ERS Enterprise Content

Management Rollout Methodology

Lisa Welchman for

InfoZen: The Essence of Information Technology

October 15, 2004

# Contents

[About this document 3](#about-this-document)

[Executive Summary 4](#executive-summary)

[Recommendations & Analysis 7](#recommendations-analysis)

[ECM Rollout Detail by Phase, Track & Task
9](#ecm-rollout-detail-by-phase-track-task)

[Phase I -- Plan and Pilot 9](#phase-i-plan-and-pilot)

[Governance & Strategy -- Phase I 9](#governance-strategy-phase-i)

[Content, Applications & Data -- Phase I
12](#content-applications-data-phase-i)

[Process & Workflow -- Phase I 13](#process-workflow-phase-i)

[Tools & Infrastructure -- Phase I 14](#tools-infrastructure-phase-i)

[Phase II -- Socialize and Build 15](#phase-ii-socialize-and-build)

[Governance & Strategy -- Phase II 15](#governance-strategy-phase-ii)

[Content, Applications & Data -- Phase II
15](#content-applications-data-phase-ii)

[Process & Workflow -- Phase II 16](#process-workflow-phase-ii)

[Tools & Infrastructure -- Phase II 16](#tools-infrastructure-phase-ii)

[Phase III -- Deploy & Support 18](#phase-iii-deploy-support)

[Governance & Strategy -- Phase III 18](#governance-strategy-phase-iii)

[Content, Applications & Data -- Phase III
18](#content-applications-data-phase-iii)

[Process & Workflow -- Phase III 18](#process-workflow-phase-iii)

[Tools & Infrastructure -- Phase III
19](#tools-infrastructure-phase-iii)

#  

# About this document

+-------------------------------------------------------+--------------+
| This document outlines a recommended strategy for     | Glossary     |
| deploying an enterprise content management (ECM)      | Terms:       |
| system at the U. S. Department of Agriculture's       |              |
| Economic Research Service (ERS). It is the            | **Content    |
| culmination of a process, begun in Spring 2004, which | Management   |
| included:                                             | System       |
|                                                       | (CMS)**      |
| -   A series of focus groups with ERS personnel       |              |
|     responsible for the strategic and tactical        | **Content    |
|     maintenance of the web content and applications   | Model**      |
|     found at [www.ers.usda.gov](../www.ers.usda.gov). |              |
|                                                       | **Content    |
| -   Structured content analysis that produced a       | Type**       |
|     taxonomy and metadata schema for ERS, and         |              |
|                                                       | **Customer   |
| -   Process analysis and re-engineering research.     | Relationship |
|                                                       | Management   |
| This research builds on the initial Web content       | (CRM)**      |
| management opportunities and needs assessment         |              |
| conducted by ForumOne Communications, but does not    | **Digital    |
| include a deep analysis of the existing ERS Web       | Asset        |
| publishing environment. However, where relevant,      | Management   |
| brief comments regarding the existing state the Web   | System       |
| publishing environment are included.                  | (DAM)**      |
|                                                       |              |
| This document's structure is as follows:              | **Document   |
|                                                       | Type         |
| -   Executive Summary                                 | Definition   |
|                                                       | (DTD)**      |
| -   Immediate Next Steps                              |              |
|                                                       | **Enterprise |
| -   Recommendations & Analysis                        | Content      |
|                                                       | Management   |
| -   Glossary                                          | (ECM)**      |
|                                                       |              |
| Since this document recommends an approach to ECM, it | *            |
| first provides a brief description of this concept.   | *Information |
| Another high-level paradigm described early on is     | Ar           |
| single source publishing (SSP). These definitions are | chitecture** |
| provided in the executive summary of this document.   |              |
| These two concepts are defined in the summary as they | **Portal**   |
| are integral to the understanding of the              |              |
| recommendation. Other somewhat proprietary terms are  | **Single     |
| defined in the glossary of this document. Those terms | Source       |
| are listed to the right.                              | Publi        |
|                                                       | shing(SSP)** |
|                                                       |              |
|                                                       | **Stellent** |
|                                                       |              |
|                                                       | **Taxonomy** |
|                                                       |              |
|                                                       | **eXtensible |
|                                                       | Markup       |
|                                                       | Language     |
|                                                       | (XML)**      |
+-------------------------------------------------------+--------------+

# Executive Summary

Focus group data and research in taxonomy and process indicate that ERS
is ready to adopt an ECM strategy which has as its core the adoption of
a web content management system capable of supporting a SSP paradigm.

***ECM is not a software solution***

Frequently ECM is represented as a software solution. It is not.
Enterprise content management is a concept which refers to the holistic
creation, management and delivery, retirement and storage of
organizational knowledge. An ECM strategy requires the creation of
governance policies, business processes and content, data and
application products which take into account to total stream of
information within the organization. Necessarily, it also includes the
development of a set of infrastructure tools and software applications
to support these processes.

***SSP: one source, many publications***

Single source publishing is the creation of publishing processes which
allow for the creation of multiple endpoint artifacts (such as a printed
document, an internet Web site, and intranet Web site) from a single
source (for instance, a Word or Quark file). It is a many to one
relationship which in good practice allows an organization to make a
change once yet have that change reflected "automatically" or without
manual human intervention in multiple artifacts or to multiple channels.
As with ECM, SSP requires the support of infrastructure tools and
software.

***Understanding the difficulties of adopting an ECM SSP model***

Both ECM and SSP strategies are difficult to implement. They demand a
sophisticated level of planning and cooperation within an organization.
Frequently, existing print and (where they exist) web publishing
processes run counter to the process and governance needs of an ECM
strategy; and, it is the norm that territorial personnel needs (internal
power struggles) frequently block the cooperation required for
developing such strategies. None the less, SSP reduces work redundancy
and offers better document version control and security through less
human intervention (all vulnerabilities in the ERS web production
environment). When well implemented, it can also reduce production time
for all end products. As well, and often most importantly, it offers a
single destination for all within an organization to gather information
regarding the status of a document or process.

***Why an SSP ECM Strategy is appropriate for ERS***

Despite the challenges of implementation, an SSP ECM strategy is
appropriate for ERS. The existing process infrastructure is inadequate
for legacy needs, let alone new web publishing needs. The real-time
needs of a Web publishing environment and the more sophisticated
expectations of the ERS internal and external customer point to the need
to develop processes which will decrease the document and web publishing
times. Consistently, internal resources complained about the lengthy
production timelines and review cycles. While a software solution can
not make people review documents faster, it can help expedite the
administrative handling of documents as well as convert documents into
multiple formats in a matter of moments rather than days or weeks.

More simply, the existing process is barely adequate for the existing
need. All interviewees agreed that there was an external and internal
customer demand for more sophisticated Web products, particularly
consolidated content & data products. There was also a consensus, that
something would have to change about the existing process in order to
create these products; however, most were too "under water" to have to
time to analyze and effect real process change. Many were frustrated
that the employee reward structure for the employees supported the
existing paper-publishing process---not the creation of a process that
would support more streamlined web production.

At the same time, and somewhat paradoxically, most commented that middle
and higher management understood that the Web would be the primary
publishing target of the future. Clearly it is time to prepare for this
future vision.

Migrating from a multiple source to a single source publishing paradigm
will require a multi-phased process. While the rollout methodology
matrix further in this document details explicit steps and tasks within
each phase of this process, generally speaking, the recommended phases
are as follows:

> **Phase I - Plan & Pilot**
>
> In this phase ERS will determine the scope of SSP strategy and make a
> real determination whether or not the organization will and can
> support the deployment of an ECM SSP software implementation. Real
> considerations are:

-   Managerial willingness and support

-   Funding

-   Personnel resource availability

-   Technical architecture

-   Successful piloting of Stellent CM software

> **Phase II - Socialize & Build**
>
> In this phase ERS will begin the process of designing and implementing
> the SSP environment. As well, real efforts to begin the cultural and
> managerial changes which must take place in order for SSP to work at
> ERS must begin. Key tasks in this phase are:

-   Developing employee educational outreach programs to socialize
    process & program changes

-   Unifying the information architecture for ERS print, data and Web
    products

-   Finalizing processes for SSP

-   Implementing necessary software and tools to support SSP

> **Phase III - Deploy & Support**
>
> In this phase, ERS will complete the rollout of the SSP environment as
> well as finalize the support programs associated with the new process.
> While this is far in the future, likely tasks would be:

-   Evangelizing lessons learned to larger USDA audience

-   Making incremental modifications to information architecture

-   Extending SSP to all ERS web content types

-   Reacting to usability reports (internal and external customers)

**Diagram of ERS SSP Process**

This diagram represents a high level process flow for ERS SSP for ERS.

![](media/image1.wmf)

**Immediate Next Steps:**

> 1\. Solicit and receive high-level management buy-in for SSP ECM
> strategy from ERS CIO and USDA contacts.
>
> 2\. Determine scope of Stellent CM Pilot
>
> 3\. Initiate information architecture analysis
>
> 4\. Initiate infrastructure architecture analysis

# Recommendations & Analysis

In order to present the tactical steps that can be taken towards the
strategic ECM goal, the rollout methodology has been divided into 4
related tracks:

> **Governance & Strategy:** Addresses the organizational structures
> associated with Web publishing. Governance bodies set policy and
> enforce it as well as negotiate differences of opinion and foster
> effective communication.
>
> **Content, Applications & Data:** The set of information that is
> created, managed and delivered throughout ERS. Information includes
> typical document-type content (which is usually quite unstructured),
> metadata, applications, and relational data (stored in databases).
>
> **Process & Workflow:** The methods with which content and
> applications are developed, managed, and delivered.
>
> **Tools and Infrastructure:** refers to the software and applications
> involved in publishing Web content, as well as the server and network
> infrastructure required.

In the following matrix, tactical steps are recommended in each one of
these four tracks in a three phase rollout process. Following the matrix
are brief descriptions of each task.

**ERS ECM Rollout Methodology**

*Integrating Print, Content, Applications & Data*

+------------+-------------------+------------------+-----------------+
|            | **Phase I -**     | **Phase II -**   | **Phase III -** |
|            |                   |                  |                 |
|            | **Plan & Pilot**  | **Socialize &    | **Deploy &      |
|            |                   | Build**          | Support**       |
+------------+-------------------+------------------+-----------------+
| **         | -   Validate      | -   Socialize    | -   Evangelize  |
| Governance |     strategic ECM |     Governance   |                 |
| &          |     vision &      |     Vision &     |   Methodologies |
| Strategy** |     mission,      |     Mission (ERS |     and Best    |
|            |     metrics       |     & USDA),     |     Practices   |
|            |     requirements  |     Policy &     |                 |
|            |                   |     Standards    | government-wide |
|            | -   Define &      |                  |                 |
|            |     Document ERS  | -   Refine       | -   Continue    |
|            |     Print, Web,   |     Governance   |     participa   |
|            |     Data, and web |     model based  | tion/leadership |
|            |     application   |     on           |     role in     |
|            |     governance    |                  |     USDA        |
|            |     model         |   organizational |     standards   |
|            |                   |     & user       |     and policy  |
|            | -   Document      |     feedback     |     making      |
|            |     Policy &      |                  |     bodies      |
|            |     Standards     | -   Formalize    |                 |
|            |                   |     ECM users    | -   Maintain &  |
|            | -   Develop web   |     groups (ERS  |     revise      |
|            |     content,      |     & USDA)      |     Policy &    |
|            |     application & |                  |     Standards   |
|            |     data          | -   Recommend    |                 |
|            |     personnel     |     best         | -   Analyze     |
|            |     educational   |     practices/   |     metrics     |
|            |     program(s)    |     lessons      |                 |
|            |                   |     learned to   | -   Market      |
|            | -   Clarify       |     USDA --      |     phase II    |
|            |     impact of     |     market       |     success     |
|            |     USDA mandates |     success      |     stories     |
|            |     (managing-up) |     stories      |                 |
|            |     on ERS ECM    |                  |                 |
|            |     products      | -   Re-define    |                 |
|            |                   |     personnel    |                 |
|            | -   Revisit       |     roles to     |                 |
|            |     market        |     support SSP  |                 |
|            |     segmentation  |     & ECM        |                 |
|            |     research      |     Strategies   |                 |
|            |                   |                  |                 |
|            |                   | -   Continue     |                 |
|            |                   |     market       |                 |
|            |                   |     segmentation |                 |
|            |                   |     research     |                 |
+------------+-------------------+------------------+-----------------+
| **Content, | -   Define        | -   Normalize    | -   Develop new |
| Ap         |     information   |     print, web,  |     ERS product |
| plications |     architecture  |     print &      |     delivery    |
| & Data**   |     exercises for |     application  |     channels    |
|            |     all products  |     layout &     |                 |
|            |     (Print, web   |     information  | -   Revise      |
|            |     content,      |     architecture |     taxonomy to |
|            |     data, web     |                  |     include     |
|            |     applications) | -   Implement    |     market      |
|            |                   |     single       |                 |
|            | -   Implement     |     source       |    segmentation |
|            |     content model |     publishing   |                 |
|            |     for Web-only  |     for Outlook  | classifications |
|            |     content       |     Reports,     |     and         |
|            |                   |     Research     |     controlled  |
|            | -   Determine     |     Reports &    |     vocabulary  |
|            |     list of top   |     Amber Waves  |                 |
|            |     three         |                  |                 |
|            |     standard data | -   Apply        |                 |
|            |     products for  |     taxonomy for |                 |
|            |     ERS Web site  |     web content, |                 |
|            |                   |     print, web   |                 |
|            | -   Develop       |     application  |                 |
|            |     shared        |     & data       |                 |
|            |     taxonomy for  |     products     |                 |
|            |     web content,  |                  |                 |
|            |     application & |                  |                 |
|            |     data products |                  |                 |
+------------+-------------------+------------------+-----------------+
| **Process  | -   Develop       | -   Finalize     | -   Revise      |
| &          |     processes to  |                  |     processes & |
| Workflow** |     support Web   |    single-source |     workflows   |
|            |     only content  |     publication  |     to support  |
|            |     delivery      |     processes    |     segmented   |
|            |     under new     |     for all web  |     content     |
|            |     content       |     content,     |     delivery    |
|            |     information   |     print,       |                 |
|            |     architecture  |     application, | -   Revise      |
|            |                   |     and data     |     processes & |
|            | -   Develop       |     products.    |     workflow to |
|            |     processes to  |                  |     support new |
|            |     support data  |                  |     product     |
|            |     -\> Web       |                  |     delivery    |
|            |     product       |                  |     channels    |
|            |                   |                  |                 |
|            |    transformation |                  |                 |
|            |     processes     |                  |                 |
|            |                   |                  |                 |
|            | -   Draft         |                  |                 |
|            |     single-source |                  |                 |
|            |     ECM processes |                  |                 |
|            |     & roles       |                  |                 |
|            |                   |                  |                 |
|            | -   Develop       |                  |                 |
|            |     processes for |                  |                 |
|            |     maintaining   |                  |                 |
|            |     taxonomy &    |                  |                 |
|            |     controlled    |                  |                 |
|            |     vocabulary    |                  |                 |
+------------+-------------------+------------------+-----------------+
| **Tools &  | -   Define ECM    | -   Evaluate     | -   Roll-out    |
| Infras     |                   |     impact of    |     single      |
| tructure** |    Infrastructure |     Phase I tool |     source      |
|            |     &             |     roll out     |     component   |
|            |     Architecture  |                  |     based ECM   |
|            |                   | -   Implement    |     publishing  |
|            | -   Pilot CMS all |                  |     environment |
|            |     Web only      |   infrastructure |     for         |
|            |     content under |     to support   |     remaining   |
|            |     new           |     single       |     products    |
|            |     governance,   |     source       |                 |
|            |     content, and  |     publishing   | -   Implement   |
|            |     process       |     for Outlook  |     syndication |
|            |     standards-    |     Reports,     |     feeds for   |
|            |     use CMS       |     Research     |     all         |
|            |     software      |     Reports &    |     relevant    |
|            |                   |     Amber Waves  |     content     |
|            | -   Deploy 2 new  |     (including   |                 |
|            |     integrated    |     syndication) | -   Deploy new  |
|            |     data/content  |                  |     ECM tools   |
|            |     products --   | -   Acquire      |                 |
|            |     use CMS       |     additional   |                 |
|            |     software      |     ECM Systems  |                 |
|            |                   |                  |                 |
|            | -   Re-scope      | -   Implement    |                 |
|            |     use/purpose   |     tax          |                 |
|            |     of Digital    | onomy/controlled |                 |
|            |     Asset         |     vocabulary   |                 |
|            |     Management    |     mgmt tools   |                 |
|            |     System        |                  |                 |
|            |                   | -   Define       |                 |
|            | -   Define        |     requirements |                 |
|            |     requirements  |     & acquire    |                 |
|            |     for           |     additional   |                 |
|            |                   |     ECM tools    |                 |
|            |   site/publishing |     (CRM,        |                 |
|            |     environment   |     Portal,      |                 |
|            |     metrics       |     etc.)        |                 |
|            |                   |                  |                 |
|            | -   Define        | -   Implement    |                 |
|            |     content       |     metrics      |                 |
|            |     syndication   |     gathering    |                 |
|            |     requirements  |     tools        |                 |
|            |                   |                  |                 |
|            |                   | -   Consolidate  |                 |
|            |                   |     &            |                 |
|            |                   |     re-architect |                 |
|            |                   |     data         |                 |
|            |                   |     repositories |                 |
+------------+-------------------+------------------+-----------------+

# ECM Rollout Detail by Phase, Track & Task

## Phase I -- Plan and Pilot

### Governance & Strategy -- Phase I

-   Validate strategic ECM vision & mission, metrics requirements

> This exercise requires the ensuring that the existing ECM vision for
> ERS supports a single source publication strategy. The highest level
> of the governance reporting chain would initiate this internal process
> and, in the event that a change of strategy is required, work towards
> receiving feedback and consensus between all stakeholders identified
> in the governance model.

-   Define & document ERS print, web, data, and web application
    governance model

> ERS should draft the governance model to support the web site. The
> governance model would include specific personnel roles and
> responsibilities as well as high-level web policy for print, web, data
> and web applications represented on the web site. Areas which need to
> be addressed are:

-   Protocol for organizational web policy

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   Web policy wetting

-   Standards codification and dissemination

-   Implementation

-   Enforcement

-   Evaluation, review and revision policy

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   Document policy & standards

> Once responsibilities are defined, relevant personnel should document
> existing standards and create new standards where necessary for the
> following areas:

-   Graphical and user interface design standards

-   Editorial standards

-   HTML standards

-   Technical & application development standards

-   Taxonomy & metadata standards

-   Content review standards

-   Archival and disposition standards

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   Develop web content, application & data personnel educational
    program(s)

> It is crucial to put educational programs in place in order to gain
> acceptance and buy-in from administrative and hands-on personnel. Some
> of the concepts, difficulties and benefits of single source
> publication are not well-understood or, in some cases, defined. As
> well, personnel roles and responsibilities will change substantially
> over the duration of the transformation processes. For all of these
> reasons, best-practices seminars (onsite and offsite) should be
> identified and/or developed to help inform all stakeholders of the
> benefits and impact of the web site publication & delivery strategy.

-   Clarify impact of USDA mandates (managing-up) on ERS ECM products

> It is essential for ERS web management to clarify the short and
> long-term impact of USDA web site design and infrastructure mandates.
> In particular, ERS should clarify to what extent USDA plans to dictate
> information architecture and graphical design standards and what
> research has been performed to construct existing mandates in these
> areas. Where necessary, ERS should bring to the forefront the
> implications of shallow information architecture research and the long
> term implications.
>
> Also, ERS should clarify expectations regarding the deployment of
> Stellent as a web content management system, especially to determine
> implementation timeline, scope, infrastructure, and expectations.

-   Re-visit market segmentation research

> ERS should re-visit their print and web site audiences segments and
> ensure that their needs would continue to be met in a single source
> publication environment. In particular, it essential to determine
> future content delivery expectations. Determining what documents are
> needed when and in what format will inform the content delivery
> strategy.

### Content, Applications & Data -- Phase I

-   Define information architecture exercises for all products (print,
    web content, data, web applications)

> ERS must conduct constructive & extensive information architecture
> exercises for all of their products. In order to achieve a single
> source publication (SSP) strategy, all products must be thought about
> as a set as well as individually. For example, it would be beneficial
> to determine what a SSP information architecture would look like for
> Briefing Rooms and Amber Waves.

-   Develop shared taxonomy for web content, application & data products

> ERS must leverage existing web content taxonomy work and extend and
> modify the taxonomy and controlled vocabulary to include print and
> data products. This umbrella taxonomy will be the glue that holds
> together the SSP strategy.

-   Implement content model for Web-only content

> In order to prepare for the management of web-only content via a
> content management system, ERS must prepare a model of their content
> which is systematic and allows for a certain degree of machine
> readability. Assuming an Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) content
> authoring and delivery strategy, this content model should take the
> form of a Document Type Definition (DTD) based upon the products of
> the information architecture and taxonomy definition exercises.

-   Determine list of top three standard data products for ERS web site

> ERS should expedite efforts in data product and systems consolidation.
> While data products and systems consolidation is most likely a
> multi-year process, ERS can not afford to wait years in order to offer
> its web consumers higher quality data products. Efforts should be made
> to identify the top two data/content products (products which
> incorporate both narrative and supporting statistics) and identify how
> to manage and deploy these products within a SSP paradigm.

### Process & Workflow -- Phase I

-   Develop processes to support Web only content delivery under new
    content information architecture

> Utilizing the information architecture, taxonomy and content modeling
> deliverables, ERS should design new tactical processes and Stellent
> specific workflows. These processes and workflow should be extendable
> to a single source ECM publishing architecture.

-   Develop processes to support data -\> web product transformation
    processes

> Using the data products identified in the data products definition
> exercises, ERS should develop processes for transforming raw data into
> web products. These transformation processes should be automated and
> allow for annotated, qualified data delivery for print and web
> products.

-   Draft single-source ECM processes & roles

> ERS should begin to brainstorm how a ECM SSP paradigm would work at
> ERS. This process should begin with a clean slate. The risk here
> involves trying to retrofit existing legacy processes to a new
> paradigm. Of course, where warranted existing processes and
> organizational relationships can be utilized or leveraged; however,
> ERS is encouraged to think "out of the box."

-   Develop processes for maintaining taxonomy & controlled vocabulary

> As there will inevitably be a substantial investment in ERS personnel
> hours and outside consulting support in order to develop the ERS
> taxonomy and controlled vocabulary, it is crucial that ERS develop
> effect processes for maintaining the taxonomy and controlled
> vocabulary once it is established. Since CM systems do not necessarily
> have mechanisms for maintaining controlled vocabularies and their
> effects on content, special attention should be made to ensure that
> these process requirements are articulated clearly and communicated to
> the tools and infrastructure team for evaluation.

### Tools & Infrastructure -- Phase I

-   Define ECM infrastructure & architecture

> ERS' technical team should continue to develop a publication and
> delivery hardware and software architecture which supports a SSP
> paradigm. While it is unrealistic to undo all the existing
> architecture, it is essential to work from as clean a slate as
> possible. This would involve both leveraging existing tools and
> recognizing that there may be a need for a different breed of ECM
> tools as well. Also, it's important to recognize areas where existing
> tools may be underutilized or improperly utilized (ERS' Digitial Asset
> Management system comes to mind).

-   Pilot all Web only content under new governance, content, and
    process standards- use CMS software

> ERS should implement the first version of the USDA CMS (Stellent).
> This implementation should manage web-only content and be considered a
> pilot in order to understand the effectiveness of the CMS software in
> the ERS / USDA environment, and the soundness of the information
> architecture and workflow.

-   Deploy 2 new integrated data/content products -- use CMS software

> In conjunction with its CMS Pilot, ERS should deploy two new
> data/content products identified in earlier exercises. These products
> should be lightweight and easy to deploy and should be considered a
> learning scenario, helping to raise the process issues of integrated
> content and data development deployment.

-   Re-scope use/purpose of digital asset management system

> ERS needs to examine the use of their DAM system (Cantos' Cumulus).
> Currently, it is used to manage a limited number of assets. The
> architecture should consider the implications of expanding its use as
> well as the possible logical or physical integration with Stellent.
> DAM functions, as they exist in Stellent, should be weighed as well.

-   Define requirements for site/publishing environment metrics

> Using information defined in the governance metrics definition task,
> the infrastructure and architecture team should specify how
> infrastructure systems will support the gathering) of content, data
> and application related metrics data. Special attention should be made
> to reporting requirements as they relate to Stellent.

-   Define content syndication requirements

Working with the content team, requirements and methodologies for
content syndication should be explored and documented. Also, the
syndication capabilities of Stellent need to be explored in order to
determine if additional tools will be required in order to meet the
content and data syndication needs of ERS

### Phase II -- Socialize and Build

### Governance & Strategy -- Phase II

-   Socialize governance vision & mission (ERS & USDA), policy &
    standards

> It is essential for all stakeholders within ERS & USDA to understand
> clearly the newly defined policies and standards. Special effort
> should be made to communicate new standards and to prove that they
> will be enforced. Proving the intention of policy enforcement can take
> many forms: displaying a system that will show support; high-level
> administrative mandates; etc.

-   Refine governance model based on organizational & user feedback

> Despite best intentions there will be errors and unrealistic goals
> within the governance model. During phase two, the Web team should
> work to normalize any unacceptable aspects of the governance model or
> escalate if compromises will put the overall web site strategy in
> jeopardy.

-   Formalize ECM users groups (ERS & USDA)

> At this point it will important to put into place long standing user
> groups and committees to support the ongoing development and support
> of the site. These teams can be organized along role, track, or
> function. The critical factor is that these team cut across
> organizational divisions. Also, these teams should be more focused at
> the lower, more tactical, levels of the organization and managed by
> one of the more formal policy or standards defining teams as expressed
> in the governance model.

-   Recommend best practices/ lessons learned to USDA -- market success
    stories

> In order for ERS to maintain its position of web development
> leadership within the USDA community, the ERS Web Team should make a
> special effort to effectively communicate lessons learned and best
> practices from their Phase I CMS deployment, governance and
> information architecture exercises.

-   Re-define personnel roles to support SSP & ECM Strategies

As ERS looks forward to single source publishing, it is important for
administrators to take a look at the roles and responsibilities of all
of those involved in the process. To date, the organizational structures
and roles that were put in place to support a print-only process remain
in place---despite the strong impact of the Web. Administrators need to
reevaluate job roles and responsibilities while keeping in mind that web
product delivery may well be the primary mode of information delivery in
the near future. This should be a deep exercise which takes a sincere
look at all roles and matches them to an electronic publishing vision.

-   Continue market segmentation research

See Phase I

### Content, Applications & Data -- Phase II

-   Normalize print, web, print & application layout & information
    architecture

> Efforts should be made to change the delivery format of all products
> so that it adheres to the new information architecture (and design
> standards). This may require modifying print-based document formats as
> well. The ERS Web Team should be prepared for resistance in this area
> as individuals and consumers cling to legacy document formats.

-   Implement single source publishing (SSP) for outlook reports,
    research reports & Amber Waves

> It is important to pilot SSP in order to tease out any hidden process
> or info architecture flaws before rolling out SSP for the entire
> content set. These content types are best suited to SSP because they
> are mostly standard in format and, in the existing process, require a
> lot of production time.

-   Apply taxonomy for web content, print, web application & data
    products

> Controlled vocabulary terms should be applied to all products in a
> systematic and maintainable manner. Special attention should be paid
> to the management of controlled vocabulary AFTER its application to
> content. It is important not to disconnect modifications to the
> taxonomy and controlled vocabulary from its use with products. This
> will be a significant exercise.

### Process & Workflow -- Phase II

-   Finalize single-source publication processes for all web content,
    print, application, and data products.

> This will be an extensive and deep process exercise. It will leverage
> the information from the roles and responsibilities restructuring
> activities. ERS should realize that it may have to create several
> different versions or "styles" of process in order to come up with a
> model which works with their organization.

### Tools & Infrastructure -- Phase II

-   Evaluate impact of Phase I tool roll out

The Web Team should evaluate the effectiveness of the phase I Stellent
implementation and take steps to correct any inefficiencies or design
flaws. This exercise is the primary tuning exercise in preparing
Stellent to manage all of ERS Web and print content and should not
executed in a cursory manner.

-   Implement infrastructure to support single source publishing for
    outlook reports, research reports & Amber Waves (including
    syndication)

> Put into place hardware and software infrastructure to support single
> source publication for these content types. This step would include
> the implementation of a CM system and the adoption of processes which
> allow the single source development of these content types. "Tweaks"
> in other infrastructure systems (such as DAM and database systems) may
> be required as well. Initial product delivery should be in three
> formats: web, print & web syndication.

-   Implement taxonomy/controlled vocabulary mgmt tools

> There may be a need to implement tools with which to manage & maintain
> the ERs taxonomy and controlled vocabulary. In a best case scenario,
> the management of these assets would be performed by an existing
> system (such as Stellent). However, if the existing systems can not
> support the management of taxonomy in an effective manner, than
> additional tools may have to be implemented. The integrity of the
> taxonomy should not be compromised as it is the primary key to an
> effective SSP model as well high quality search retrieval on the
> public facing web site.

-   Define requirements & acquire additional ECM tools (CRM, portal,
    etc.)

> At this point in the process, the Web Team should evaluate and acquire
> any additional tools required to meet the web site vision and
> strategy. This step in the process could be lengthy or short depending
> upon the need. Factors which could lengthen this tasks duration are
> the acquisition and deployment of certain content delivery
> technologies (like a portal or Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
> system).

-   Implement metrics gathering tools

> As required, tools for gathering metrics should be implemented. In
> particular, reporting systems in the publication and content delivery
> environment should be deployed. In order to gather valid benchmarks,
> these tools should be in place and functioning prior to the Phase III
> deployment. Some basic reporting functionality may be available in
> Stellent. However, this reporting functionality will not extend to
> futhering metrics for the citizen facing site and, in general, out of
> the box reporting functionality in CM systems is unsophisticated.

-   Consolidate & re-architect data repositories

> The final architecture and consolidation for product data should be
> complete.

### Phase III -- Deploy & Support

### Governance & Strategy -- Phase III

-   Evangelize methodologies and best practices government-wide

> ERS should extend its role of Web thought leader beyond USDA and into
> the wider government (and academic community). ERS team leaders should
> make every effort to evangelize success stories and best practices at
> relevant conferences and industry events.

-   Continue participation/leadership role in USDA standards and policy
    making bodies

-   Maintain & revise policy & standards

> As the SSP strategy becomes a reality, the ERS web team should revise
> it policies and standards to meet the publication reality. While good
> planning and best practices should have dictated many of the policies
> and standards, others will be impacted by the practical realities of
> SSP and should be intelligently revised.

-   Analyze metrics

Governance bodies should analyze publication and product delivery
benchmark data as well as post SSP deployment data in order to inform
changes in strategy, roles, or policy and standards. This is an ongoing
process and should be the primary impetus for change.

-   Market phase II success stories

> Communicate successes of phase I Stellent pilot and Phase II
> architecture exercises. In particular, stress the success of the
> single source information architecture exercises. There should be
> visual deliverables which ERS can use to try and influence USDA's
> overall web policies and standards.

### Content, Applications & Data -- Phase III

-   Develop new ERS product delivery channels

> ERS will find that as they offer more comprehensive products online,
> user demand will increase. The content team should work towards
> meeting this demand by developing a rapid content type development
> process for rapidly creating and deploying new products. The team
> should utilize market research and leverage the streamlined processes
> to support this task.

-   Revise taxonomy to include market segmentation classifications and
    controlled vocabulary

> Likewise, the taxonomy and, to a greater extent, the controlled
> vocabulary needs to be updated on an ongoing basis. At this point the
> taxonomy would need to be modified to include any newly learned market
> segmentation data. This will facilitate the delivery of more
> customized products

### Process & Workflow -- Phase III

-   Revise processes & workflows to support segmented content delivery

-   A different or modified web content authoring process must be
    utilized when creating content for segmented content delivery. In
    particular, the number of content objects (or pieces of content) can
    multiply exponentially. It is essential to create processes and
    automated workflows which reduce the impact of this increase in
    content objects on content creators and content reviewers.Revise
    processes & workflow to support new product delivery channels

> As more customized content is created, additional processes and
> workflow will have to created (and existing ones modified) to take
> into account these new delivery channels

### Tools & Infrastructure -- Phase III

-   Roll-out single source component based ECM publishing environment
    for remaining products

> Where feasible (as all ERS web content is not suitable for SSP) deploy
> consistent content and data products within the SSP infrastructure.

-   Implement syndication feeds for all relevant content

> ERS should attempt to syndicate heavily replicated and consumed
> content to organizations which currently replicate ERS Web content
> through "cut and paste" or other means. This will ensure content and
> data integrity and extend the SSP beyond the confines of the ERS web
> site.

-   Deploy new ECM tools

> As needed, evaluate and deploy new ECM tools. Prospects include portal
> software and new search engine technology.

**Glossary**

**Content Management System (CMS)**

Application software that allows people to more easily change and update
content, on their websites.

**Content Model**

An abstract view of the structure of a Web site. A content model consist
of a wire frame and a list of content types and their use.

**Content Type**

A specific type of content which has repeatable attributes and logical
structure over multiple instances. Examples include: press release;
outlook report; briefing room.

**Customer Relationship Management (CRM)**

Enterprise-wide software applications that allow companies to manage
every aspect of their relationship with a customer (or citizen).

**Digital Asset Management System (DAM)**

Digital asset management (DAM) systems support the storage, retrieval
and reuse of digital objects within an organization.

**Enterprise Content Management (ECM)**

A set of system to support web site production and delivery. Systems can
include: web content management, document management, records
management, digital asset management, search engines, portal software,
and collaboration software

**Information Architecture**

The art and science of structuring and classifying web sites and
intranets to help people find and manage information.

**Portal**

A category of ECM software which manages access and permissions to Web
site content. A portal is also a type of web sites which aggregates
hypertext links to other web sites.

**Single Source Publishing(SSP)**

Single Source Publishing uses a master document and transformations that
publish the document in multiple contexts (or channels).

**Stellent**

A web content management system with strong support of document
management, records management and intranet/internet web content.

**Taxonomy**

A Taxonomy is a hierarchy used for classify information or objects. In a
Web context a taxonomy is used to classify Web content, most commonly in
terms of topics and/or use by the consumer.

**eXtensible Markup Language (XML)**

eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is a format for storing structured
information (originally derived from SGML).