State of Ohio Department of Development launches an online SharePoint portal to support matchmaking

Client:

State of Ohio

Department of Development

Industry:

State & Local Government

Solution:

Custom Portal in SharePoint 2007

Benefits:

·   Online directory

·   Advanced search

·   User-friendly user-interface

·   Enhanced document management

·   Seamless collaboration

The Technology:

·   Custom ASP.Net

·   Visual Studio

·   Microsoft SharePoint

·   SQL Server 2008

·   Windows Server 2008

Project Details:

·   Agile development

·   Defined cost/effort project

·   Managed and delivered on time and budget

·   Developed at Halcyon’s Development Center of Excellence (DCE)

·   Iterative feature refinement

·   Local hosting solution

·   Long term support structure

The Client:

Department of Development’s - Entrepreneurship and Small Business Division works in partnership with a broad network of public and private partners across Ohio to provide the information, assistance, and advocacy that facilitates small business growth and development.

The Division supports Ohio's businesses up to 500 employees by creating opportunities to expand financial literacy, access to capital, entrepreneurial skills, and the coaching they need to succeed. Through the state's network of 41 Small Business Development Centers, more than 9,400 clients were served in 2010.

The Situation:

The client has been conducting conferences to facilitate linking small business participants with potential contracting opportunities with government agencies and prime contractors. 

The conference called Business Matchmaker provides small businesses with a unique opportunity to meet with buyers and sellers of goods and services. Small businesses can present capability statements and learn about the purchasing process of buying organizations. Buyers can represent city, state, county, and federal agencies, as well as prime contractors and other organizations and businesses with combined purchasing budgets representing hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Challenge:

Taking this venture online was the next objective for the Department. Providing small business with the ability to market themselves online to potential buyers would be the next step in the advancement of this program.

The Solution:

Halcyon Solutions implemented a custom developed SharePoint solution called Check Ohio First (COF) to promote and encourage companies operating in Ohio, and those attracted to the state, to maximize the use of Ohio businesses when making purchases, taking the ‘buy-local’ effort statewide.

COF created an on-line directory of Ohio businesses enabling purchasing and sourcing agents to identify potential vendors and offering Ohio small businesses the opportunity to be considered for a wider variety of business solutions.   

The Results:

Halcyon successfully architected and implemented a solution that provided the state with an online “matchmaking” feature. The new solution provided extensive document management and collaboration capabilities that can be scaled up to meet the growing needs of the user base. DOD is actively marketing this solution as a “preferred” solution for other initiatives like shale gas and biomass.