Even before the global recession, the airline industry was struggling, but a case study from Microsoft shows how one Brazilian airline was able to use SharePoint to increase sales and reach more people.

Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes [Gol Intelligent Airlines] is currently the second largest airline in Brazil, a position it got to by using online techniques since it began in 2001.

But while Gol used the internet from day one, it was often a tedious effort to update its website.

"Business owners were frustrated because it took days to get things published," said Renata Caovila Domingues, who works in online marketing for Gol Intelligent Airlines. "Everything had to go through the IT department, where we had five people dedicated to uploading content. Gol wanted these people to work on more strategic IT projects."

The solution for the company turned out to be Microsoft SharePoint which allowed it not only to save IT costs, but to combine its intranet and internet sites.

Gustavo Bodra, portal Administrator at Gol, says using SharePoint has allowed the company to save $300,000 per year in IT costs while speeding up the performance of its website.