KMintranets

Enterprise Information Architecture:A Framework for Intranet Success: 

Enterprise Information Architecture: A Framework for Intranet Success KM World/Intranets 2003 Santa Clara, CA October 15, 2003 Louis Rosenfeld www.louisrosenfeld.com

Panelists: 

Panelists Joseph Busch Principal, Taxonomy Strategies Board member, Dublin Core Metadata Initiative Michael Crandall Technology Manager, US Library Program, Bell and Melinda Gates Foundation Debora Seys Information Architect, @hp Employee Portal, Hewlett-Packard Louis Rosenfeld (moderator) Principal, Louis Rosenfeld LLC Board member, Asilomar Institute for Information Architecture

What’s Wrong with Intranets:Users’ perspective: 

What’s Wrong with Intranets: Users’ perspective Users can’t find what they need (information architecture problem) “How come I didn’t know your department was developing a product similar to ours?” “Why couldn’t we find any relevant case studies to show that important prospect?” “Why do our sales and support staff keep giving our customers inconsistent information?”

What’s Wrong with Intranets:Owners’ perspectives: 

What’s Wrong with Intranets: Owners’ perspectives Owners are overwhelmed (enterprise management problem) Content management pressures Resource allocation Technology selection Challenge of creating a unified intranet in a highly distributed environment

Users’ Problems + Owners’ Problems = Enterprise IA (EIA): 

Users’ Problems + Owners’ Problems = Enterprise IA (EIA)

The EIA FrameworkSeven issues: 

The EIA Framework Seven issues EIA governance: how the work and staff are structured EIA services: how work gets done in an enterprise environment EIA staffing: who handles strategic and tactical efforts EIA funding model: how it gets paid for EIA marketing and communications: how it gets adopted by the enterprise EIA workflow: how it gets maintained EIA design and timing: what gets created and when

EIA Governance: Questions: 

EIA Governance: Questions What sort of individuals or group should be responsible for the EIA? Where should they be located within the organization? How should they address strategic issues? Tactical issues? Can they get their work done with carrots, sticks, or both as they try to work with somewhat autonomous business units?

EIA Governance:A separate business unit 1/2: 

Logical outgrowth of Web or portal team Design or branding group E-services, e-business or e-commerce unit Goals Ensure that IA is primary goal of the unit Retain organizational learning Avoid political baggage Maintain independence EIA Governance: A separate business unit 1/2

EIA Governance:A separate business unit 2/2: 

Ambitious, fool-hardy, unrealistic? Necessary! Models of successful new organizational efforts often start as separate entities Alternatives (none especially attractive) Be a part of IT or information services Be a part of marketing and communications Be a part of each business unit EIA Governance: A separate business unit 2/2

EIA Governance:Balancing strategic and tactical: 

EIA Governance: Balancing strategic and tactical Strategic: Model on Board of Directors 5-7 representatives of key constituencies Track record with successes, mistakes with organization’s prior centralization efforts Mix of visionaries, people who understand money Tactical: Start with staff who “do stuff” Extend as necessary by outsourcing Enables logical planning of hiring and use of consultants and contractors

EIA Governance: Board of directors 1/2: 

EIA Governance: Board of directors 1/2 Goals Understand the strategic role of information architecture within the enterprise Promote information architecture services as a permanent part of the enterprise’s infrastructure Align the group and its services with those goals Ensure the group’s financial and political viability Help develop the group’s policies Support the group’s management Makeup Draw first from effective leaders Then from major units that would be strategic partners

EIA Governance: Board of directors 2/2: 

EIA Governance: Board of directors 2/2 Qualities Experience and duration in the enterprise Wide visibility and extensive network Can draw on institutional memories and experiences Track record of involvement with successful initiatives Entrepreneurial (can read and write a business plan) Experienced with centralization efforts Does not shy away from political situations Can “sell” a new concept and find internal funding Is like the people you need to “sell” to Has experience with consulting operations Has experience negotiating with vendors

EIA Services:Questions: 

EIA Services: Questions What should a team responsible for EIA actually do? How do their “services” fit with work that happens within business units? Or with outside contractors and consultants? What kind of people should manage these efforts? How do IA generalists and specialists fit together?

EIA Services:From overwhelming to digestible: 

EIA Services: From overwhelming to digestible

EIA Services:Modular service plan: 

EIA Services: Modular service plan Avoid “monolithic” approach: “Hi, we’re the EIA team and we’re here to help… and we’re going to centralize all of your information…” Break IA and CM into digestible, non-threatening tasks and sell those Allows you to divide and conquer clients… …and helps you understand IA challenges better (e.g., applying metadata in a centralized environment)

EIA Services:Potential service offerings 1/2: 

EIA Services: Potential service offerings 1/2 User-oriented Persona and scenario development User testing and task analysis Search and server log analysis Content-oriented Content inventory and analysis Content evaluation and assessment Content model design Content development policy (creation, maintenance) Content weeding, ROT removal, and archiving Content management tool (acquisition, maintenance) Metadata development Metadata maintenance Manual tagging Automated categorization and classification

EIA Services:Potential service offerings 2/2: 

EIA Services: Potential service offerings 2/2 Context-oriented Business metrics development and analysis Internal marketing strategy and implementation Stakeholder and decision-maker interviews Business rules development (for best bets, content models, etc.) Production/Maintenance Template design and application Training Policy/procedure/standards development and acceptance Publicity of new/changed content Tool analysis/acquisition (CMS, search, portal) Quality control and editing Link checking HTML validation Liaison with visual design staff, IT staff, vendors

EIA Services:Assessing departmental IA needs: 

EIA Services: Assessing departmental IA needs

EIA Services:Basic & premium levels: 

EIA Services: Basic & premium levels Free services can lead to fee services

EIA Services:Phased demand for IA services: 

EIA Services: Phased demand for IA services

EIA Staffing:Questions: 

EIA Staffing: Questions Who should be involved: in-house, consultant, contractor? What type of specialization should the staff have? Should they be centralized or located within business units or both?

EIA Staffing: Tactical team 1/4: 

EIA Staffing: Tactical team 1/4 Goals Delivers IA services to the enterprise in content, users, and context areas Implements the strategic team’s policies Works directly with clients to understand their needs and develop new services to meet those needs

EIA Staffing: Tactical team 2/4: 

EIA Staffing: Tactical team 2/4 Make-up driven by “market demand,” existing resources “Vertical” IA generalists: split between EIA project enterprise business units “Horizontal” IA specialists: “consultants” for both groups of generalists Tools (e.g., search, portal, CMS) Metrics Evaluation Metadata development XML and other markup languages

EIA Staffing:Tactical team 3/4: 

EIA Staffing: Tactical team 3/4 Human Computer interaction Cognitive Psychology Librarianship (reference) Marketing Branding Merchandising Organizational Psychology Business Management Operations Engineering Social Network Analysis Ethnography Economics Librarianship (tech. services) Information Science Journalism Technical Communication Computer Science Graphic design

EIA Staffing: Tactical team 4/4: 

EIA Staffing: Tactical team 4/4 Qualities for member of tactical team Entrepreneurial mindset Ability to consult (i.e., do work and justify IA and navigate difficult political environments) Willingness to acknowledge ignorance and seek help Ability to communicate with people from other fields Sensitivity to users’ needs …and know about IA and related fields

EIA Staffing:Team Structure 1/2: 

EIA Staffing: Team Structure 1/2

EIA Staffing:Team structure 2/2: 

EIA Staffing: Team structure 2/2

EIA Funding Model:Questions: 

EIA Funding Model: Questions How should this group be funded? How should other expenses (e.g., software licenses) be covered? Charge-back fees for individual services? Flat “tax” paid by business units? Covered by general administration's tab? Some hybrid thereof? Should certain services be performed gratis, while others require payment?

EIA Funding Model:Looking for inspiration: 

EIA Funding Model: Looking for inspiration Study the successes/failures of the enterprise’s other centrally funded services Possible plan Initially: “tax” on business units and/or “seed capital” from senior management Ultimately: self-funding (models: IT, HR, special projects) Key: funding should be from central group (e.g., senior management) or self-funded; else too much dependency on business units

EIA Funding Model:Ensuring independence: 

Potential models already in existence in the enterprise Charge-back Tax on business units Money from general fund Hybrids Charge-back model is attractive Increasing perceived value of IA by charging fees Compares well with duplicated expenses incurred by business units EIA Funding Model: Ensuring independence

EIA Funding Model:Diversify revenue streams: 

EIA Funding Model: Diversify revenue streams

EIA Marketing & Communications:Questions: 

EIA Marketing & Communications: Questions How to position this work and the group that supports it: IA? User Experience? Web Design? How do these terms affect the scope of the work/charter of the group? How does a plan like this get “sold,” and to whom? Whose support is needed, and what tactics are useful in convincing them to support EIA work? How to prioritize which business units around the enterprise to work with?

EIA Marketing & Communications: Positioning the EIA initiative: 

EIA Marketing & Communications: Positioning the EIA initiative Approaching “clients” No carrot or stick Offer services and consulting that save money, reduce tedium Branding: choose the term that is Hottest Has least baggage Steps on fewest toes

EIA Marketing & Communications: Selling IA: 

EIA Marketing & Communications: Selling IA Concrete We can make work easier and save money for individual business units We can improve the user experience and build brand loyalty among customers, organizational loyalty among employees We can minimize the enterprise’s habit of purchasing redundant licenses and services

EIA Marketing & Communications:One unit at a time: 

EIA Marketing & Communications: One unit at a time Start with low-hanging fruit Killer content Plentiful or influential users Strategic value (business context) Determine current status of the “client” What are they doing now? What expertise is in-house? What relevant tools do they own (extend licenses)? Are they enlightened?

EIA Marketing & Communications: Illustrating the concept: 

EIA Marketing & Communications: Illustrating the concept Select an initial model for centralized approach that’s familiar, accessible Staff directory often the best Serves all enterprise users Useful, highly structured content which may have significant metadata, searching and browsing capabilities Has high value in context of the enterprise’s daily operations

EIA Design/Timing: Questions: 

EIA Design/Timing: Questions An EIA design is an overwhelmingly large undertaking; how might it be broken into more digestible pieces? How should they be sequence: what makes sense to take on now, later, or perhaps not at all?

EIA Design/Timing: Modular, phased: 

EIA Design/Timing: Modular, phased

EIA Design/Timing:3-6 years, not months: 

EIA Design/Timing: 3-6 years, not months Use early successes as models Anticipate greater centralization among and within business units over time Support different levels of centralization concurrently (Neanderthals coexist with Space Agers)

EIA Workflow:Questions: 

EIA Workflow: Questions How does the content authoring and publishing process work now? Who and how many are involved? How can the group support that work, and determine the best mix of centralized and autonomous responsibilities within that workflow?

EIA Workflow:Deconstruct, then assign: 

EIA Workflow: Deconstruct, then assign Determine roles, then responsibilities among local and central units Strive for evolution toward centralization

EIA Framework: Summary: 

EIA Framework: Summary Entrepreneurial Services marketed to internal clients Goal of self-sustainability Modular Specific services, not full package Logical migration path Phased Projects that are low hanging fruit Selective roll-out

Contact Information: 

Contact Information Louis Rosenfeld LLC 902 Miller Avenue Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103 USA lou@louisrosenfeld.com www.louisrosenfeld.com +1.734.663.3323 voice +1.734.661.1655 fax This presentation available from: www.louisrosenfeld.com/presentations/031015-KMintranets.ppt