AF initiative changes the way to share information Published Sept. 19, 2008 By Holly Birchfield 78 ABW/PA Robins Air Force Base, GA -- Robins is breaking down communication walls. As part of an Air Force initiative implemented by Air Force Materiel Command, Robins will soon adopt a method for sharing information known as Enterprise Information Management. Melony Davis, Standards Element chief in the 878th Communications Squadron, said the government has changed its approach to information management, going from "traditional information hoarding to information sharing." "We need the capability to share information," she said. "EIM allows that to happen. EIM is an initiative to provide efficient and effective management in the enterprise-wide collaborative environment. In our case, our environment is AFMC." Ms. Davis said Robins has been the leader in using SharePoint technology in AFMC and now the base is going a step further. "SharePoint 2003 is the tool that we're currently using," she said. "We've been using SharePoint 2003 since June 2006. Now, we're moving to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, better known as MOSS 2007." Debbie Boyd, an information technology specialist in the 878th CS, said because Robins was an early adopter of SharePoint, there are more than 500 sites on SharePoint. Those sites will all be migrating to MOSS 2007. "AFMC stood up the server farm in June for the initial operation and testing capabilities," she said. "We started migrating the 78th Communications Group's information first. We're going to learn what we can by doing our own first." Mrs. Boyd said sites on MOSS 2007 have been established for the 78th Air Base Wing and the 78th Communications Group. The remainder of Robins' organizations is expected to be fully migrated to MOSS 2007 by the end of 2009, Mrs. Boyd said. Dusty Martin, an IT specialist in the 878th CS, said MOSS 2007 offers many features that the previous SharePoint lacked. "We have recycle bins now for deleted items, whereas in the 2003 version, we didn't have that," she said. "We have synchronization with active directories." Ms. Martin said MOSS 2007's recycle bins allow people to retrieve items they have deleted from their sites for up to 30 days after deletion and site administrators can retrieve items from recycle bins for up to 90 days. Ms. Martin said the tool aims to make sharing information much easier. "With MOSS 2007, you can share documents within your organization," she said. "You can synchronize MOSS 2007 calendars with Outlook. You can also use e-mail to participate in discussions and meetings, and view documents." MOSS 2007 is also compatible with other Microsoft products such as Excel, PowerPoint and Word. Ms. Martin said EIM allows workflow, document and records management, content management, knowledge management, an enterprise-wide search and many more useful features. Ms. Davis said EIM will standardize how information is distributed. "With the shrinking workforce, this will save time, man-hours and money," Ms. Davis said. "The Air Force is standardizing a lot of things and EIM is one of those initiatives." People in the 78th CG are already receiving EIM training. Other organizations at Robins will receive the training in the coming months.