CMS, legacy platform interoperability and all that jazz
SHEESH- it's been a while since I posted. I commenced recently in a PM role helping a not-for-profit select a CMS and to revitalise their public face, as well as extranet/intranet. Part of my scope is to assess the work done previously and assess current assets (environmental scan), then come up with a quick and effective way forward.
One of the challenges this time around is assessing what my client organisation is capable of supporting, as it's a widely dispersed group in a loose federation. Along the way, whilst I've been trawling for resources, I've been surprised at the lack of collaboration amongst what I've seen termed "the third sector" (other than 1. Business and 2. Govt, I'm presuming)- Am trying to make a bit more sense of what exists in Australia for the NGO and not-for-profit sector in terms of Technology guidance and governance, but it's a needle in a haystack venture. Apart from Compumentor and Techsoup in the US, there's scant support and resources. Love to hear from anyone else that may have encountered some useful Australian resources. One potentially useful piece is Information Communication Technology and the Third Sector, authored by Martin Stewart-Weeks and Jo Barraket, which I'm awaiting a copy of. The usual frameworks that I apply, of using CoBIT as a fast environmental scan to assess IT governance maturity/capability, and Jesse James Garretts Pillars and Elements models have each proven invaluable in getting people towards a shared undersanding of the challenges faced.
One of the creative tensions we're up against is determining technology strategy in a heterogeneous environment that's based on a federated model of affinity. Getting 8 groups to agree on how they implement tech locally, with which platforms and determining the degree of configuration parity between them is no small feat- nor is illustrating the extent of the issue and getting buy-in. Whilst I can see the merits for Open Source, finding skillsets and technologies that can bridge this disparity is going to be fun when half the requirements are based on the web as a software interface. Now I'm off to wrestle my alligators.
One of the challenges this time around is assessing what my client organisation is capable of supporting, as it's a widely dispersed group in a loose federation. Along the way, whilst I've been trawling for resources, I've been surprised at the lack of collaboration amongst what I've seen termed "the third sector" (other than 1. Business and 2. Govt, I'm presuming)- Am trying to make a bit more sense of what exists in Australia for the NGO and not-for-profit sector in terms of Technology guidance and governance, but it's a needle in a haystack venture. Apart from Compumentor and Techsoup in the US, there's scant support and resources. Love to hear from anyone else that may have encountered some useful Australian resources. One potentially useful piece is Information Communication Technology and the Third Sector, authored by Martin Stewart-Weeks and Jo Barraket, which I'm awaiting a copy of. The usual frameworks that I apply, of using CoBIT as a fast environmental scan to assess IT governance maturity/capability, and Jesse James Garretts Pillars and Elements models have each proven invaluable in getting people towards a shared undersanding of the challenges faced.
One of the creative tensions we're up against is determining technology strategy in a heterogeneous environment that's based on a federated model of affinity. Getting 8 groups to agree on how they implement tech locally, with which platforms and determining the degree of configuration parity between them is no small feat- nor is illustrating the extent of the issue and getting buy-in. Whilst I can see the merits for Open Source, finding skillsets and technologies that can bridge this disparity is going to be fun when half the requirements are based on the web as a software interface. Now I'm off to wrestle my alligators.
posted by ALaughingMind @ 1:26 pm
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