Steady Progress: DIIRD and MySource MatriMySource Matrix

Wendy Pryor: Wednesday 20 October 2010

Structure of this presentation

This presentation will cover:

• DIIRD structure and organisational context

• Implications for website development

• Our steady progress

• Our service expectations

• Issues, impacts and resolutions

• Goals for the Squiz relationship.

DIIRD’s individual brands are more visible than its overall brand

The Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development is the VictorianGovernment’s lead agency for economic and regional development.

Our Departmental brand is less visible than our component brands, such as:• Tourism Victoria• Regional Development Victoria• Skills Victoria• Workforce Victoria• Major Projects Victoria.

Business areas have:• Strong identities, specialist staff and a desire for autonomy• Websites managed by a range of web managers and teams.

DIIRD’s individual brands: Major Projects Victoria

DIIRD’s individual brands: Regional Development Victoria

Web governance uses a customer segment model

DIIRD’s many websites are grouped into five customer segments:

• Business• Skills & Workforce• Visitor• Citizen• DIIRD Stakeholder.

A Website Management Taskforce, representing all segments, is responsible foroverseeing web investment and maintaining an inventory of web activity.

DIIRD participates in a range of Victorian Government web activities.

Website management is a federated model: the view from the centre

I manage the Central Web Team in Corporate Services.

Central Web Team services some websites and all satellite web teams.

Our challenge is to provide value and services appropriate to each of the satelliteteams by: • Adding value to their offerings• Improving web standards• Assisting with technology issues• Tailoring our relationships to suit their needs.

We have high expectations of client/supplier relationships

CWT and Squiz provide services to DIIRD.

These observations underpin my understanding of the client/supplier relationship:• Repeat business is easier to win than new business• Excellent service leads to repeat business• Good suppliers/vendors make the client’s life easier• Excellent processes are essential to strong delivery• Deliverables must be articulated and agreed• Proactive communication works better than ‘after the fact’• Productive relationships require work from both sides• All issues can be resolved.

Our challenge is to develop mutually beneficial relationships in our organisationalcontext.

DIIRD adopted MySource Matrix in 2008 & has 12 sites on its instance

Our drivers for adopting MySource Matrix were: • A desire to update our Content Management System• Machinery of Government changes that increased DIIRD’s websites.

We have added 12 websites to our instance over two years: • New or redeveloped sites use MySource• Sites are added organically• Instance is centrally managed• Overall Squiz relationship is centrally managed• Projects are managed by the relevant web team• Experiences are shared• We learn from our successes and failures.

Our steady progress has been achieved through continuous improvement

Our steady stream of projects has challenged us.

Improvements have occurred through resolving issues related to:• Technical expertise• Project management• Skills enhancement• Relationship development.

Some issues are internal, others are vendor-related.

Issue 1: Sharing experiences and issues strengthens everybody

Issue:• DIIRD’s MySource websites are managed by a range of web managers and

teams in different locations, with different skill levels. Some web managers work alone and feel isolated.

Impact:• Successes are not shared

Ne de elopments are not le eraged• New developments are not leveraged• Issues are not systematically addressed.

ResolutionResolution:• Central Web Team established a MySource Matrix Reference Group to

encourage sharing and learning across business units.

Issue 2: Sharing an instance mandates upgrades for all

Issue:• DIIRD’s MySource websites share a single instance. If a new website requires

new functionality, all must upgrade together.

IImpact:• All web managers must participate in the upgrade, irrespective of their

perception of benefits.

Resolution:• Provide warning and clarity about the upgrade and what will be entailed

Coordinate the acti ities s oothly• Coordinate the activities smoothly• Be honest about the frequency and effort of upgrades• Reward participants.

Issue 3: Initial project quotes were unclear

Issue:• DIIRD has a formalised system of procurement based on thorough

documentation. Despite this, initial quotes for projects were unclear.

IImpact:• DIIRD suspects the project requirements have not been understood• Project progress is slowed while the pricing issue is resolved.

Resolution:• We meet Squiz to explain the project before the price is submitted• Quotes are itemised so that DIIRD understands how costs are incurred.

Issue 4: DIIRD sites were implemented differently on the same instance

Issue:• DIIRD discovered that its sites had been implemented differently on the same

instance over time.

IImpact:• Difficult for our technical team to maintain• Complicates upgrades.

Resolution:• Central Web Team undertook a technical project, with Squiz, to develop best

ractice guides for caching content sharing atches and u gradespractice guides for caching, content sharing, patches and upgrades, standardisation, versioning and rollback, workflow

• The outcomes are a key input for every DIIRD MySource project.

Issue 5: DIIRD did not receive the deliverables it anticipated

Issue:• DIIRD did not receive a graphical style guide at the end of a project for which

Squiz designed the graphical user interface and developed the website.

IImpact:• Surprise and disappointment at the end of a successful project• Necessity to choose between doing without or extending the budget.

Resolution:• Always document deliverables• Always list and clarify project assumptions.

Issue 6: It’s not always clear who should pay for what in DIIRD

Issue:• It was not initially clear what would be financed centrally, and what would be

paid for by the satellite web teams.

IImpact:• Expectation that most costs would be paid for centrally• Difficult to establish accurate budgets for project delivery and ongoing.

Resolution:• Central Web Team controls the overall Service Level Agreement• Central Web Team buys its own support units and training units• Satellite teams buy support and training units for their own teams and sites• Central Web Team contributes training and support units to new starters.

Issue 7: New staff wish to update content before being trained

Issue:• Due to project demands new staff wish to update content before being trained.

Impact:• Risk of creating havoc on the instance• Unrest between CWT and satellite teams.

Resolution:• Central Web Team linked training requirements to levels of access• Central Web Team works with Squiz to schedule timely training• Central Web Team assists satellite teams with content updates.

Issue 8: Effective project management facilitates delivery

Issue:• Expectations of Squiz project managers were undocumented and unclear.

Impact:• Frustration between client and vendor• Inconsistent communication between client and vendor.

Resolution:• Agree with Squiz the frequency and type of project reporting.• Agree with Squiz the lines of communication for each project.

Goals for the relationship with DIIRD satellite web teams and internal clients

My goals for CWT’s relationship with DIIRD web teams and internal clients are for:

• Minimal escalations due to issues• Repeatable, predictable, successful projects• Effort estimates that are clear to the business• Right first time deliveries• Effective communication from both sides: expectations and assumptions• Long term satisfaction.

Goals for the relationship with Squiz

My goals for our relationship with Squiz are for:

• Minimal escalations due to issues• Repeatable, predictable, successful projects• Clear pricing that is comprehensible to the business• Right first time deliveries• Effective communication from both sides: expectations and assumptions• Long term satisfaction.

Conclusion: key points

DIIRD’s approach is a product of its circumstances:• A Department comprising semi-independent brands• A federated model of web teams and services.

Addition of websites to our instance of MySource Matrix is slow and steady:• We add sites as they are developed or redeveloped• We learn from each project.

We aim for smooth and repeatable projects by:• Addressing issues as they occur within DIIRD• Addressing issues as they occur with Squiz.

Steady Progress: DIIRD and MySource MatriMySource Matrix

Wendy Pryor: Wednesday 20 October 2010