Setting the Groundwork for a Setting the Groundwork for a Content Management SystemContent Management System

“Keeping the User’s Needs in Focus”

Nancy Mustachio; Director - Application Development

Marie Somers; Manager - Web Development

Track 4 – Managing an Agile IT Infrastructure Track 4 – Managing an Agile IT Infrastructure January 11January 11thth, 2006 (9:30am-10:15am) , 2006 (9:30am-10:15am) Harborside Ballroom E Harborside Ballroom E

Copyright Nancy Mustachio 2006. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

Session Blueprint

• Quick review Seton Hall University’s characteristics

• Define the many faces of ‘user’

• ‘Setting the Groundwork’– Scope, Vehicle Mission, Users & Goals,

Features, Architecture, Constraints for Ancillary Communications Tools

• Choosing a product

Who We Are….Seton Hall University

• Mid sized, Catholic affiliated university in suburban NJ, 15 miles from New York City

• Two campuses – comprised of 8 Schools and Colleges

• >5,000 undergraduate student

• >4,000 graduate students

• >1,900 employees, including 400 full-time faculty

• 2004-05 Fact Book

Background WebDev Info

• FrontPage chosen as web development tool in 1999– Complexity of template was a stumbling block

for most users updating content– Clumsy method of maintaining accounts and

sub webs

Background WebDev Info

• Over 300 websites, including student organization sites– IT managed 75% of the image creation and

design layout– IT cycled thru outdated content, ‘reminded’

owners to update– Most major sites (e.g., schools/colleges) have

their own “webmasters” with varying skill level– Soft stylistic guidelines (i.e. not ‘enforced’)

Time to Improve – Wishes For a Better WebDev Environment

• Ease of use, minimal learning curve• Support an Information architecture – allow for

hierarchy (i.e. Push down and Roll-up) • Structured containers of content within templates• Scaleable infrastructure • Approval workflow, versioning and ‘track

changes’• Dynamic content feeds and automatic content

expiration • Public image library of approved images

Our Users Defined

IT

PRImage keepers

University ContributorsInfo gatekeepers, service personnel

Internal End UsersStudents, Faculty, Administration

External End UsersProspective students and their parents, Alumni, Donors,

Prospective employees…

User Base

Imp

ort

ance

Our Users Defined

IT

PRImage keepers

User Base

Imp

ort

ance

Developed working relationship & respected alliance

‘Setting the Groundwork’

1. Scope

2. Vehicle Mission

3. Users & Goals

4. Features

5. Architecture

6. Constraints for Ancillary Communications Tools

Defining Scope

Browser Accessible Domains

PublicExternally exposed,

institutional functional & communications vehicles

E.g., University Web Site

PrivateInternal, institutional

functional & communications vehicles

E.g., Webmail, MyWeb, HR

PersonalExternally exposed,

personal Web sites for faculty, staff and students

AcademicTools for teaching and

learningE.g., Class Web Sites, Electronic

Portfolios

Browser Accessible Domains

PublicExternally exposed,

institutional functional & communications vehicles

E.g., University Web Site

PrivateInternal, institutional

functional & communications vehicles

E.g., Webmail, MyWeb, HR

PersonalExternally exposed,

personal Web sites for faculty, staff and students

AcademicTools for teaching and

learningE.g., Class Web Sites, Electronic

Portfolios

1 st Priority

Defining Mission

Vehicle Mission

• Promote University to External Audiences

• Serve as a Conduit for Internal Audiences

Users and Goals

Intangible Goals

• Bolster Image

• Provide Vision

• Serve as a Rallying Point

• Reinforce Publications

External End UsersProvide opportunities for users to learn

about SHU and choreograph their introduction to the University community.

External End UsersProspective students and their parents, Alumni, Donors,

Prospective employees…

Internal End UsersStay up-to-date with University news and events and provide a hand-off to internal

University services.Internal End Users

Students, Faculty, Administration

University Content ContributorsProvide a single, simple, Web-based

content authoring system.

University ContributorsInfo gatekeepers, service personnel

PR Content ContributorsProvide a tool for managing marketing communications campaigns across all

mediums, domains and sites.

PRImage keepers

System and Application Developers

Provide a flexible, extensible and rapid development environment that reduces

support and content demands on IT.

IT

Features

PR’s FeaturesIT

Institutional InformationProvide institutional information on the University in a user-centered context.

Dynamic ContentEvery browsing session must provide a

unique experience for the user.

Global ContentEvery page delivered must provide

opportunities for the user to learn more about the University.

Focus on WritingThe tool must require little more than the

ability to use MS Word.

Universal PlatformThe tool must extend to encompass the entire Public Web sphere and beyond.

Architecture

Architecture Objectives

• Base Structure

• Navigation Elements

• Global Content

• Subsite Structure

Architecture

Architecture

Subsites

School Subsites

Constraints

Plays Nice with OthersAccepts content from and provides content to other systems through open standards,

or syndication methods.

Tool Selection

Who’s Out There?

• IBM > Lotus Workplace

• PaperThin > Commonspot

• Vignette > V7

• Percussion > Rhythmyx

• RedDot > ECMS

• Minds Eye > Element

• Open Source > OpenCMS• circa 2003-2004

http://www.cmswatch.com

Vendor Summary

• Why each vendor was chosen for comparison

• Summary of company and application description

• Customer base

• Collected pros & cons of the system

• Detailed side by side comparison grid

• Customer questionnaire

Sample Explanation of Why We Choose the Vendors

• IBM > Lotus Workplace– Due to our relationship with the company and our current

infrastructure.– The Lotus Workplace would be an extension of our current Lotus

Notes environment.

• PaperThin > Commonspot– History with university clients. One of the few CMS vendors on

the market who has taken the extra step to understand Hi-Ed.– Scaleable and fits within out current infrastructure.

• Vignette > V7– Flexibility of their system and scaleable. – Growing number of Hi-Ed clients.

• circa 2003-2004

Sample of Application Summary

• OpenSource > OpenCMS– An enterprise-ready content management solution

built in JAVA and XML from open source components. OpenCMS can be deployed on almost any existing IT infrastructure and provides feature suited for medium to large internet/intranet applications.

– Runs in a “full open source” environment (e.g., Linux, Apache, Tomcat, MySQL) as well as on commercial components (e.g., Windows NT, IIs, BEA, Weblogic, Oracle RDMS)

Sample of Customer Base

• RedDot > ECMS – Educational Customers include:

• Penn State AIS Dept, San Jacinto College District, Southeast Missouri State University, Trident Tech College, University of Arkansas, University of Albany

– Commercial Customers include• Federal Express, The New York Times, March of

Dimes, Kraft, Honda, Starbucks

Sample of Pros & Cons

• PaperThin > Commonspot – Pros include:

• Editor interface is browser based and would not require client software to operate.

• Offers full control over page elements for editing, flexible levels of security.

• Full training is offered for the product and tailored for the role of the user.

– Cons include• Does not offer dynamic environment for Lotus

Notes

Comparison Grid

• Demo’s conducted – vendors required to follow a script (i.e. apples to apples)

Comparison Grid

• System Availability Specs (e.g., Websphere, Linux, Windows, Apache, IIS…)

• Database Support (e.g., SQL, DB2, Oracle, Domino, Sybase…)

• Primary System Language (e.g., ColdFusion, XML, JAVA, ASP, JSP…)

• Support Options (e.g., Trial Period, Available Training, Phone support, Manuals, Online Help, User SIGs, Forums, Conferences, Feature Request Process…)

Comparison Grid (continued)

• Security Specs (e.g., LDAP integration, File Authoring Control, User Administration for Various Roles…)

• Content Flow (e.g., Versioning, Approval, Audit Trail, Reporting, Expiration/Scheduling…)

• Communications/Messaging Elements (e.g., Weblog, Discussion Forums…)

• Development Features (e.g., Templates, User Interface, Photo Gallery, Personalization…)

Sample of Customer Questionnaire(16 questions)

• City College of New York on CommonSpot by PaperThin

1. Did you experience any difficulties during the implementation of the product? If yes, what were they?

• Not at all, the whole installation went very smoothly. We are running the system internally right now. We are hoping to have the full launch by the beginning of July.

2. What platform are you running the product on? • We are running Windows 2000 server with an SQL database. We also have Cold Fusion MX 6.1.

3. Which version of the product are you currently using?• V3.2, though we are getting ready to finalize the upgrade to V4. • We are working on setting up the replication system before we install V4.

4. With regards to the site templates, how many do you currently use? • 1 base master template and then 5 page layout templates. The colleges and departments can then copy

over the templates for use on their sections. 5. Did you experience any problems with the design or implementation of the templates?

• Not at all, the system basically takes care of the creation for you. It is a very smooth process. The original thought was to have a whole library of templates, but after a lot of research and discussions, we agreed on 5 templates.

6. Do you use workflow to track changes to the site? If yes, how was your experience setting up the workflow process?

• We set up the workflow process for our own development right now. Each college has its own admin rights to set up their unique workflow. The system is very easy to use.

“It’s important to understand that a CMS is more than just new software; it represents a culture shift for your organization.” – John Kovacevich; Tendo’s Thought Leadership Newsletter