XML is being considered by many DBAs, but none are using it as yet. Oracle Warehouse Builder is a bust. Quality needs to be enforced at the front end, cleaning up later is simply too expensive and time-consuming. To do this, you need a mandate from the top down. The complex culture of most campuses has only this one locus of authority.
Project planning is very ugly and drawn out.
There is no substitute for hashing through thousand of little details. You need robust project management software - MS Project won't get it. Knowledge Management is a crucial part of project management. If everyone does not know and understand the rules, and even have some voice in defining or changing them, the project will not be sustainable. By this is meant building your Web presence so that it is accessible by the disabled.