About Productivity Hub
August 2009, Microsoft released a customizable, on-premise training site for the 2007 Microsoft Office system - Productivity Hub. Productivity Hub highlights the value of Office SharePoint Server 2007 as Business Application Platform by showcasing the capabilities of platform by demonstrating an Office Productivity Suite Learning Portal.
Where the value of Productivity Hub as Office Productivity Suite Learning Portal is evident, it should also ignite the ideas of using or repurposing it as platform for other needs. Think about it as a new employee orientation, Knowledge Management, or an environment that can help you business processes in a well-understood framework. For a manufacturing business, I can see it as getting repurposed and branded for Product Management, or an Engineering or Field Service organization using it field readiness and operations by giving you the answers where you need it and when you need it. The solution delivers an engaging user experience by offering rich, task-based training content, how-to videos, learning roadmaps, forums, and more.
In addition to surfacing SharePoint features, it incorporates distinct user interface, a set of custom control for rating content to illustrates just a few of the many capabilities and the promises it holds.
Credit & Contacts
Microsoft is giving credit to Redmond Technology Partners, LLC who help design and implement the Productivity Hub solution. It will be unfair to remove them from deployment at Agile Concept site as the whole purpose of this deployment is to learn, master and take the message to the people in SharePoint community cloud.
Overview
Here is some language from download page:
The Hub is a SharePoint Server 2007 site collection that serves as a learning community and is fully customizable. It provides a central place for your training efforts, and includes training content from Microsoft’s core products. Microsoft also provides ongoing and updated content packs.
The Hub uses SharePoint Server’s social networking capabilities, such as blogs and discussion groups. In addition, it offers the Coach program, a change management feature to help you train end users to self-help, reducing the burden on your training and IT staff. The Coach program impacts productivity in a collaborative and positive way.
What the Productivity Hub is:
- Format: Pre-loaded SharePoint site collection optimized for Web 2.0 functionality and easily deployed within SharePoint Server 2007 environment.
- Content: Convenient end user productivity training in a variety of formats (documents, videos, podcasts, etc.). Receive free quarterly updates of content that you will learn about through the Productivity blog.
- Blog: The Productivity blog offers tips and tricks for end user productivity. Use it as is, or your training staff can use the posts as their own to help them get started in running an internal blog.
- Train the trainer: Includes IT/Manager section to aid with deployment of the site collection, and guidance to develop the Coach program.
- Products: Office 2007 System applications including SharePoint Server 2007. Windows 7 and others will be added in the future.
Benefits to you:
-
Helps reduce costs: Streamlines training and helps reduce training overhead. Acts as a tool for training departments and IT.
-
Multiple learning paths: Includes learning roadmaps, coaches, forums, searchable content and more.
-
Helps increase productivity: Accelerates 2007 Office system use through a learning community.
-
Drives adoption: Ongoing access to training enables deeper use and helps create new power users.
-
Ignites collaboration: Encourages self-help through the coach program.
-
Proof of concept: Provides a vision for collaborative learning – leading to collaborative work.
Some Useful Pointer (links)
