Portal Dos & Don'ts
from the Webinar on June 2, 2004
| Margaret
Grottenthaler |
 |
Do
| • |
Create multi-disciplinary
project team - create KM team
Don’t view it as a technology project |
| • |
Include and indoctrinate management
so you get the budget you need |
| • |
Talk it up and constantly communicate
what you are doing |
| • |
Articulate vision in writing and in
detail |
| • |
Invest in content management solution
that lets anyone be a portal editor |
Don't
| • |
Don’t assume participation
means acceptance or understanding |
| • |
Don’t believe vendors’ claims
about their products because they don’t
understand legal products or the way lawyers
work |
|
| Jamie
Booth |
 |
Lessons Learned
| • |
Identify Solid
Business/Practice Drivers
| • |
Have a reason to implement
the portal that is scalable to other
practices. KM is the best fit. Find
the right champion. |
| • |
Think global – act local.
For example, strategic investment
proved with an immediate success
certain infrastructures in place
or at least well understood strategy
. |
|
| • |
Ensure Content is Available:
or can be made available – address
process & cultural barriers. |
| • |
Measure Success: Portal
use & progress toward stated goals. |
| • |
Serious Sponsors Only Need Apply:
Accurately target the opportunity,
drive content, focus on process, sell
change. |
| • |
Understand Total Cost of Ownership:
License Costs are typically a small percentage
of the total costs – meta estimates
15%.
| • |
Technology Components:
Servers, Dev S/W, Networking Costs,
Middle Ware, Search, Content, Maintenance. |
| • |
People Components: Content &
KM, Program/Project Management,
Portal Administration (not the same
as web master), Development time,
Consultants, Training. |
|
| • |
Realize That Portals Aren’t
Solutions:
| • |
They are frameworks
that can make solution delivery
more cost effective. |
| • |
Non-trivial technology (Web services,
XML, external content technologies,
etc.). |
| • |
Require cross functional team
(practices, interface design, developers,
content maintainers, network infrastructure,
content vendors). |
|
| • |
Architectures are Critical:
| • |
Content - Information
/ Knowledge – structured and
unstructured – internal /
external. |
| • |
Technology architectures –
hardware, software, network. |
| • |
Security Architecture –
as you aggregate and contextualize,
confidentiality, ethical walls,
etc. must be preserved. |
| • |
People Architecture (technical,
content, knowledge skills –
in practice / out practice). |
|
| |
People Architecture Diagram
|
|
| Mark
Zoeckler |
 |
Do
| • |
Ensure clear sponsorship
by executive leadership |
| • |
Involve users across corporate functions
in portal development and testing (professionals
and support staff) |
| • |
Think beyond what a portal can do internally
– focus on collaboration opportunities
with clients and partners |
| • |
Pilot initial efforts and adapt for
feedback |
| • |
Invest in content management system
to ensure quality, available content for
portal |
Don't
| • |
Just deploy a technology
– ensure business integration |
| • |
Overlook communication, training and
support |
| • |
Deploy a “read only” information
portal – fully integrate applications
and allow full connectivity to back-end
systems |
Other Considerations
| • |
Have I consulted others
who have more experience? |
| • |
Have I looked at the issue from a number
of angles? |
| • |
Have I considered an analogous case
to see if it offers a fresh perspective? |
| • |
Have I shared my thinking with someone
else? |
| • |
Have I considered the impact of my decision
or recommendation? |
| • |
Have I supported my colleagues when
they have turned to me for help? |
|
