Today’s webinar “Top 5 Traits of A Winning Intranet” was an apparent success with a couple hundred participants. We covered a lot of ground and had a lot of questions… unfortunately we had too many questions in the short time available. But I’m glad there are so many inquisitive and capable intranet managers and consultants who are passionate about their respective intranets.
So here are a couple of questions I didn’t get to with my response:
Q: What is your recommendation for a content management system?
A: There are 2000 CMS solutions on the market so you have to be careful. And, even though one CMS works at one organization, it’s highly likely that it may not work at another. I’d suggest, once you’ve developed your plan and your content requirements, inviting 6-10 name vendors in your price range to propose solutions based on your detailed requirements. Mid-market vendors such as Red Dot, Serena, CrownPeak, PaperThin, etc. are safe bets – but it really depends on your requirements. Make the vendors work for your business by telling them what you need – in a detailed RFP.
Understanding your requirements is very detailed work. Prescient’s detailed CMS evaluation matrix covers hundreds of solution features and attributes – and weights them according to the client’s specific requirements (for more information see CMS Blueprint ©2009). The bottom line: you have to put in the work to fully understand and document all of your requirements – from publishing interfaces, to administrative features, to template creation and workflow – before you can select a CMS.
For more information on CMS solutions visit:
Q: What are your recommendations in a geographically dispersed organization with regional intranets?
This depends greatly on the structure of the business, and the underlying culture. I’m a big fan of pooling resources and finding scales of economy – productivity and efficiency drives to the bottom line and puts smiles on the faces of senior management. I would like to see more organizations using a single platform and home page with a decentralized content management solution allowing regional and business unit owners to publish and manage their own content (while adhering to central policies and standards) without having to worry about servers and infrastructure. However, the business structure will determine the system. If you are in a large, decentralized company where different business units and country units operate as quasi-independent companies, it will be very, very difficult for you to build an effective, centralized employee intranet portal. You can build it, but “effective” is the key word. It is easier if there’s an edict from up high that says “thou shalt be done.”
In the absence of a direct order from the CEO, you will have to convert the masses and win fans. You will have to build it and hope that they will come. They won’t however come by merely building an intranet. You will have to sell, sell, sell. Think of it as a political campaign. You will have to sell the intranet, demonstrate its value, and make all sorts of promises and concessions… So, hire a good campaign manager J
If centralization is just not possible, then begin by striking a ‘global’ council or committee to develop standards and policies. Build in systems that enforce the standards (e.g. only sites and pages that meet the standards will be indexed by the search engine).
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If you have any additional comments or questions then please feel to post a question below or e-mail me through the Prescient website at www.PrescientDigital.com
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ADDITIONAL
More immaturity… from CMS to portals