Web Development for a Mobile Enabled WorldMichael Walsh, Post-MA

The Johns Hopkins Universitymike.walsh@jhu.edu

© 2011 Michael Walsh | Images Hyperlinked to Original Source

Landscape

Technical Landscape

Proprietary software is the norm

Exceptions: Apache

Microsoft ecosystem becomes dominant

IE wins browser war with Netscape

Bandwidth limits multimedia on the web

Classical Period (1990s to early-2000s)

Innovation Landscape

Knowledge management emerges as an academic discipline and term of art

Apache Software Foundation helps jumpstart the Open Source Renaissance

Classical Period (1990s to early-2000s)

Organization Landscape

IT Department is at the center of digital communications

Content publishing requires technical competence

Hardware managed by IT department staff

Classical Period (1990s to early-2000s)

Disruptive Period (mid-2000s to present)

Technological Disruptions

Emergence of third party social media sites

Content management systems become popular

Browser wars erode IE dominance

Increased use of dynamic programming languages

Explosion in smart phones and SMS

Cloud computing becomes a reality

Natural User Interfaces emerge

Disruptive Period (mid-2000s to present)

Industry Disruptions

New software developer ecosystems developed

Threshold for content publishing lowered

Number of content channels increases

Device marketplace diversifies

Outsourcing of web development becomes commonplace

Open source emerges as a major player

Few standards for data and content interoperability

Data.gov; CMIS

Disruptive Period (mid-2000s to present)

Organizational Disruptions Democratization of Internet communications

Everyone can be a content publisher

Digital communications decision-making shifts out of IT Department

Marketing and Communications increasingly own decisions for organizational web presence

Program teams increasingly demand communities of practice

Disruptive Period (mid-2000s to present)

Disruptive Period (mid-2000s to present)

MARCOM Disruptions Traditional media’s importance declines,

especially with emergence of social media Online presence increases relative to other

channels 2010: ~$36bn online holiday season purchases (USA)

Content marketing emerges as important component of marketing strategy Thought Leadership

Customer relationship management evolves for web-enabled world Salesforce; Twitter

Disruptive Period (mid-2000s to present)

Content Marketing

Digital Strategy

Budget

ScheduleRequirements

Internal User Needs

End User Needs

Organizational Needs

Disruptive Period: Budgets

Considerations

Competition emerges between IT, MARCOM and business units for online presence decision-making authority

Budget largely resides with MARCOM and IT

Other business silos typically hesitant to fund new channels themselves (ex. social media)

Recession has a major impact on both IT and MARCOM budgets

Need to do more with less in the face of expanding list of channels and requirements

Disruptive Period: Schedule

Considerations

Globalization increases demand for relevant, localized content

Anywhere, anytime access becomes a norm

Smart phones

Rapid dissemination becomes core to corporate strategy

Owning the story

Disruptive innovation forces faster refreshes

Constant improvement

Disruptive Period: User/Org Needs

Disruptive Period: Org. Needs

IT Department

Disruptive Period: Org. Needs

Disruptive Period: End User Needs

Technology Stakeholders

HARDWARE

SOFTWARE

HOSTING AND SUPPORT

HARDWARE COMPONENT PROVIDERS

ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT

MANUFACTURERS

DOWNSTREAM PARTNERS

PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES

SOFTWARE FRAMEWORKS

SOFTWARE PLATFORMS

Implementation Partners

Proprietary Software

Companies

• Revenue/Profitability

• Unit Sales / Licensing

• Value-Added Services

Open Source Value-Added Service

Providers

• Revenue/Profitability

• Value-Added Services

Bias

• Shareholder ROI (Established)

• Short Term Growth (Venture Capital Backed)

Objectives

• Proprietary: Software Licenses

• Proprietary and Open Source: Value-Added Services (ex. Hosting; Support, Training)

Motivation

• Prestige and Impact

• Innovation

Bias

• Community-Based

• Ideological

• Momentum Driven

Objectives

• High Impact Implementations

• Slay the Dragon

Motivation• Revenue/Profitability

Bias

• Large Projects

• Multiple Stakeholders

• High Stakes (Media; Regulators, Etc.)

Objectives

• Licensing

• Labor Hours

Motivation• Revenue/Profitability

Bias

• “The Pie” verses “The Slice”

• FTE Staff: Fixed technical capabilities

Objectives• Labor Hours

Behavior

Large Size: Systems

Integrators

Small/Mid Size: Web

Development Firms

Proprietary Software Firms

Large Systems

Integrators

Open Source Associations

Small to Mid-Sized

Digital Agencies

Open Source Value Added Service

Providers

Large Digital Agencies / Systems

Integrators

Open Source Valued Added

Companies

Small to Mid-Sized

Digital Agencies

Initial Period: Gains Market Share through Partnership with Open

Source Community Members

Long-term: Seeks to Bring in Large Digital Agencies and Systems Integrators to Achieve Higher

Revenue Targets

Internal Actors

IT Department

MARCOM Department /

Program Teams

Motivation

• Own Technical Decisions

• Manage Hardware Assets

Bias

• Security

• Supportability

• Cost Effectiveness

• Standards and Compliance

Challenges

• FTE Staff: Fixed Technological Capabilities

• Difficult to retrain quickly

• Expertise requires focus

• Less Discretionary Budget

• Long-Term Planning

Motivation

• Own Programmatic Decisions

• Manage Content

Bias

• Program Objectives

• Results Oriented

• Schedule Driven

Challenges

•Stack Consistency

•Privacy and Security

•Long-Term Supportability

•IT Department Oversight

•Interoperability

•Legal Compliance

Content Management

Systems

Mobile Applications

Social Media Websites

Effective Strategies

Industry Recommendations

Standards, Standards, Standards!!!

CMIS; HTML5; etc.

CMS Server Solutions

Content Management Innovation

Industry Recommendations

CMS Server solutions Separate content management function from presentation Current CMS marketplace bundles content management with web

application development Organizational users increasing need a solution to easily manage

content across dozens (and in some cases thousands) of channels – not just their web site Technical Silos Third Party Social Media Sites and Web Applications Cloud-based Solutions

Organizations desperately need clearer lines of ownership IT Department owns the CMS server product MARCOM owns the content

Innovate new solutions to lower skill barrier for content management NUI vs. GUI Educational Programming Languages

Organizational Recommendations

Standing Working Group for Digital Communications (WG4DC)

Digital Communications Excellence Program

Organizational Recommendations

Standing Working Group for Digital Communications (WG4DC) Chief Information Officer Chief Marketing Officer Relevant Program Managers

Components: Mission Statement Organizational Roles and Responsibilities Compliance and Standards Requirements Training and Oversight Annual Shared Discretionary Budget

Organizational Recommendations

Digital Communications Excellence Program Ongoing program which supports: Cross-training of all IT, MARCOM, and program staff on

digital communications Incentivizing knowledge sharing and collaboration Encourage employees to share new ideas and technologies

in regular brownbag meeting

Components: Content Management System Training Brainstorming Sessions Technology Request Process Brownbags and Awards

Implementation Recommendations

Digital Presence [Multi-Channel]

Mobile Applications

Traditional Website(s)

Real-Time Web

Applications

Social Media Presence

Implementation Recommendations

Digital Communications

Strategy

------

Digital Design Guidelines

Project 2: Mobile

Applications

Project 1: Traditional Website(s)

Project 4: Real-Time

Web Applications

Project 3: Social Media

Presence

Implementation Recommendations

Digital Communications Strategy

Digital Design Guidelines

Iterative Process to Web Development

Implementation Recommendations

Digital Communications Strategy Executive Ownership: WG4DC

Managed as a living document

Maintained independent of individual projects

Developed through continuous improvement process

Supported by at least one independent contractor

Functionally assigned to WG4DC to mitigate departmental favoritism

Components: Goals and Objectives

Content Strategy

End User and Internal Audiences

Personas; Audience Matrices; etc.

Technical Roadmap Mobile; Social Media; Content Management; CRM; etc.

Implementation Recommendations

Technology Roadmap

Flexible Standards-based (ex. CMIS)

Adaptable Considers all relevant communications channels

Trustworthy Balances cyber security and privacy concerns

Compliant Compliant but not restrictive

Complementary Complements IT and Marketing Strategies

Implementation Recommendations

Digital Design Guidelines (Global) Executive Ownership: MARCOM

Maintained independent of individual projects

Including website redesigns

Establishes organizational high-level design guidelines across all channels defined in digital communications strategy document

Components: Creative Brief

Branding Guidelines

Global Design Elements

Implementation Recommendations

RFP

Mobile Applications

Traditional Website(s)

Real-Time Web

Applications

Social Media Presence

Implementation Recommendations

“Project-Based” verses “Program-Based” Multiple smaller, targeted projects rather than

infrequent large, multi-channel redesigns Project: Addresses one specific channel product Ex: Cross-Platform Real-time Geospatial Visualization App Reflects iterative process to development of multi-asset

digital presence Provides ability to rapidly adapt to new technology

requirements Enables organization to secure top talent for specific needs

Internal staff expertise developed for channel categories Ex. Mobile applications

External vendors selected for specific projects not entire program

Implementation Recommendations

Project Planning Strategy Assign cross-functional program team

Kickoff with One-Page Project Overview Must Map to Digital Communications Strategy

and Digital Design Guidelines

Define granular requirements before design and coding begin Base upon technology roadmap

Leverage independent contractor to assist in technology requirements definition

If soliciting external partner, develop these requirements internally before RFP release

Implementation Recommendations

Why One-Pager Matters: Concise overview reduces project risks Ensures project team cohesion

Provides an ongoing point of reference

If one-page overview does not conform with technology roadmap of the organization: Project team must work with WG4DC to update

the strategy document within or outside the normal update process before proceeding with the project

Implementation Recommendations

Selecting implementation partners: Solicit no more than 5 preferred vendors Circulate RFP in a personal manner Phone call to introduce the RFP

Engage in two-way feedback

Be cognizant of partner acquisition costs Ask for PPT deck of high-level response first

Review and ask no more than 3 to present full length RFPs

Intended Result: Less risk for Implementation Partners = Higher

Probability for Success = Smaller Budgets and More Realistic Schedules

Government Recommendations

Advance Standards Most influential purchaser of content management products Large software developers have vested interest in working with

government to set standards

Coordinated procurement decisions could force standards to be adopted

Promote Cyber Security Difficult to objectively assess the relative trustworthiness of CMS

products Government is in unique position to address the gap In partnership with industry, establish binding, standards-based

reporting mechanism for all CMS products in use by the government MITRE CVE Database

Provide data to the public so that all CMS products (Proprietary/OSS) can be objectively evaluated