AngloGold Ashanti - Improvements to Microsoft SharePoint System and Portal

Client
AngloGold Ashanti 

Area
Mining 

Summarized Problem
AngloGold Ashanti, a global gold mining company with a strong presence in Brazil, especially in the state of Minas Gerais, and nearly two centuries of history in the country, needed to evolve a legacy Microsoft SharePoint portal developed by a third party and used by suppliers. At the time, the portal was used only for payment consultation. The need was to transform the portal into a complete and traceable process, enabling suppliers to submit invoices directly through the system, stage-based control (approval, scheduling, execution, measurement, and payment), PDF attachments, status updates, and management reports to support monitoring and decision-making. 

Summarized Solution
Visionnaire addressed AngloGold Ashanti’s demand through a structured, technical, and incremental approach, grounded in its experience with Microsoft SharePoint and the use of agile methodology (Scrum). The solution was built based on the scope documents provided by AngloGold Ashanti, with iterative sprint deliveries, continuous refinement of requirements, and an initial period dedicated to understanding the existing source code, reducing risks and enabling adjustments throughout the project. Execution involved a qualified team, and Visionnaire maintained the existing technology, ensuring fast implementation and ease of future maintenance. 

Results
With the improvements to the Microsoft SharePoint System and Portal, AngloGold Ashanti gained more standardized processes, reduced reliance on manual controls, and clearer flows for supplier registration, payment consultation, and form usage, reducing operational errors and rework. 

The portal evolution delivered by Visionnaire enabled better organization of supplier information, easier payment consultation, and a structured foundation for future enhancements. 

Previously, part of the control was performed outside the system (spreadsheets, PDFs, e-mails). With Visionnaire’s solution, information became centralized in Microsoft SharePoint, and AngloGold Ashanti gained traceability and the ability to audit, consult historical data, and make decisions more easily, bringing direct gains in governance and compliance, which are critical for a mining company. 

Visionnaire also avoided platform changes, migration costs, and dependency on external technologies, promoting low technical risk and easier maintenance by AngloGold Ashanti’s internal team. Even though this was a project focused on incremental improvements, Visionnaire’s solution better structured the system, organized processes, and created a technical and methodological foundation for new demands. 

Technologies
Programming language: C#, since the client’s intranet runs on Microsoft SharePoint 2013. 

Database: Microsoft SQL Server, since SharePoint is a Microsoft product. 

System hosting: On-premises at AngloGold Ashanti.

Detailed Problem
AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company, operating in several countries around the world, especially in Brazil, where its mining operations are concentrated in the state of Minas Gerais. 

The company has nearly two centuries of history in the country, being one of the oldest mining companies still in operation. In 2004, AngloGold and Ashanti Goldfields merged, giving rise to AngloGold Ashanti, and the combined name is still used today. 

AngloGold Ashanti needed to improve a Microsoft SharePoint portal developed by another company and used by suppliers; however, at the time, it served only for payment consultation. Since IT is not the company’s core business, AngloGold Ashanti struggled with developers who could not meet its needs. Therefore, the idea was to evolve the portal so that suppliers could submit invoices directly through it. 

This was because the tool was considered limited, as there was no complete workflow: the process ended at the request stage, and the rest of the control (scheduling, execution, measurement, and payment) remained outside the system, often handled through Excel, PDF files, or parallel controls. 

For example, suppliers sent invoices by e-mail, usually in PDF format, which caused confusion and rework (since e-mails were sent with different subject lines), loose PDFs, and difficulty filtering and organizing. As a result, the team responsible for invoice entries faced the challenges of this disorganized flow. 

Therefore, AngloGold Ashanti’s need was to create a complete process, which should include structured approval (with rules), scheduling and execution with the supplier, status updates by stage, recording dates and evidence, issuing and controlling calculation memos, measurement reports, and payments, as well as management reports by status and request type. 

The form should control the complete cycle, with statuses such as: under approval, scheduled, in execution, executed (with actual dates), calculation memo, measurement report, verification, payment, and finalized. 

Through a new feature in the portal, it would be possible to filter a supplier, select the invoice issuance period, enter the posting date, fill in the Purchase Order and FRS, attach the invoice PDF, and click “Submit” so that the invoice would appear organized within the system. 

It was also necessary to create reports such as: how many requests are under approval, how many have already been approved and are awaiting scheduling, how many are in execution, and how many are pending measurement/payment documentation. 

Detailed Solution
Visionnaire addressed AngloGold Ashanti’s demand by adopting a structured, technical, and incremental approach, combining prior experience with Microsoft SharePoint, agile process, and a specialized team, as described in the proposal. By building the solution directly on the scope documents sent by AngloGold Ashanti, Visionnaire ensured full adherence to the client’s needs. 

Visionnaire adopted agile development practices with Scrum, iterative and incremental deliveries, sprint execution, and continuous refinement of requirements. This made it possible to learn the existing source code in the first weeks, adjust requirements as system understanding improved, and minimize the impact of changes during the project. 

In addition, Visionnaire committed to working on the existing technology, without disruptive changes. This ensured lower technical risk, faster implementation, and easier future maintenance by the internal team. 

The project had a qualified and properly sized team, including mid-level and senior developers, a Project Manager/Scrum Master, and professionals experienced in corporate portals, system integration, SharePoint, and Microsoft platforms. This team enabled rapid absorption of the existing system context and high-quality delivery of the improvements. 

Visionnaire also provided a robust quality and governance process, including quality control, risk management, documentation, a formal acceptance process, and change management via RFE (Request for Enhancement). This ensured traceability of deliveries, scope control, and trust from AngloGold Ashanti throughout execution.

Brochure
Case Brochure  

Presentation
Case Presentation