Lea+Elliott: SharePoint Intranet for Global Engineering
Unified document management and project collaboration across international offices
By Errin O'Connor, Founder & Chief AI Architect, EPC Group
Lea+Elliott: SharePoint Intranet for Global Engineering Collaboration
How EPC Group designed and deployed a SharePoint Online intranet for Lea+Elliott, a leading transportation engineering consultancy, enabling seamless document management, project collaboration, and knowledge sharing across offices in the Americas, Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.
50%
Faster Document Retrieval
6
Global Offices Connected
75K+
Documents Migrated
40%
Less Email Attachment Traffic
The Challenge
Lea+Elliott is a globally recognized transportation planning and engineering firm that has provided program and construction management services for some of the world's most complex transit and airport infrastructure projects. With offices spanning Dallas, Orlando, Los Angeles, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Riyadh, the firm faced significant challenges in managing project documentation, engineering deliverables, and institutional knowledge across time zones and continents.
Document sprawl across file shares: Over 75,000 project documents -- including engineering specs, RFP responses, contract documents, and design drawings -- were scattered across local file servers in each office, with no centralized search or version control. Engineers frequently worked on outdated document versions.
Cross-office collaboration barriers: Teams in Dallas and Dubai working on the same airport project had no shared workspace. Documents were exchanged via email attachments, creating version conflicts and consuming mailbox storage. Average document retrieval time exceeded 15 minutes for cross-office files.
Knowledge retention risk: When senior engineers retired or transitioned between projects, their institutional knowledge -- lessons learned, client preferences, design rationale -- was lost because it existed only in personal files and email archives.
Proposal process inefficiency: RFP responses required gathering past project examples, team resumes, and reference documents from multiple offices. The proposal team spent 30% of their time just locating and assembling content rather than writing compelling responses.
The Solution
EPC Group designed and implemented a SharePoint Online intranet tailored to the specific needs of a global engineering consultancy, with custom document management workflows, project collaboration sites, and a knowledge management hub that preserves institutional expertise across the organization.
Project Hub Architecture
Designed a templated SharePoint site structure where each project gets a pre-configured hub with standardized document libraries (Drawings, Specs, Contracts, Correspondence), task lists, milestone trackers, and team calendars. New project sites spin up in minutes with consistent metadata and permissions.
Enterprise Search & Metadata
Implemented a managed metadata taxonomy covering project type (airport, rail, transit), document category, project phase, client, and region. Microsoft Search indexes all 75,000+ documents, enabling engineers to find any document in under 30 seconds using filtered search.
Global Collaboration Workspace
Integrated SharePoint with Microsoft Teams so cross-office project teams have persistent chat, co-authoring in real time, and meeting recording archives. Engineers in Dallas and Dubai now collaborate on the same document simultaneously with automatic version history.
Proposal Content Library
Built a centralized proposal content library with approved boilerplate sections, project case studies, team resumes, and reference materials. Power Automate workflows route new content through approval chains and automatically tag documents with metadata for rapid retrieval during RFP responses.
Key Benefits & Outcomes
50% Faster Document Retrieval
Average document retrieval time dropped from 15+ minutes to under 7 minutes through the combination of managed metadata taxonomy and Microsoft Search. For frequently accessed project documents, retrieval takes under 30 seconds using filtered search by project, document type, and phase.
Seamless Cross-Office Collaboration
Teams across 6 global offices now collaborate in real time on shared documents without email attachments. Co-authoring adoption reached 78% within 3 months. The Dallas-Dubai airport project team reported a 60% reduction in document version conflicts after migrating to SharePoint.
40% Reduction in Email Attachment Traffic
With documents now shared via links rather than attachments, email storage consumption dropped by 40% across the organization. This also resolved the frequent "mailbox full" issues that had been disrupting engineers working on large design files and specifications.
Proposal Win Rate Improved
The centralized proposal content library reduced RFP response preparation time by 35%. The proposal team now spends their time crafting compelling narratives rather than hunting for content. The firm's RFP win rate increased from 22% to 31% in the first year, representing significant new revenue.
Knowledge Preservation
Lessons learned, design rationale documents, and client preference notes are now systematically captured in project sites with metadata tagging. When senior engineers transition between projects or retire, their institutional knowledge remains accessible to the entire organization through searchable SharePoint libraries.
Standardized Project Governance
Every new project now follows a consistent document management structure with standardized naming conventions, approval workflows, and retention policies. Audit readiness improved significantly as all project documentation is centralized with complete version history and access logs.
Technologies & Architecture
Collaboration Platform
- - SharePoint Online (Microsoft 365)
- - Microsoft Teams integration
- - OneDrive for Business (personal files)
- - SharePoint Hub Sites (project portfolio)
Document Management
- - Managed metadata taxonomy (6 term sets)
- - Content types for engineering documents
- - Document sets for deliverable packages
- - Retention policies by document category
Automation & Workflows
- - Power Automate (document approvals)
- - Project site provisioning automation
- - Metadata auto-tagging rules
- - Notification workflows for reviewers
Security & Governance
- - Azure AD with conditional access
- - Sensitivity labels for client documents
- - External sharing policies (per project)
- - DLP policies for contract documents
Migration & Rollout
Discovery & Information Architecture
Audited 75,000+ documents across 6 office file servers. Designed metadata taxonomy with engineering leadership. Defined site hierarchy, permission model, and content types for each document category.
Platform Build & Pilot
Built the SharePoint hub site architecture, Teams integration, and Power Automate workflows. Piloted with 2 active projects (Dallas and Dubai offices) to validate the design with real-world usage before enterprise rollout.
Content Migration
Migrated 75,000+ documents from on-premises file servers using ShareGate, preserving metadata, permissions, and version history. Implemented data quality checks and duplicate detection during migration.
Global Rollout & Adoption
Rolled out to all 6 offices with region-specific training sessions. Created video training library and quick-reference guides. Established SharePoint champions in each office to drive adoption and provide local support.
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Enterprise document management and collaboration
“EPC Group understood the unique challenges of a global engineering consultancy from day one. Our Dallas and Dubai teams used to spend hours hunting for documents and emailing massive attachment chains back and forth. Now they co-author specs in real time and find any document in 30 seconds. The improvement in our proposal win rate alone justified the investment -- but the real win is that our institutional knowledge finally has a permanent home.”
Frequently Asked Questions
How does SharePoint Online improve document management for engineering firms?
SharePoint Online provides engineering firms with centralized document libraries, managed metadata taxonomies, and enterprise search that make it possible to find any document across the entire organization in seconds. EPC Group implements custom content types for engineering deliverables (drawings, specs, contracts, correspondence) with version control, co-authoring, and automated approval workflows. This eliminates the document sprawl that occurs when firms rely on local file servers in each office.
Can SharePoint support collaboration across international offices in different time zones?
Yes, SharePoint Online combined with Microsoft Teams enables real-time collaboration across any number of offices and time zones. Engineers can co-author documents simultaneously, access shared project libraries from any location, and maintain persistent chat channels for project communication. EPC Group configures hub site architectures with templated project sites that spin up in minutes with consistent permissions, metadata, and folder structures regardless of which office initiates the project.
How does SharePoint help engineering firms with RFP and proposal management?
EPC Group builds centralized proposal content libraries in SharePoint with approved boilerplate sections, project case studies, team resumes, and reference materials tagged with managed metadata for rapid retrieval. Power Automate workflows route new content through approval chains and automatically tag documents. This reduces the time proposal teams spend locating and assembling content by 30-35%, allowing them to focus on writing compelling responses rather than hunting for materials.
How long does a SharePoint migration take for a professional services firm?
A typical SharePoint migration for a professional services firm takes 12-20 weeks depending on data volume, number of offices, and complexity of the information architecture. EPC Group follows a phased approach: discovery and information architecture design (weeks 1-4), platform build and pilot with 2-3 project teams (weeks 5-10), content migration with metadata preservation (weeks 11-16), and global rollout with region-specific training (weeks 17-20). Firms with fewer documents or simpler structures can often complete in 8-12 weeks.
How does SharePoint preserve institutional knowledge when engineers retire or leave?
EPC Group implements structured knowledge management within SharePoint by creating project-level libraries for lessons learned, design rationale documents, client preference notes, and post-project reviews. These documents are tagged with managed metadata covering project type, client, technology, and region, making them searchable by any engineer in the organization. When senior staff transition between projects or retire, their institutional knowledge remains accessible through the SharePoint libraries rather than disappearing with their email archive.
Ready to Transform Your Document Management?
EPC Group has 29 years of experience designing and deploying SharePoint intranets for professional services firms, engineering companies, and global enterprises. Contact us for a free consultation to discuss your collaboration challenges.