The Situation
The script went something like this… You’ve got two weeks to get www.office2010themovie.com into production. GO!
Just 14 days out from the technical premiere of Backstage with Office 2010 taking its equivalent of a red carpet walk in web space, the Intergen team got the green light from Microsoft to build a creatively hot and hyped website to showcase Office 2010.
Due for release at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference 2009 on 13 July, the release date was set in concrete. The brief however was wide open – creativity without compromise and make it the richest 100% Silverlight-based experience possible.
Music to our ears or, as one Intergenite put it… No pressure, no diamonds.
Thousands of techno eyes the world over would be waiting for the Technical Preview of Office 2010, as part of the build up to the mass market release of Office 2010 to an estimated audience of half a billion.
Take a backstage pass now and see how Intergen went about getting www.office2010themovie.com across the finish line.
Casting the right people in the right roles.
How do you deliver software within an incredibly tight timeframe without compromising the client’s vision or the quality of the deliverable?
“Think and act agile right through to the end goal,” says Intergen Solution Architect, Andrew Tokeley. “The key to making this project happen was constant prioritisation of what we were doing, releasing often and early to a fluid plan, so many balls could be in the air while other steps were coming. Obviously we had a great team thanks to our depth at Intergen to resource the right people for the right job; a mix of technologists, trouble shooters, innovators and managers, each fired with enthusiasm, yet firmly understanding the realities of delivery.”
Trust was the single most important factor according to Chris Auld, Intergen Director of Strategy and Innovation. “Microsoft trust Intergen. They trusted we would interpret their needs without having to be spoon-fed precise specifications. They trusted we would produce a showcase, knowing we live and breathe Silverlight innovation. To be a New Zealand partner frequently singled out by Microsoft to deliver internationally significant work is hugely rewarding.”
The script synopsis.
Going backstage held a double meaning for this assignment. Backstage is the new screen view replacing file menu in Office 2010 and was the perfect creative lever to take people behind the scenes for a backstage view of the innovative features of the software through demo videos on the site. Intergen’s task was to make the backstage view as rich as possible through Silverlight and to also deliver a great experience to users around the world available on iPhones and other mobile devices. Video content was streamed to Silverlight using Windows Media Services Smooth Streaming providing 720i HD quality viewing for users with sufficient bandwidth and seamlessly adapting the stream to support users with lower bandwidths.
The main Silverlight application provides a rich, dynamic environment to host the videos about Office 2010, and people are able to post comments and video topic suggestions. Embedded in the site are social links to popular sites such as Twitter and Facebook, making sure the ‘cool’ people are hearing about Office 2010 in the wings.
The Gain
- Microsoft reaches milestone on time.
- The countdown was met. The creativity delivered.
- In director’s terms, ‘that’s a wrap.’
- Backstage with Office is now live on www.office2010themovie.com