David Supple, University of Birmingham

1. Institutional Web Managers Workshop 2004 Trials, Trips and Tribulations of an Integrated Web Strategy David Supple, University of Birmingham

2. Welcome to Birmingham

3. Welcome to the University of Birmingham: our marketplace • 27,000 FTE students • is well-established as a world-class University • is one of the leading research-based universities in the United Kingdom • teaches and undertakes research in all the major disciplines • attracts students of high ability • has academic staff of distinction, many recognised as international leaders in their fields • has an annual income of more than £300 million

4. Session Overview • Items we’ve won:The web @ Birmingham, and our T3 • Items we’re watching: The rest of the web @ Birmingham • Items we’re selling: The edges @ Birmingham • Building our store: the web enabled campus • Challenges ahead • Questions

5. Items we’ve won

6. UoB Web Provision • 300k html pages • 500 content authors • 100+ web servers • Fixed IP address campus network – 17,000 points of access • 15 million distinct visitors a year to corporate pages alone • Distributed content generation • Highly devolved political campus

7. UoB Corporate Web Team • Manager • Web Developer x3 • Java Developer x1 (portal) • Hybrid Business Analyst x1 (portal) • Web Editor x2 • Part of ICSD – Information Computing Systems Division of Information Services

8. UoB Web Strategy • Birmingham’s External Strategic Web Review c1999 Lipmann Hearne: • Organizational structure that centralises technical web services such as application development, hosting and supporting web coordinators in schools and departments • Increase training and support for these web coordinators • A cohesive, comprehensive web program within the context of the University’s devolved management structure • Development of the infrastructure to create and sustain a strong web strategy program • Refocus away from technology to content provision

9. Template / Technology/Support Environment

10. At the 2½ year point… • Vastly increased level of consistency in navigation, look and feel • 85% of corporate sites now in the corporate template – over 400 virtual domains • New communication through web coordinator network • However: • Poor standards compliancy, not even html compliant • Inability to re-task digital assets • No content strategy… • New brand forthcoming

11. Content Strategy Challenges • Content Strategy is not technology based • Understand common needs in content generation areas both internally and externally • Lack of time • Lack of funding • Ease of technology rather than content focus • Develop a strategy around: • Content value • Asset re-use • Real world challenges of managing: • Content ownership • Content classification – will content classifiers will inherit the earth?

12. The $64,000 question:To CMS or not CMS… • Weaknesses in the software • Total cost of ownership unclear : TCPP • Inflexible • Politically unacceptable? • Is this really just a brand management issue?

13. Macromedia Contribute: UoB Managed Content Environment (MaCE) • A new MaCE with a contribution tool to work with the XHTML environment • Wide range of features including: • Streamline web content updates • Increase productivity • Edit your site in three easy steps: Just browse to a page from within Contribute, make your edits, and then publish your updates • Drag, drop, and edit from your desktop programs:Easily incorporate content from Microsoft Word and Excel, or create links within your website to documents created by any business software • Collaborate with your authors: Work together safely on the same site

14. Trips and Tribulations • Split between IS and Marketing will always require good managing • Microsoft technology a blessing and a curse • Networking and infrastructure issues • Grey area of medium sized application development • Personal websites…

15. Items we’re watching

16. Nouvelles Applications • MIS centric • Oracle based • Vendor specific • Complex • Fixed systems and responses

17. Mid-Range Applications • Opaque definition of what is an enterprise application and who owns them • Difficulty of users defining the projects • Time and resources needed to build applications • Common and often demanding links with enterprise systems require resources and training

18. Items we’re selling

21. Personal Websites • Is ignorance really bliss? • Academic freedom vs. business issues • Institutional representation • Issues of control • Liabilities • One way path?

22. The Hidden Web • New firewall policy blocks non registered servers • Grey area of research groups • Tracking content extension on registered servers difficult • Liabilities and responsibilities

23. Building our store:The web enabled campus

24. Web Enabled CampusTrinity of Services

25. Strategic Prerequisites

26. Portal Strategy • Taking the content further – developing more relationships with content creators and consumers • A further dimension of process review, making the business an e-business from the ground up • Data simplification not just integration • Technologies to remove data noise through personalised environments • Integrated e-learning environment

28. Bringing everything together Agnostic, open standards compliant – plugs and sockets Paul Browning, University of Bristol

29. Supporting the VREVirtual Research Environment • Customer Focused Enterprise Environments – delivery of targeted information • Tailored knowledge dissemination – delivery of targeted information • Relationship nurturing – eCRM • Ability to manage complex corporate relationships centrally - eCRM • Asynchronous project management – Online contact + project management • Ability to share and manage knowledge - eKM

30. Integrating Shared Services • Example services being developed by JISC • Subject Portals - Portlets • GeoXWalk • Image Portal • L&T Portal • Metadata registry • IE service registry • Some may become services and how will we integrate and co-ordinate these services?

31. Integrating Internal and External Discovery Resources • Recognition of the power of fully integrated external discovery resources • Poor integration and lack of standards with our own resources • Many complex and far reaching standards being developed – need for simple to implement enterprise level resources • Where does the responsibility lie for: • Content • Accuracy • Resilience

32. The Challenges

33. Portal Implementation RisksThe “empty box” syndrome • 20-30% of portals fail predominantly due to “empty portal” syndrome: source Gartner 2003 • Emptiness also extends to relevance: irrelevant content may as well not exist • Relevance requires engagement of all aspects of organisation life • Tools to deliver content are only half of the equation • If you have no relevant web or enterprise relationships on campus, why will you have relevant portal relationships?

34. Identity Management • Mapping of digital assets against: • Multiple communities • Proliferated and redundant identities • User profile and control and administration • Coordination and accuracy of federated attributes • Privacy and security • Regulations and compliance • Shared services we feel provide part of the solution to the integration of resources, but issues still remain: • Issues of authorization and identity management • Coordination - difficult enough to integrate our own internal data never mind that of other institutions

35. Questions d.r.supple@bham.ac.uk www.bham.ac.uk www.webteam.bham.ac.uk www.portalproject.bham.ac.uk