Moving to a new platform?

I’m working on a project with a client who uses a single, semi-customized solution for their web presence. This has some real benefits (such as single sign-on and having all of your information in one place), but also some pretty significant drawbacks (not user-friendly at all, difficult to update/customize).  I know I’m not the first person who’s been faced with these challenges, so I thought I’d lay out the issues as I see them. Hopefully someone smarter than me can help me fill in the gaps!

One versus many? What’s your geek factor?

If you’re using one tool to handle this many disparate functions, I guarantee there are better point products out there but, how do you decide when to use the “Uni-tool” or use multiple tools? Does it matter if your clients are tech-savvy or not? A higher geek factor may lead to more willingness to use multiple tools but with this group you may be headed for ideological warfare – e.g. Everyone agrees to use a wiki for the internal documentation system, but then spends a month debating over installed vs. hosted vs shared hosted, Java vs PHP vs Ruby, etc.   Then, you have those people who know just enough tech to be dangerous — they’ve learned the system they have (and by golly, that was cutting edge just five years ago!) and it works for them so why make any more changes.  I’m guessing 80% of all people who work in an office fall into this category; so this is not a group to be ignored.  The last group are those who still have AOL and use it to send you chain emails with multi-colored letters and cute puppies and kittens and inspirational settings. Any technology change you’re looking to make will probably go unnoticed by this group, so while I wouldn’t ignore them I also wouldn’t spend a lot of time trying to customize a solution that meets their needs.

So now I know my clients, how do I decide whether to recommend changes to their “Uni-tool” or add / replace functionality with additional tools?

One tool to rule them all

Having a single tool can provide you with one place to manage multiple functions for your organization. Everyone has their own login (which they use only once); they knows where to go and what to do. Sure, there may be a steep learning curve, but once you know the system, stuff works… or does it? Maybe you can send a monthly newsletter to all active members, but what if they want to receive information more frequently? Can they subscribe to an RSS feed? Can they get emails when an update is published? What if you’re looking to get your membership more involved — can they comment or add feedback on your site? Are you participating in networks where your members are? (i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn)

So, does that mean the more the merrier?

Well, not exactly. Using different tools for each task – even if they’re superior at that task – makes even less sense than just using one. We’re already overwhelemed trying to remember the different usernames and passwords (they are different, right?!) for our bank(s), email accounts, Facebook, user groups, newsletter subscriptions,  etc. Adding to that pile just adds to the confusion. And, with multiple tools and purposes, who in your organization will manage those tools? Does the same person who manages the internal document repository also manage event annoucements on the website, Facebook, email newsletter, etc.? Do you have multiple editors or one? How do you manage the people who manage the tools and the content? How do you keep track of it all?

Well then, what’s the solution?

Not to dodge the question, but the answer really is “It depends”.  If one’s not enough and ten is too many, here’s  one way to figure out what the right number is for your organization.

1. What are the tasks / features / processes that you need the technology to accomplish? Be as specific as possible, but make sure each task is actionable (i.e. “Content Management System” isn’t a task, “Ability to subscribe to website updates via RSS” is.)  This would also include technology requirements such as – must be Linux-based, must be hosted, open-source, etc.
2. Is this task “critical”? This can be the make it or break it question – if all of your critical tasks can be handled by the uni-tool, then use the uni-tool. If it’s critical and not well managed by the uni-tool, then perhaps that’s worth the investment for a multi-tool. On the table below I made critical items worth 3 points versus the standard 1 point.
3. Who’s better at the task? If you weren’t specific before, you’re going to be in trouble with this one.
4. Total your scores.

You should be left looking at something like this:

I’ll be refining this assessment process over the next few months and I look forward to posting my results and findings!