Having launched our new expert session on intranets in Sydney, we were immediately swamped for requests for a Brisbane showing. Ever responsive to our customer needs, we've caved in to these demands and ...
Monthly Archives: March 2009
March 27, 2009
Expert session: intranet strategy and management (Brisbane, 22 May 2009)
Categorised under: Conferences & presentations
March 27, 2009
Beware of using opinions to design an intranet
I've just settled back in from my most recent conference tour, and I've spent a lot of time talking with intranet teams from a wide variety of organisations, across three continents. Based on the types of approaches I've seen to intranet designs, I'm going to state: Beware of using opinions to ...
Categorised under: Intranets, Usability & user-centered design
March 27, 2009
It’s time for seat-based software licensing to end
Kas Thomas writes that it's time for seat-based software licensing to end. To quote: Given the situation we're in, now might be as good a time as any for potential buyers of software systems -- and licensees whose contract renewals are coming up -- to declare war on per-seat pricing.
Categorised under: Content management, Information management
Tags: licensing
March 26, 2009
Video: Use a wiki to plan meeting agendas, record minutes
Stewart Mader has posted a video that discusses using wikis for meetings. To quote: A wiki can help your team make meetings shorter and more focused. How? By letting everyone track progress of projects and action items online, so they can focus meetings on just the items that need in-person ...
Categorised under: Collaboration
Tags: Collaboration, wikis
March 25, 2009
Intranet ‘innovation’ – what we’re looking for
One of the most challenging aspects of the Intranet Innovation Awards is convincing intranet professionals that the work they've done is innovative, and worth entering. While I'm sure there are many reasons for this, it's worthwhile to describe just what we see and consider as 'innovative' in the context ...
Categorised under: Intranets
March 24, 2009
Intranet governance guide
Maish Nichani has outlined an intranet governance guide. To quote: Getting an intranet is just a start, keeping it going is what matters most. Long term benefits and efficiencies can only be realised when the intranet is responsive to the needs and requirements of business and staff. This guide gives ...
Categorised under: Intranets
Tags: governance, Intranets
March 23, 2009
Expert session: CMS selection strategies (Sydney, 14 May 2009)
Learn from the foremost experts to save money and mitigate technology risks. Choosing the right web content management system (CMS) is vital. Spend a day with James Robertson, one of the foremost experts on CMS, ...
Categorised under: Conferences & presentations
March 23, 2009
Expert session: intranet strategy and management (Sydney, 7 May 2009)
This is the first of an ongoing series of intensive training sessions that we'll be holding at our lovely offices in inner-city Sydney: Learn from the foremost experts to build in-house skills in tight economic ...
Categorised under: Conferences & presentations
March 23, 2009
Does your intranet close the business process loop?
Intranets are great places for staff to ‘get things done’. In tough economic times, many organisations are rediscovering that their intranet can be a very cost-effective way to help staff get things done more efficiently. By finding the holdups in everyday business processes, and fixing them, intranet teams are able to ...
Categorised under: Information management, Intranets
Tags: business process, Intranets
March 23, 2009
No collaboration without communications
Organisations are rushing to jump on board the web 2.0 bandwagon, which seem to offer a collection of affordable tools to collaborate and share knowledge. While many organisations are currently experimenting with social media tools, strong successes are still relatively rare. Consider the following scenario: an organisation introduces collaboration by piloting ...
Categorised under: Collaboration, Enterprise 2.0, Intranets
Tags: Collaboration, communication, culture, Intranets
March 23, 2009
Integrating social tools with the EUMETSAT intranet
In 2008, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) won a commendation in the Intranet Innovation Awards. Their AJAX-based ‘Intranet Newsflash’ delivered quick bulletins of news and critical messages to users, regardless of the page on display. EUMETSAT’S intranet innovation doesn’t end there, however. A wiki for new ...
Categorised under: Collaboration, Enterprise 2.0, Intranets
Tags: Collaboration, Enterprise 2.0, forums, Intranets, wikis
March 20, 2009
6 simple steps for a good intranet plan
Mark Morrell has written a piece on the 6 simple steps for a good intranet plan. To quote: In BT I have an intranet strategy for the next 3 years and an action plan for the next 12 months. It has timelines, owners and updates on progress made available ...
Categorised under: Intranets
March 19, 2009
Intranet Leadership Forum comes to Brisbane
In addition to Chapters in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney, the Intranet Leadership Forum is coming to Brisbane with the first workshop being held on Wednesday, 26 March 2009. By joining the Forum you will have access to real-life solutions for your organisation’s intranet issues from peers who have already found ...
Categorised under: Intranet Leadership Forum
March 18, 2009
Everyone still wants a CMS
Even in these tough financial times, many organisations are looking to implement or replace their web content management systems (CMS). This is not surprising: these projects have often been in the pipeline for years, driven by a need to streamline publishing, or to eliminate the pain of legacy tools. Even with ...
Categorised under: Content management
March 18, 2009
UX design for collaboration 2.0
Matthew C. Clarke has written an article on designing "collaboration 2.0". To quote: I want to start this discussion by proposing a model for collaboration1 that links the various elements of collaboration, comment on the so-called “collaboration software” currently available, and make some tentative suggestions about IA and UX requirements ...
Categorised under: Collaboration
Tags: Collaboration
March 17, 2009
Five ‘must have’ intranet standards
Mark Morrell writes about five key intranet standards. To quote: Some time ago I asked if your intranet standards work. I thought it would be useful to cover what I believe are the 5 ’must have’ standards you should apply to any intranet content. This could range from ...
Categorised under: Intranets
Tags: governance, Intranets, policies, standards
March 17, 2009
We need to find the business value in collaboration
Managing collaboration takes a lot of work. Rolling out the tools is easy, whether it's team spaces, wikis or blogs. To ensure that they are successful is another matter. If collaboration is to succeed across the enterprise, organisations will need to appoint at least one full time person (probably two) ...
Categorised under: Collaboration
Tags: Collaboration
March 16, 2009
Christening your ECM project
Alan Pelz-Sharpe writes about naming your ECM project. To quote: It has always surprised me how many firms name their internal ECM applications and systems after the product that it runs on. For example, I have come across many organizations over the years that tell me things like-
Categorised under: Content management, Information management
Tags: ecm
March 16, 2009
Why you should enter the 2009 Intranet Innovation Awards
Last week we launched the 2009 Intranet Innovation Awards. Why should you enter this year? Aside from a beautiful glass trophy, extensive, global coverage of your story, and the opportunity to say, 'We won an award!' there's a more serious side. Winning at Urbis Last year, Andrew MItchell's team at Urbis Australia won ...
Categorised under: Intranets
March 11, 2009
Intranet strategy: planning a successful intranet
Toby Ward talks about the importance of having an intranet strategy. To quote: A strategy has definition, is well documented and shared by all stakeholders, and has key performance indicators (KPIs) or metrics. The strategy provides direction for executable actions (in the context of this article, we will treat strategy ...
Categorised under: Intranets
March 11, 2009
Where should collaboration sit?
Jane McConnell asks the question: where should collaboration sit? To quote: I recommend placing collaboration within the intranet landscape. That's to say, making the intranet the front door into collaborative spaces (even if they are built on a different technology). This reinforces the role of the intranet as a business ...
Categorised under: Collaboration, Intranets
Tags: Collaboration, Intranets
March 10, 2009
The 2009 Intranet Innovation Awards are open for entries!
We're pleased to announce that the 2009 Intranet Innovation Awards are now open for submissions, with a closing date of May 1. All the details are available on the awards homepage. The Intranet Innovation Awards are open to any professional or team that works directly on a company intranet ...
Categorised under: Intranets
March 9, 2009
Writing usability requirements and metrics
Janet M. Six has written an article on writing usability requirements and metrics. To quote: I think we overemphasize metrics when it comes to usability. They often introduce problems in terms of the validity and reliability of the data. First, ask whether a metric is a valid measure of usability. ...
Categorised under: Metrics & ROI, Usability & user-centered design
March 9, 2009
Photo: Stitch of Utrecht canal
Stitch: Utrecht canal (I) It's been a while since I've posted a photo to my blog. Mostly it's because photography has been forced to take a step back due to work commitments (it's been ...
Categorised under: Photos
Tags: Photos
March 6, 2009
Intranet user research: a methodology for contextual enquiry
Patrick C. Walsh has written an extensive article on conducting contextual inquiry for an intranet. To quote: Its motivating simply because you get to meet your users face to face. When I think of a change in design or when problems are reported I don’t think of my users as ...
Categorised under: Intranets, Usability & user-centered design
Tags: contextual inquiry, Intranets, needs analysis, user research
March 6, 2009
Finished up at the IntraTeam conference in Denmark
Today is my last day in Denmark (for this trip), and I've spent a very enjoyable three days at the IntraTeam Event 2009. This has been probably the best intranet conference I've spoken at, and I think there's a few reasons for this: Danes are friendly and surprisingly passionate about ...
Categorised under: Conferences & presentations
Tags: Intranets
March 5, 2009
Intranet professionals on Linkedin
Just a quick post to say that I'm enjoying the surprisingly active discussions on the Linkedin Intranet Professionals group. Recent discussion topics: Incorporating Facebook & Twitter qualities into a Corporate Intranet. Just 10 Intranet Tips Internal Profile Page (staff directory) Intranet / Portal Governance & Best Practise Definitely worth joining in.
Categorised under: Intranets
Tags: Intranets
March 5, 2009
Seeking intranet governance examples
We're currently working on a very targeted report on intranet governance, providing an underlying framework and some key tips on how to establish governance in practice. We will also be including examples of various approaches to intranet governance. We've already got some great examples, but are seeking more: intranet policies, guidelines and ...
Categorised under: Intranets
Tags: governance, Intranets
March 5, 2009
In which a concept model makes me giddy
Dan Brown has written an article on concept models, to bring together project teams. To quote: About a decade ago, my site maps--a design artifact that describes the structure of a web site--started evolving. They changed from org chart-like boxes and right-angle connectors to networks of circles with straight-line connectors. ...
Categorised under: Usability & user-centered design
Tags: concept model
March 5, 2009
A reality checklist for vendors
Kas Thomas has written a post arguing for a reality checklist for CMS vendors. To quote: The two worlds are diverging rapidly. Traditional enterprise software development (the kind associated with "programming in the large") tends to be slow, costly, inflexible. Solution sales, marketing, and support tend to be correspondingly process-heavy ...
Categorised under: Content management
March 4, 2009
Collaboration and social media terminology?
Terminology is always muddy in emerging fields, particularly where product innovation outstrips theoretical thinking. This is very much the case in the spaces of "collaboration" and "social media". While this is hard to avoid, it's extremely problematic. Very different approaches and tools are lumped together, people discover they aren't talking about ...
Categorised under: Collaboration, Enterprise 2.0
Tags: Collaboration, social software
March 4, 2009
User experience treasure map
Peter Morville has posted about a new User Experience Treasure Map, created in collaboration with Jeffery Callender. To quote: If you've made it this far, you deserve a reward. That's a lot of words about a lot of deliverables. And, that's the problem. It's hard to find the best trees ...
Categorised under: Information architecture, Usability & user-centered design
Tags: Information architecture, map, usability, user experience
March 4, 2009
Google details results of eye tracking study
ReadWriteWeb reports on the results of a Google eye tracking study into search. To quote: Google posted an update about its eye tracking usability studies today. Most of the results are not exactly groundbreaking. It is, for example, no surprise that most users only scan the first couple of search ...
Categorised under: Search tools, Usability & user-centered design
Tags: eye tracking, usability
March 3, 2009
Announcing the ECM Maturity Model
CMS Watch, Wipro, Hartman Communicatie, and Smigiel Consulting Group have published Version 1.0 of an Enterprise Content Management Maturity Model (ECM3 in short). To quote: Like all maturity models, it is partly descriptive and partly prescriptive. You can apply the model to audit, assess, and explain your current state, as ...
Categorised under: Information management
Tags: ecm, Information management, maturity, model
March 2, 2009
Software vendors need to understand how the web really works
Kas Thomas argues that software vendors need to understand how the web really works. To quote: It's amazing to me that so many of the vendors we cover at CMS Watch (even some that claim to have deep expertise in marketing and social-web sorts of things) still haven't figured out ...
Categorised under: Content management
March 2, 2009
Picking the right supplier in a recession
Alan Pelz-Sharpe writes about picking the right supplier in a recession. To quote: "Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM" -- so the saying goes. And in tough times there is without a shadow of a doubt, a tendency for procurement and IT buyers in general to lean heavily toward ...
Categorised under: Content management, Information management
