Essay title - Aquarius Marketing Development
Abstract
The intent of this project plan is to comprehensively define the development process, testing, training, and introduction of an enterprise-class portal and series of enterprise content management (ECM) applications that will significantly increase the level of efficiency and collaboration within Aquarius Marketing. As Aquarius’ business model is primarily focused on generating market reports that contain insights and analyses based on content, development an enterprise-class portal platform that includes a series of ECM applications within it makes the most sense for Aquarius. The proposed system is being specifically designed to provide Aquarius Marketing with both the applications and underlying processes to better serve their clients. As clients mention their three main areas of concern being the time taken by members of the Aquarius Marketing team to produce marketing reports, the depth of analysis in the report, and the fees charged by Aquarius Marketing being much higher than competitors, the proposed ECM system and portal will specifically focus on more efficient access to research and greater levels of integration across content repositories and processes.
Design Objectives of the Aquarius Enterprise Content Management System
The primary design objective of the ECM system is to provide flexibility in how market analysis reports are authored, edited, produced, posted, downloaded, commented on, and synchronized with clients for their benefit. The proposed enterprise system will rely heavily on portal platform technologies and ECM applications that can be quickly aligned with research, publication and all customer-facing processes that are critical to the firms’ business model.
From an analysis of Aquarius’ process workflows and manually-based approach to producing analysis reports it is abundantly clear that relying on a portal platform that will allow for greater collaboration between Marketing Associates will deliver a significant improvement to workflow efficiency and productivity quickly. ECM applications have business process management (BPM) workflow applications integrated within them, which further supports the recommendation of creating and enterprise-wide content repository that is agile enough to align with existing workflows yet integrated enough to increase efficiency and performance.
In keeping with the firms’ objective of having the system in place within eight weeks, a portal platform also aligns well with this requirement. Both licensed and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery models of portal platforms from leading software vendors in the area of ECM could be operational within eight weeks. Given the relatively short time period to have the system up and running, it is advisable to rely on a SaaS platform for implementation.
Another design objective specifically focuses on quantifying the increase in customer responsiveness, greater levels of tailoring existing research to customers’ needs, and the development of entirely new processes for bringing more efficiency and accuracy to serving customers’ requests. In order to measure these performance gains it is also advisable that the portal platform have an analytics application or actual layer in the portal architecture to track performance over time, reporting it in a dashboard (Kefi, et.al.)
A third design objective, relying on the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) approach, concentrates on more advanced features on the portal platform including personalization agents that can be defined by clients, administration-based applications including a web site page builder application, newsletter engine, and report generation and management application, will be integrated into the portal architecture as well. 128-bit security will also be built directly into the enterprise content management platform as well, ensuring all applications have layered security from external threats from the Internet.
A fourth design objective is to deliver user-level applications that can be selectively deployed by Aquarius Marketing as processes are created to support them, or marketing and business development campaigns created to capitalize on them. It is essential that the proposal portal architecture also include authentication of logins, advanced search features, and the creation of mini-sites for the larger clients who have the need of hosting Aquarius’ published research on their corporate Intranets. In addition there is a Communication section that includes an interactive forum, Web Mail for customers and prospects that may opt in for free research support for Instant Messaging for clients, and sections for creating blogs, both for employees and customers as well. These user sections will lead to significant amounts of content being stored, which translates into the need to set a migration path to a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). The decision to begin with an enterprise content management system is a phase one (1) of moving into a broader Service Oriented Architecture as use of the portal grows and the need to integrate with a greater number of systems increases.
Taken together, these objectives are the information systems requirements for the planned portal and ECM application. The technical issues center on the aligning of the proposed system components with internal processes, while the most critical non-technical issue is providing adequate training and development of change management strategies to ensure the systems’ success.
Introduction
Project Objectives
- To provide Aquarius Marketing with a state-of-the-art portal specifically designed with an enterprise content management platform that can scale to the needs of its clients, employees and prospects.
- To create administrative tools that provide Aquarius Marketing Website Managers with the necessary functionality to create, update, modify and delete entire sections of the portal in a minimum amount of time. Included in this goal is the delivering of functionality to create and update web pages, post research and define which clients will be able to download them, create and edit newsletters and also e-mail them, and generate reports to monitor site traffic.
- To create a client section that is flexible enough to allow for quick additions to content repositories for each client, yet also structured enough to provide clients with the ability to quickly and intuitively navigate the site for new information. In addition to secure logins, the client section of the site will include alert functions, advanced search functionality, downloadable research, and a comprehensive communications section for enriching the online experience for clients using the site.
Scope
The scope of this document includes the structural definition of an enterprise content management portal that has significant user and administrative functionality. Within scope for this project includes the uploading, management, and deletion of research for the portal from an internal user, administrative, and clients’ perspective.
Definitions
The following are commonly used definitions in the development of enterprise content management portals globally:
Enterprise Content Management (ECM) – The strategy of making all content available throughout an organization regardless of the database it resides in or its physical location.
Repositories – Where content is stored, and this typically refers to a grouping of databases or date warehouses together in a division of a larger organization.
Schema – The foundational structure of database records within a database.
Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) – An enterprise-level approach to defining how system components integrate with one another to allow for maximum system configuration and functionality. ECM is the first step in creating an SOA platform for Aquarius Marketing so its future growth can quickly evolve.
Structured content – Refers to content that has specifically been created using databases and structured programming. When content is structured it’s been organized into a hierarchical database.
Taxonomy – Defines the approach every organization takes in the organization of its content.
Unstructured content – Freeform content that is created when a respondent fills in a question on a questionnaire for example.
Standards Used
The following standards will be adhered to in the development of this portal: AJAX Programming Standards; Java Virtual Machine (JVM); IBM WebSphere for the Portal Technology as it can be extended into a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) platform quickly as Aquarius Marketing portal traffic increases. WebSphere can also be implemented entirely through a SaaS architecutre.
Main Section
Background
The objectives of this project share common requirements which include the following: user authentication including single sign-on; personalization; unifying content and aggregating it; integrating content and knowledge management databases; build out an enterprise-wide portal strategy that focuses on creating, organizing and distributing content; and lastly, looking at common processes each project has in the areas of creating, organizing, managing and publishing content in each of these five portals. Murphy and Columbus (7) have completed research of how portals can be made more effective by streamlining content management strategies and serve as the first step in adopting a Service-Oriented Architecture. Their landmark report on the subject includes a methodology for organizing content first by information type intersected by point in the information or task process supported and includes vendor evaluations.
Once a portal strategy has been defined the specific requirements of each application can be tailored to the needs of both job seekers and employers. Murphy and Columbus (6, 7) advocate starting small and focus first on critical needs then expand portals to more complex requirements. Specific steps needed to accomplish the objectives of this project concurrently are as follows:
- Map out and organize common processes across all areas of the project and look for ways to trim redundancies in them first before applying any technology to them. This is critical to accomplish the first design objective of this system, which is ensuring higher levels of responsiveness to customers.
- Migrate off of any individualized content management systems and processes not integrated to a single portal platform for greater cost and time- savings in administration. Olson (32) provides an excellent case study on how universities are making use of open source portal applications to alleviate redundant and often conflicting data in multiple portals on an IBM Web-Sphere platform
- Define and build out a portal development plan that encompasses all shared processes across the project areas.
- As Murphy and Columbus state, re-organize content by the context of each dominant workflow, and this could include larger, more complex projects as defined by Aquarius Marketing first, then align to the customer-facing processes to ensure the highest levels of efficiency and responsiveness.
- Development of a portal roadmap that allows for eventual move to Web Services based on a ‘Service Oriented Architecture’, giving Aquarius Marketing greater scalability than if a single, stand-alone application was chosen.
Stakeholders involved
Figure 1 highlights the roles of stakeholders in this project. The Content Contributor role, which is going to be the Web Administrator for Aquarius Marketing, has responsibilities that encompass both Knowledge and Content Management roles regarding the creation, organization, and deployment of content throughout the portal. The secondary stakeholder is the client, who navigates, searches, and customizes the portal to their specific requirements (Wilkinson, p. 458 – 465). These are the two dominant stakeholders; the focus needs to be on balancing the role of internal contributors with the needs and requirements of clients. The process flow diagram, shown in Figure 1 shows how the stakeholder roles of the Aquarius Marketing Associates whose function as content contributors and the job seeking visitors and employers interact with one another.
Figure 1: Mapping of Stakeholders
Project Deliverables
The following are key deliverables throughout this development project:
- Portal Development Project Plan
- Portal Development Roadmap for ECM to SOA Migration
- Project Cost Estimates and Weekly Updates Relative to Budget
- Quality Assurance Plan
- Aquarius Marketing Portal Launch Plan which includes the a change management program for getting users trained on the new system
- Work Breakdown Structure
Development Methodology adopted
The Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is used for the development of the Aquarius Marketing ECM platform and portal. SSM (Systems Development Life Cycle) has become a central component to rapid application development (RAD) strategies in enterprise software (Molineux, Haslett, p. 477). First, it’s common knowledge in the software industry that 70% or more projects fail, and that even when there is an abundance of information regarding applications, they still fail due to lack of accumulated knowledge applied to the development process. This is in turn exacerbated by the need for creating applications that meld together core concepts from computing, programming, and most important, business process re-definition as it applies to line-of-business users’ needs.
A secondary series of benefits from adopting the SSM Model to software development is that the process of building software to the model allow for early identification of technical and management issues, disclosure of all life cycle costs to guide business decisions, and the fostering of realistic expectations of what systems will and will not provide (Winter, pp. 802 – 812). There is also the ability through the use of the model to define the relative level of progress of initial software development, and the ensuing quality levels of performance. Finally, the SSM Model also leads to greater alignment of software application features with customer requirements. Each of the following steps of the SSM Model are to be addressed during the planning, systems analysis and design, implementation and launch phases of the project:
- Problem Situation Unstructured – This is evidenced by the request from clients for higher levels of responsiveness and customer service, in addition to greater depth of insight delivered in the market reports. The unstructured problem also requires more intensive business process management (BPM) and business process re-engineering (BPR) to ensure that processes change in conjunction with system development stay aligned with the unmet needs and requirements of customers (Checkland, Winter, p. 1434)
- Problem Situation Expressed – This translation of customer requirements into design objectives and the definition of a portal platform architecture and ECM application components in response to customers’ requirements. Taking this a step further, the discovery of customer-facing process workflows and their relative levels of efficiency is also critical in this step of the SSM Model.
- Relevant Systems & Root Definitions – The development of definitions of key portal and ECM system definition elements and application components that are in turn aligned with the process workflows for producing research reports in addition to providing higher levels of responsiveness to clients.
- Conceptual Models – Development of portal frameworks and integration models that specifically focus on interlinking siloed or disconnected content repositories located throughout Aquarius Marketing. The conceptual model of the portal and its reliance on BPM-based application layers is critical for re-defining process workflows to make them more customer-centric.
- Comparisons – Foremost of concern to Aquarius Marketing is the defining of comparisons or the overlay of the potential future state of the firm based on the system definition, complete with business process workflows. In addition, the use of value stream mapping for the more complex customer-facing processes is advisable to ensure the highest level of performance is achieved.
- Debate about Change – As has been often stated, change must be systematically desirable and culturally feasible (Paucar-Caceres, R Rodriguez-Ulloa, 702 – 709). Also critical in this specific step of the SSM model is the development of implementation strategies that interlink pre-existing processes with the newly defined ones to ensure the highest levels of efficiency possible (Starns, Odom: p. 186)
- Action – The structural, procedural, policy and attitudinal/cultural aspects of the SSM methodology require a synchronized series of strategies to complete (Reisman, Oral, pp. 164 – 178) and ensure a cohesive systems strategy. The catalysts of change in SSM strategies specific to Aquarius Marketing center on getting Marketing Associates and Marketing Directors to change how they complete their daily processes and tasks. The greatest risk to the proposed system is in not having enough internal coordination, training and ownership to ensure the system gets a high level of user adoption.
In terms of resources and timescales, the definition of the critical path as it relates to this project is imperative. Relying on Operations Research-based approaches to balancing and optimizing resources across all activities, the project management aspects of the system implementation for Aquarius Marketing will center on completing process definition and re-engineering as necessary.
It is anticipated that the development team for this project will need to be comprised of eight professionals, comprised of a project manager, five programmers, and two Java/AJAX Web Programmers. It is anticipated that the team will be dedicated to the Aquarius Marketing project and will work onsite with the Marketing Directors and Marketing Associates for the duration of the project to facilitate greater communication, collaboration, and training. Previous experiences with projects highlight the need to have dedicated, exclusive team members allocated at Aquarius Marketing to ensure the training and eventual transfer of the system to the client is successful. The Managing Director acts as the coordinator of resources in our firm with the project manager having direct authority over all tasks on the timeline.
Budget & costs
The following are the costs associated with both programs:
Cost Components |
Content Management System |
Portal Development |
£25,000 |
ECM Application |
£15,000 |
Legacy Systems Integration |
£15,000 |
Professional Services |
£35,000 |
Total Costs |
£90,000 |
Identified Risks & Mitigation strategies
The biggest risk to the project is that of acceptance by the users it is meant to assist. To gain acceptance of the portal has to be minimized through the use of advisory councils and a strong focus on launching a series of applications and broader system they can quickly take ownership of. This is critical for Aquarius Marketing to accomplish quickly. Getting both internal stakeholders and external stakeholders involved in Advisory Councils is critical for the adoption and use of the portal.
Ethical & legal aspects involved
The following are the key ethical and legal aspects of this project:
- Adherence to strict confidentiality on the part of the development staff when given internal data from Aquarius Marketing and its clients.
- Thorough failure analysis and comprehensive testing of 128 bit encryption and the development of platform-layered security to enforce strict security layers between clients’ and Aquarius Marketing’s data.
- The creation of policies for the capturing and use of cookies, session data, e-mail addresses and opt-in lists and reports from subscribers.
- Rigorous login and password policies to ensure the development of robust security programs.
These steps ensure that the data on the site and its applications will be protected from any potential ethical lapses that could result in legal prosecution.
Quality Assurance Processes
As critical part of the project is the creation and fulfilment of a Quality Assurance Plan that encompasses testing at each major attribute of the program including the following key testing areas:
- Usability testing and verification
- Integration testing and validation with other systems including adapter development, testing, and roll out, and systems maintenance.
- Consolidation of content management systems throughout Aquarius Marketing.
- Extensive speed and analysis tests.
- Regression testing as the portal continually gets updated based on new user requirements.
Communication Process
Communication is the process of transferring information from one individual (s) to another by means of verbal and non-verbal methods such as writing, speaking and the use of body language. The process includes two or more individuals; a sender who encodes the message in his mind, a signal which is a recognisable term that the other party should be able to identify with and a receiver who decodes the message so that a similar meaning is stimulated. It is important that the sender encodes the message in a manner that the receiver normally decodes the message. One of the key principles is that the receiver of any message listens effectively to the message that is being transferred. After the receiver gets the message a fundamental part of the process is providing feedback so that the sender knows that the message was received and interpreted correctly. This process is shown in the diagram below.
Figure 2
It is imperative that there is an effective communication process in a project in order to avoid some of the pitfalls as outlined below:
- Difference in expectation
- People are not familiar with expectations
- People are unaware of the status of the project
- Team members are not given the opportunity to give feedback on the project
An effective communication plan is necessary to alleviate some of these issues. Listed below are some of the key objectives a project manager should promote in a communication objective plan.
- Stakeholders’ understand the project’s goals
- Positive image of the plan
- Open, honest communication to give credibility with all stakeholders
Effective communication is crucial for working successfully with others and allows for tasks to be accomplished easier. It helps in motivating team members to work towards the successful completion and implementation of a project. Therefore, Aquarius Marketing should place special focus in this aspect of its project plan.
Change Management Leadership
The greatest challenge for the majority of IT initiatives is to survive the change management process and emerge with sustainable and strong go-to-market strategies that support a company’s core business. For Aquarius Marketing the issues of change strike at the center of how their employees earn their living. Relying on producing accurate reports, serving customers responsively, and most importantly, ensuring a high level of collaborative success across the company is critical if the company is to attain its objectives (Rouwette, Vennix, p. 451). The issues of mentoring and coaching as they relate to change management are critical for the success of the systems’ implementation and long-term success. It thus becomes necessary to understand the fundamental differences of mentorship and coaching in the change management process.
The mentor acts as an advisor advising not only on career path but also on life long goals and self- development. In most instances a mentor has years of experience and sits in a senior management role in a firm or company. One major ingredient in a mentoring relationship is mutual respect between the mentor and the individual. Aquarius Marketing can implement a mentorship program where they can identify key persons that have expressed interest and have the potential in to advance on a particular career path at the company. This is beneficial to both the company and the employees as it shows that there is potential for growth and development at Aquarius Marketing. This also serves to help the company retain its key resources and utilize this as a means of competitive advantage in the industry. A mentorship program also builds the framework for succession planning.
A coach on the other hand is more of a “teacher-of-skill” type arrangement, providing help and guidance on work being done and commenting on output of jobs. A coach can derive from any level of the organization and does not necessarily hold a senior management position. Coaching can be used to upgrade skills as it provides an opportunity to give and receive critical feedback on a particular job function. This relationship is informal in nature and thus creates a more relaxed environment that serves as a balance to the changes occurring in the organization.
Over and above the issues of change management is the issue of an organizations’ culture. Schein (6) defines culture as . . ."a basic set of assumptions that defines for us what we pay attention to, what things mean, and how to react emotionally to what is going on, and what actions to take in various kinds of situations." Implicit in this definition of culture is the clear fact that executives first must change the cultures of companies if specific strategies will take hold and be successful. Galpin (22) suggests that because changing the basic assumptions and beliefs of the underlying culture is very difficult, the best approach for influencing specific aspects of a culture that need to be changed for an IT initiative and strategy to be successful needs to be on an exception versus all-inclusive basis. For Aquarius Marketing to succeed the leadership must embrace change and work to actively change the culture.
Conclusion
The following are the key conclusions from this report and the development efforts defined here:
- It is the intention and recommendation of this proposal to map out and organize common processes across all areas of the project and look for ways to trim redundancies in them first before applying any technology to them. In keeping with the objective of being more responsive to clients with more accurate research, and more efficient in collaborating internally.
- As a first step in the development process, it is recommended that Aquarius Marketing migrate their stand-alone office automation applications to a single portal platform for greater cost and time- savings in administration. Olson (32) provides an excellent case study on how universities are making use of open source portal applications to alleviate redundant and often conflicting data in multiple portals on an IBM Web-Sphere platform.
- It is highly recommended that Aquarius Marketing complete a portal development plan that encompasses all shared processes across research, publishing, and customer service areas. As Murphy and Columbus (7) state, re-organize content by the context of each project defined by Aquarius Marketing first, then align to customer-facing processes to ensure the highest level of service and systems process performance possible.
- In conjunction with the development of the portal itself, definition of a second-phase portal roadmap that allows for the eventual move Web Services based on a Service Oriented Architecture which would give Aquarius Marketing the option of selectively migrating processes and applications to Web Services which would lead to greater tailoring to customer requirements in the long run.
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Appendices
Appendix I
High Level Project Plan
