 2006, support and development was migrated from PM TRCS to PM Battle Command as part of PdM Tactical Battle Command.  To execute a smooth transition, Independent Validation and Verification (IV&V) along with increased planning and support was required to prevent loss of service to deployed and deploying units. At the completion of migration, engineering and development support was required for long-term growth and sustainment.  Efforts included ongoing requirements collection and definition, solution architecture design and custom development for tactical portal applications.

Solution.  MicroLink was engaged by PdM TBC to provide IV&V on existing SharePoint tactical web parts and functionality developed and supported at PM TRCS.  As part of the IV&V testing effort, MicroLink engineers provided recommendations concerning the resolution of technical issues, human factors concerns, and options for future enhancements.  The IV&V test report recommendations contributed to a definitive Migration and Development Plan and BCCS solution baseline.
PdM TBC requested MicroLink to continue providing support after the IV&V was completed.  PdM TBC’s request was made because of MicroLink’s extensive experience, with existing tactical portals and custom SharePoint solutions.  MicroLink, therefore, continues to support the deployment and customization of the BCCS solution.  The MicroLink team provides:

• Software engineering
• Architecting and developing of custom portal solutions
• Analyzing and testing of third-party solutions
• Training support to the Field Support Representatives
• Leading investigation and design related to MOSS 2007 functionality and customization.

Examples of these work efforts include:

• Design and development of an automated SharePoint archival tool that removes files based on administrator controlled timeframes.  The archival solution automatically removes outdated files to a file share, reducing strain on the portal, but maintaining the availability and accessibility of files for future purposes.
• Design and development of a visual, alert notification tool, specifically requested by 82nd Airborne to reduce the amount of e-mail traffic users received. Users are now able to easily identify notifications pertaining to critical document modifications.
• Creation of tactical reports integrated into MOSS 2007.  The reporting solution retrieves data from the ABCS PASS messaging application which publishes data between Army applications. As a result, the reports provide a unified view of disparate event data as collected by PASS.
• Analysis and documentation of SharePoint best practices.  Documentation of standard practices was developed and provided to the Field Support Representatives to ensure that portal implementations were stable and efficient, providing users with a logical data structure for improved information access.

Technologies or Products and Services provided by MicroLink. The following products and services are provided as part of the BCCS server stack, and have been supported by MicroLink:

• SharePoint Portal Server 2003/2007
• SQL Server 2000/2005
• Windows Server 2003 including Active Directory
• Exchange Server 2003/2007
• SQL Reporting Services 2005
• BCCS Tactical Web Parts developed for SharePoint 2003
• BCCS Tactical Portal Solution Packages developed for SharePoint 2007