IQPC Content Week 2007

Sensible Content. Sensible Content Management.

© 2007 ZiaContent, Inc. All rights reserved.

IQPC Content Week 2007

Workshop led by:Rita Warren ~ ZiaContent, Inc.

February 2, 2007

Things that go Bump in Your Content Management Project and How to Handle Them



Today’s Session

1. Introductions

2. Top 10 Things that Go Wrong Exercise: Guess Top Challenges Discussion• Exercise: Evaluate Your Challenges and Risks Discussion

3. Critical Success Factors• Exercise: Balancing your Project “Wheel”• Discussion

4. Handling Bumps Along the Way • Presentation• Discussion

5. Closing Comments and Discussion



Introductions

• Rita Warren ~ ZiaContent, Inc. Independent Consultant Seattle-based Involved in CMS implementations for

major companies Sensible Content, Sensible Content

Management

• About you



Survey• December 2006 “CMS Challenges” Survey• Audience: Content management professionals• Goal: To uncover trends in what challenges

most often come up when implementing a content management system (CMS)

• 33 Respondents 19 Practitioners 10 Consultant/Integrators 4 Content Services Providers

What do you think we found?



“Seeded” Top Challenges• Clarifying business goals• Securing sufficient budget• Setting realistic timelines• Gathering detailed requirements• Redesigning/optimizing business processes• Gaining consensus among stakeholders• Properly scoping the project• Finding or keeping skilled technical resources• Technical issues with CMS product• Integration issues (technical or data related)• Project planning or project management • Gaining or maintaining executive support• User/stakeholder involvement• Usability or user adoption issues• Communications between IT and Business• OTHER

How did they rank?



#10 Gathering Detailed Requirements

• Accept that you're not going to get the detailed requirements and design right the first time. Treat it as a learning process—gather feedback as you go and use this to inform future iterations.— Consultant, www.grahamoakes.co.uk

• Don't start work until you've nailed down the requirements, but recognise that end users don't think in the same way as technologists. They need an iterative development process to provide feedback, and allow you to get closer to their real rather than defined needs.— Practitioner, Publishing

• Think outside content silos.— Practitioner, Insurance



#9 Integration Issues (Tech or Data)

• Consider all possible challenges and have a plan to overcome them. Allot plenty of time for testing!— Practitioner, Retail

• Get an information plan early and manage to the plan.— Practitioner, Insurance



#8 Communications - IT and Business

• Once executive support has been gained, communication between all stakeholders must be honest, open and ongoing to ensure that expectations are met. — Practitioner, Retail

• Encourage communications between all groups involved. — Practitioner, Government



#7 Setting Realistic Timelines

• Impress deadlines and dependencies.— Consultant, www.duoconsulting.com

• Dedicated team a must. Don't underestimate complexities.— Practitioner, Retail

• Spend more time/energy planning than executing!— Practitioner, High-Tech



#6 Securing Sufficient Budget

• The biggest challenge is the "out of the box" sales pitch by vendors. Time to fully define and document requirements and the solution, then accomplish it, often costs more than the client had in mind. — Consultant/Integrator,www.deepbridge.com

• Managing feature creep. Clarifying to the level of detail for the client is typically not budgeted for the project as they would rather their dollars be focus on other areas rather than requirements capture. - Content Services Provider



#5 Properly Scoping the Project

• The biggest challenge is the "out of the box" sales pitch by application vendors. — Consultant/Integrator www.deepbridge.com

• Allow time for planning.— Practitioner, Publishing

• Assign a dedicated PM to this project. Get appropriate IT resources that can implement a CMS and manage those resources.— Practitioner, Government



#4 Gaining Consensus Among Stakeholders

• Make sure a clear project charge is drafted and agreed upon by all stakeholders before the process of choosing a CMS begins.— Practitioner, Education

• Obvious but often forgotten: Start a project by defining clear goals and vision. Make sure all stakeholders share, or at least know what these goals (and this vision) are. —Consultant/Integrator, www.tamtam.nl



#3 Redesigning Business Processes

• What people will tell you are the processes are not always the processes.— Practitioner, Financial Services

• Spend time analyzing what exists--including what workflow and teams currently are doing work connected to a CM initiative.— Consultant, www.pgsolutions.net

• Create, publish and promote (up to the highest executive levels) a set of standardized processes, and white papers to support them.— Practitioner, Financial Services



#2 Gaining/Maintaining Executive Support

• Get executive level commitment and sponsorship.— Practitioner, Insurance

• Get an executive champion. — Practitioner, Insurance

• You need to get high level support and set realistic goals. [Many CM ideas] are great in theory but very difficult in practice unless a company is totally willing to retool their processes. — Practitioner, Financial Services



#1 Clarifying Business Goals

• Make sure you know why you're doing it, then how you plan to reach those goals, and only then plan requirements.— Consultant/Integrator, [email protected]

• Get stakeholders from the various communities (business, editorial, technical) into a room together and work through your objectives. Do whatever it takes to get these clear.—Consultant, www.grahamoakes.co.uk

• Essential to have a well defined business plan and business case approved prior to start a CMS implementation project.— Practitioner, Government



Top 10

#1 Clarifying business goals #2 Gaining/maintaining exec support #3 Redesigning/optimizing business processes #4 Gaining consensus among stakeholders #5 Properly scoping the project #6 Securing sufficient budget #7 Setting realistic timelines #8 Communications between IT and Business #9 Integration Issues (technical or data)#10 Gathering detailed requirements



Exercise: Critical Success Factors

Will your

project roll?



Clear, Agreed-upon Business Goals

• Defined scope (content domain)• Measurable goals• Widely Communicated• No known dissent among the ranks



Executive Sponsorship

• “Gets” content management and the business value it brings

• Influential in peer group• Willing and able to go to bat• Holds teams accountable• Has a vested interest in the success



Committed Users/Stakeholders

• See the value to CM• Feel valued for their expertise• Willing and able to learn new and better

ways to manage content• Willing and able to invest time



Realistic Timeline and Budget Expectations

• Value the concept of spending more time planning than executing

• Feasible ROI• Scoped to meet expectations• Willing to accept that there are

“unknowns”



Solid CM Knowledge/Expertise

• Either internal or vendor resources who know CM well

• Educational plan and materials to get everyone on the same page

• Willingness to hire expertise if needed• Understand that system vendors are only

the experts on “their” systems



Experienced Project Manager

• Has led an effort of similar size and scope• “Gets” content management• Has proven leadership skills, not just a

administrative experience• Clear and prolific communicator• Long-term commitment to the CM

initiative



Strong Technical Resources

• Good communications skills• Open minded• “Get” that content management is

different than data management• Platform expertise



Good Communication – Business and IT

• Designated leads on Business and IT side• Business Analyst or Info Architect who can

serve as “translator”• Common understanding of the business

goals• Incentives in alignment with success of

the project• Ongoing communications plan



Facing Bumps Along the Way

• Project Initiation• Planning• Execution• Roll-out



Project Initiation Bumps

Bump: We can’t estimate budget because we don’t know what system we’ll choose.

Prevention: Include system selection in your project initiation steps. See if you can get “planning budget” to do requirements and system evaluation.

Cure: Identify your “must have” requirements and evaluate systems based on those. Ballpark your best guess on system costs to come up with estimated budget.




Bump: You want me to use that CMS?

Prevention: Educate all sponsors and stakeholders about the importance of agreeing on requirements before choosing a system.

Cure: If you’re being pushed to go with a particular system, measure it against your “must have” requirements and if it doesn’t fly, let everyone know why.




Bump: Our idea of a CMS doesn’t fit with their idea of a CMS.

Prevention: Make sure you have a clear idea of the different types of content management. You won’t find one-size-fits-all, but if you’re going for ECM, you may find one-size-fits-most.

Cure: Scale down the project by solving only the problem with the best ROI




Bump: I think we’re biting off more than we can chew!

Prevention: Scale the scope of the project to solve just the biggest problems, not all problems.

Cure: If your project plan runs into years, rather than months, break it up into separate sub-projects where you can realize meaningful results.




Bump: We think a CMS will save/earn us this much, but we don’t know for sure.

Prevention: See if you can come up with a test that shows how CMS functionality saves time/improves content, etc.

Cure: If you already have the project approved, carve out a tangible deliverable, build and deploy it quickly and measure the results.



Planning Bumps

Bump: Now the business says they don’thave time to help with requirements.

Prevention: Make it clear to stakeholders what level of commitment you need from their teams. If at all possible, get a full-time user expert on your CMS team.

Cure: Consider a more “Agile” software implementation plan that allows multiple iterations of functionality in 30-day cycles. Accept that requirements will not be complete before you start coding/implementation



Planning Bumps

Bump: Everyone’s speaking a different language.

Prevention: Create an educational presentation and/or document that clearly defines concepts and terminology. Make sure all involved see it.

Cure: It’s never too late to go back and educate. (See prevention advice above.)



Planning Bumps

Bump: Our resources are more than willing, but not so able.

Prevention: Realize that skilled and experienced resources are one of the “critical success factors.” If time allows, educate, if not, hire the best team you can find.

Cure: Bite the bullet and ask for more budget to get the consulting or staff you need. It will likely cost less than struggling with the wrong team.



Execution Bumps

Bump: Our vendor isn’t delivering like we thought they would

Prevention: With system vendors and services vendors, spend the time to be very specific in the contract. Pay in installments based on reaching measurable milestones, not just time-based.

Cure: Implement strict project management controls to find out early if vendors are meeting their contracted deliverables. If they’re falling behind, find out why. Be prepared to add more or different resources to fill gaps.



Execution Bumps

Bump: You call this a requirement? What the heck does it mean?

Prevention: Spend a lot of time on requirements. UI mock-ups are helpful. Involve IT architects and developers in business requirements review before finalizing them.

Cure: Accept the fact that requirements are never 100%. Try the “Agile and Scrum” methodology.



Execution Bumps

Bump: But we thought it would work this way…

Prevention: If at all possible, where there are open questions about how technical solution will work, get a trial version of your software and do a proof-of-concept before paying for your licenses.

Cure: If you run into technical stumbling blocks, get your best minds on it, even from other teams. There’s almost always a solution. If the vendor promised it would work, make them get it to work.



Execution Bumps

Bump? Migrating the content is going to take how long?

Prevention: Get samples of all types of your content. Evaluate what needs to be changed/added/fixed. Perform sample migrations early. Over-estimate this line item in your schedule and budget.

Cure: If you find that there’s a lot of manual clean-up, see if you can systematize it and outsource to low-cost contingency staff.



Roll-out Bumps

Bump: Whoops! I didn’t mean for it to go “live” that way!

Prevention: Allocate plenty of time for testing. If possible, do a “practice” system launch. Have a roll-back plan if system doesn’t work as expected.

Cure: Hope it’s not a major issue, or get ready to take the heat! (See prevention advice above)



Roll-out Bumps

Bump: People are confused, even after the vendor training.

Prevention: Don’t rely on the system vendor’s standard training materials to train your users. Get a good instructional designer and trainer and customize the training materials to your specific implementation and real-life usage scenarios.

Cure: Plan follow-up Q&A sessions and make sure you have adequate user support resources for post-launch issues.



Roll-out Bumps

Bump: Users are finding ways to get around the new system

Prevention: Include usability testing early and often. Pay attention to the usability feedback and handle through training or modifying the system.

Cure: If you have to, turn off any alternate systems. Have team members available to sit and work through questions/issues with users and be prepared to make system modifications.



Roll-out Bumps

Bump: We’re supposed to be more productive, not less!

Prevention: Set your ROI projections to accommodate a ramp-up period.

Cure: Give it some time and do what you need to support users through their initial learning curve.



Lessons Learned

• Pay attention to Critical Success Factors up front

• Resist the temptation of saying “we’ll worry about that later”

• Expect it to be harder and take longer than you would initially think

• Remember, your “challenges” are project “risks.” Manage the risks.

• Try to maintain team continuity and ensure knowledge transfer during transitions

• Keep your eye on the prize. It’s worth it!



Thank You!

Rita Warren ~ ZiaContent, Inc.e-mail: [email protected]

IQPC Content Week 2007

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