SUBJ: CG PORTAL PHASE I IMPLEMENTATION
A.  COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC 031635Z MAR 09/ALCOAST 128/09
1. PHASE I OF CG PORTAL WAS SUCCESSFULLY ROLLED OUT ON MARCH 31,
2009. AS OUTLINED IN REF A THIS FIRST PHASE MARKS THE BEGINNING OF
TRANSFORMING THE WAY THAT THE COAST GUARD DOES BUSINESS ON THE WEB
WITH A FOCUS ON STREAMLINING OPERATIONS AND ELIMINATING DUPLICATION
WHILE IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND TRANSPARENCY.  YOU NOW HAVE INTERNAL
BLOGS, WIKIS, RSS FEEDS, DOCUMENT SHARING, AND MANY OTHER NEW AND
ENHANCED FEATURES. WHILE WE HAVE PROVIDED REDIRECTS FROM WITHIN CG
CENTRAL TO CG PORTAL WE
ENCOURAGE YOU TO VISIT DIRECTLY VIA HTTPS://CGPORTAL.USCG.MIL. ONCE
INSIDE PLEASE VISIT THE KNOWLEDGE BASE,
HTTPS://CGPORTAL.USCG.MIL/LOTUS/MYQUICKR/KNOWLEDGE-BASE (MUST BE
ENTERED AS LOWER CASE), WHERE YOU WILL FIND VALUABLE INFORMATION TO
IMPROVE YOUR OVERALL EXPERIENCE. THE KNOWLEDGE BASE REPRESENTS A
FIRST STEP IN
MAXIMIZING OUR USE OF WEB-BASED TRAINING.
2. CG CENTRAL MICROSITES HAVE NOW BEEN REPLACED BY THE CG PORTAL
COLLABORATION AREA. IF YOU PREVIOUSLY PARTICIPATED IN A MICROSITE
YOU WILL NOW FIND IT LOCATED AT HTTPS://CGPORTAL.USCG.MIL UNDER THE
(MY PLACES) TAB.
3.  CG CENTRAL COMMUNITIES HAVE ALSO BEEN REPLACED BY THE CG PORTAL
COLLABORATION AREA. THE REPLACEMENT PLACES FOR COMMUNITIES CAN ALSO
BE FOUND AT THE ABOVE SITE BUT ARE LOCATED UNDER THE (PUBLIC
PLACES) TAB. FOR CG PORTAL, PUBLIC IS DEFINED AS EVERYONE IN ACTIVE
DIRECTORY IT DOES NOT REPRESENT ANYONE OUTSIDE OF THE COAST GUARD.
COMMUNITIES WERE PLACED UNDER (PUBLIC PLACES) BECAUSE THIS
AUTOMATICALLY PROVIDES VIEWING ACCESS FOR EVERYONE IN THE COAST
GUARD AS OPPOSED TO (PRIVATE PLACES) WHICH OFFER CONTROLLED ACCESS
VIA MEMBERS BEING INDIVIDUALLY ADDED.
4.  WE HAVE ALREADY SEEN MANY INTERESTING USES OF THE NEW
FUNCTIONALITY PROVIDED IN CG PORTAL. WE HAVE ALSO SEEN THE
MIGRATION OF MULTIPLE EXTERNAL WEBSITES BROUGHT BACK TO AN
ENTERPRISE SOLUTION NOW THAT BLOGGING AND WIKI FUNCTIONALITY EXIST
ON OUR PROTECTED NETWORK.  WHILE THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY IS THE FIRST
STEP TOWARDS IMPROVING THE CG WEB ENVIRONMENT, THE SECOND AND MOST
IMPORTANT STEP IS NOW UP TO YOU. YOU ARE THE OWNERS OF THE
CONTENT IN THE CG AND WITHOUT YOUR USE CG PORTAL WILL BE MISSING A
KEY INGREDIENT, THE INFORMATION. WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO FIND NEW WAYS
TO LEVERAGE CG PORTAL TO ENHANCE YOUR DAY-TO-DAY ACTIVITIES AND TO
SHARE INFORMATION WITH OTHERS IN THE CG. TO ASSIST OTHERS IN
FINDING THE INFORMATION THEY SEEK WE ALSO ENCOURAGE YOU TO MIGRATE
INFORMATION OFF OF ANY OTHER STOVE PIPE SYSTEM YOU ARE CURRENTLY
USING.
5.  WHILE CG PORTAL HAS SEEN VERY FEW PROBLEMS OVER THE LAST WEEK
WE ARE EXPERIENCING THE SAME CHALLENGES THAT ALL NEW SYSTEMS FACE.
AS THE CG TRANSITIONS TO A NEW STANDARD IMAGE WE WILL CONTINUE TO
WORK TO IMPROVE YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH CG PORTAL AS WE ALSO
TRANSITION FROM A WINDOWS XP ENVIRONMENT TO WINDOWS VISTA.
6.  IN AN EFFORT TO IMPROVE THE INFORMATION THAT IS AVAILABLE TO
YOU AND PROVIDE YOU WITH THE APPROPRIATE ACCESS WE ARE USING
VARIOUS SOURCES OF INFORMATION TO POPULATE YOUR PROFILE. IT IS
IMPERATIVE THAT YOU VISIT
HTTPS://DMT.USCG.MIL/DMT/ENDUSERUPDATE.ASPX TO ENSURE THAT YOUR
INFORMATION IS ACCURATE, THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE FOR MILITARY
MEMBERS TO ENSURE THAT THEIR EMPLID IS CORRECT. THIS VERIFICATION
WILL TAKE ONLY A FEW SECONDS BUT WILL ENSURE YOUR PROPER
AUTHENTICATION.
7.  ONCE AGAIN I WOULD LIKE TO WELCOME YOU TO CG PORTAL AND I
ENCOURAGE YOU TO COMMUNICATE YOUR THOUGHTS ON CG PORTAL WITH MY
STAFF AS WE CONTINUE TO IMPROVE THE FUNCTIONALITY MADE AVAILABLE IN
PHASE I AND WORK TOWARDS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PHASE II.
8.  CG-6 POC FOR THIS PROJECT IS: LT KERRY FELTNER AT 202-475-3580
OR BY EMAIL AT KERRY.A.FELTNER2(AT)USCG.MIL.
9.  RADM D.T.GLENN, ASSISTANT COMMANDANT FOR COMMAND, CONTROL,
COMMUNICATIONS, COMPUTERS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, SENDS.
10.  INTERNET RELEASE AUTHORIZED.