Virtually everything virtually everywhere: pursuing a radical web strategy

1
Virtually everything virtually everywhere
pursuing a radical web strategy

• Andrew Aird, Director of Web Services,
• Kings College London

2
Founded in 1829, 1721, 1553 and 606AD

• Kings College (1829) merged with United Medical
  and Dental Schools in 1998 (itself a merger of
  Guys founded 1721, and St. Thomas, founded
  606AD,1553 in modern form)
• 10 schools
• 4 main, several subsidiary sites
• c. 120 departments
• 16,200 students

3
Web Staff

• Director (since May 2001)
• Establishment of 2 senior web officers, 1 junior
  (none yet appointed)
• Currently 1 part-time (.4) officer
• Increasing use of contractors for training and
  programming
• Temp clerical help as required

4
Statistics

• Over 400 IPs
• 616,000 files
• 15,000 visitors a day
• Average time over 14 minutes
• 70 overseas
• 49 of applicants cite web as first contact

5
The impossible job

• Amateurs responsible for 90 of content
• Balance between corporate/departmental interests
• Politics
• No realistic strategy
• No resources
• Other usual problems

6
The coming crisis

• London HE recruitment difficult
• Present situation worsening post 9/11
• More places available
• Importance of clearing
• Overseas competition
• Value for money
• Post 9/11 worries
• Web is under exploited tool and weapon

7
The web is over

• Content
• Management
• Strategies for
• Marketing (external communication)
• Internal Communication
• Learning and teaching
• Personal web publishing

8
Key strategy planks

• Everything on the web
• Variety
• Integration
• Core datasets feeding many applications
• Scalability
• Universality
• Publishing not filesharing

9
Good things

• So much content!
• Willing contributors
• Resources not a problem for current
  infrastructure
• Increasing belief/support from top
• Good technology available

10
Bad things

• So much content!
• Low quality of content
• Lack of corporate EVI
• Were coming from behind
• Incompatible technologies
• Inadequate structure
• Centre/parts tension

11
The Strategic Vision

• For the web to become the primary means of the
  distribution and exchange of information within
  the College
• Where possible and appropriate the web will
  replace conventional documentation as the
  definitive source of that information
• All members of the College community can become
  consumers and contributors to the KCL web
  regardless of their level of technical expertise
• Access to the web is global, permanent and
  resilient
• Appropriate mechanisms and systems are
  implemented to protect the security of users,
  contributors and subjects of the KCL web
• The infrastructure, content and management
  structures must be sufficiently scalable to adapt
  to ever increasing demand

12
Strategic goals

• Material primarily created by and for consumption
  by members of the College (e.g. departmental
  handbooks, staff phone numbers, financial
  information, etc.)
• Information and resources in support of the
  Learning and Teaching in the College (e.g.
  lecture notes, student timetables, on-line study
  resources, etc.)
• Content designed for users outside the College
  (e.g. Prospectuses, Whats On information,
  Schools page, etc.)
• Personal web publishing

13
How?

• Pre-emptive structure
• Electronic or paper (not both)
• Controlled contributors
• Different facilities
• Resources
• Accountability
• The right team

14
Unpopular goals

• No subdomains (e.g. kcl.ac.uk/pharmacy rather
  than pharmacy.kcl.ac.uk)
• Search engine submission blocked
• Strict content lifespans (content dies)
• No Word or PDF files
• Adherence to style, presentation and content
• Ban Dreamweaver and all other web editing
  software
• No FTP access or local servers
• Web contributions produced by groups not
  individuals
• Web Team has ultimate say-so. No buts.

15
Popular goals

• No software to learn
• Publishing process much quicker
• Programme/group/person orientated navigation
  (rather than school/faculty/department)
• Clear role of contributions
• Less photocopying, money saved
• Currency of information
• Resilience

16
Pre-emptive structure

• Hierarchical, inevitably based on structure of
  institution
• Every programme, group, person has a place and
  default information (from core sources)
• Simplification of urls intuitive
• Better navigation
• Subject/person orientated access

17
Electronic or paper

• Strategy covers all publishing
• Specifies which type of documents
• Electronic or paper
• Electronic always definitive
• Implies low technology
• Everything through the browser
• No web-based paper distribution (PDF, Word etc.
  banned)

18
Controlled contributors

• System of responsibilities
• Web co-ordinator job descriptions
• Form based content
• Devolved server licensing system
• Support / SL agreed with web team
• Audit
• Cascade training

19
Different facilities

• Everyone a publisher
• Facilites for staff, student homepages
  un-moderated, not guaranteed, independent
• Development server
• No public departmental servers
• Best-in-class technology, servers with 300
  capacity

20
Resources

• Savings from paper printing costs prospectus
  50,000 each minimum
• MIS functions in web team
• Identify stakeholders
• Income generation
• Manage in-house
• Use of contractors better value

21
Accountability

• Promise accountability how much does it all
  cost?
• Performance indicators
• Publish results
• Do some sums on page turnover, shelf-life, stock
  value
• Prove the web has value / value added

22
Balance sheet

• Pages are assets
• They depreciate
• They have a falling value
• After a point they have a negative value
• Cost of page / value of page not the same
• Good 1, absent0, bad-1
• So whats it worth?

23
The right team

• Clout at the top
• Clear strategic and operational roles
• Formalised support
• Blend of skills
• Focus management of areas
• Manage stakeholders too!

24
Electronic prospectuses- for the user

• Up-to-date
• Self-contained
• Interactive
• Attractive
• Instant
• Relevant and focussed

25
Electronic prospectuses- for the institution

• Resources released
• Demonstrates commitment to medium
• More pervasive
• Resolves contractual issues
• Content better managed

26
Recruitment implications?

• Students with higher IT skill base
• Medium is strategic message
• Special needs access
• Better teaching and learning
• Better retention rates

27
Lets do it

• MIS has 18 staff (Web team will have 4 -
  hopefully!)
• Separate content, form controlled centrally
• De-technologise
• Act like bureau
• Recognise distinct web areas, get right expertise
• Other models include PR, Finance, Estates etc.
• Control of appropriate resources

28
Loss of freedom?

• Staff / student publishing facilities
• The place of paper
• Information policies
• Sticks and carrots

29
Added value

• E-commerce
• 24/7 webcast channel
• Conferencing
• L T applications
• Resilience
• Standards
• Accountability

30
Conclusion

• Web has a value
• No going back, only forward
• After strategy everything else is tactics
• Someone will jump higher, sooner
• Where do we want to be in 3 or 5 years?
• Are we the right people for our jobs?
• MBA for web managers?