A workshop session presented by myself and Russell Allen at IWMW2009 at the University of Essex

1. The Anti-Portal:
mashup and forget it
Jeremy Speller
Director of Media Services UCL
Russell Allen
Project Manager University of Bradford
Institutional Web Managers Workshop
University of Essex
29 July 2009

2. Starting points
UCL
UoB
• What we're going to cover
o How UoB and UCL got into the portal game
o What we discovered during development
o Outcomes of proof of concept
o UoB BETA and afterwards
o The end...or not?
o Along the way: group work
• BTW - we don't hate portals (necessarily!)

3. Starting points
UCL
UoB
• UoB project driven by grant...there was research and a
business case
• UCL driven by user requirement
• Common issue: explaining portals

4. Starting points
UCL
UoB
GROUP SESSION
Explain what a portal is and does to
stakeholders and/or users

5. Starting points
UCL
UoB
• Is there a simple definition?
• How would those definitions change if you were explaining it
to a:
o Dean
o Web Developer
o End User
• Feature-based analysis
o web-based services
 which ones are actually required
• Benefit-based analysis
o 'selling' the benefits

6. Laying tracks
UCL
UoB
Building the test sites
• UoB approach
• Serendipity CEAI and UoB
• High profile lots of internal press. Portal seen as salvation.
• Disconnect between techies experimenting and business
expecting full-blown portal
• POC was to test Oracle portal (not shown to users)
• The technology works
• But something was missing...the picture gets blurrier
• N tier architecture, my baptism of fire

7. • UCL approach
o 6 month project
o "Borrowing" staff - including excellent PM
o integrate a small number of critical apps
• Common issue: resources
• Common issue: politics
• Common issue: "easy" to build, difficult to maintain and
develop
Laying tracks
Building the test sites
UoB

8. Happy passengers?
UCL
UoB
Proof of concept
• UCL
o Focus groups
o Online survey
• Common issue: amount of work required
for success

9. Happy passengers?
UCL
UoB
Proof of concept
GROUP SESSION
What are the critical factors for success?

10. Happy passengers?
UCL
UoB
Proof of concept
• Business case
• User benefit
• Clear definition
• Technical skills
• Identity management
• Application silos
• Politics

11. Steaming ahead
UCL
UoB
BETA site
• From Proof of Concept to Beta
• Relying on partially available resource
o matrix teams
o getting a student in
• Recreating what already exists
o UoB's existing intranet
• Don't beta me up - what the users thought

12. Beeching cut?
UCL
UoB
End of the line?
• Beta two we'll beta you to death!
• What do users want? Not this!
• Building the case for dismissal from user evidence
• Getting the Board to agree
o we already had web-based services
o it's that 80/20 rule
• Moving from SSO to SSO. Keeping the essence.
• How to 'do' politics or how to kill a Zombie project
• Let's suspend

13. Beeching cut?
UCL
UoB
End of the line?
GROUP SESSION
How do we achieve portal benefits without
resources or a formal portal framework?

14. Beeching cut?
UCL
UoB
End of the line?
• Features
o SSO
o Authorisation
o Personalisation
o (Portlets)
• Straightforward access to services for users
• Value-added for users
• Service providers can see the value to their users
• Don't build an extra tier into architecture

15. Branch line?
UCL
UoB
Under construction?
• No money (really!)
• Lightweight development
• Existing technologies
• 3rd party services?
• A "page of buttons"
• Is any of this the "anti-portal"?

16. The making of the Anti-Portal: Pt1

17. The making of the Anti-Portal: Pt2

18. The making of the Anti-Portal: Pt3

19. The making of the Anti-Portal: Pt4