About
We have been in the intranet business since 1999, and in that time have carried out over 120 projects.
We have worked for clients in the UK, Europe, the USA and the Middle East. Our clients come from the public, corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors. Our smallest client had just 150 employees and our largest client had over 120,000 employees in 40 countries.
Intranet and search assessment – the 60 minute check
We have found that many potential clients do not have a clear sense of how their intranet and/or search measures up to current good practice. We can undertake an initial one-hour assessment at no charge other than for travel costs, reporting back within five working days. The objective is to provide an indication of the scope of the work that could usefully be undertaken to ensure that user requirements are met. There is no obligation to use our services. We only offer this assessment in the UK and Europe.
Ensuring intranets meet emerging business requirements
Many of our projects involve the development of a long-term intranet strategy and associated implementation plan to support the redevelopment of intranets which are no longer meeting the requirements of the organisation. Typically the project plan involves the five phases of work shown below.
Discovery and Vision
We assess how the the intranet is being used, and understand the emerging priorities for the business.
Technology & Resources
We look at the IT roadmap for the organisation, and establish the skills and experience of content contributors and users.
Impacts & Risks
A number of different development scenarios are assessed with stakeholders using the Intranet Focus Resource Impact Value Risk (RIVR) methodology
Strategy & Implementation
A three-year strategy is agreed with the project team, with a detailed implementation plan for the first two years
Governance & Evaluation
Specific recommendations are provided for the future governance of the intranet, along with a set of metrics the organisation can use to assess progress against plan
Making search work
We have over 35 years of experience in search technology and how to make search work for users who need to find the most relevant information as quickly and effectively as possible. We have developed a unique SearchCheck methodology that enables us to benchmark over sixty different aspects of search implementation and management. As well as monitoring developments in the search business we track emerging search technologies so that we can develop search roadmaps for organisations.
Information and knowledge management strategies
Increasingly we are asked to extend our work on intranet management into areas of information management, collaboration and knowledge management. This is especially the case when organisations are working towards the implementation of Microsoft SharePoint 2010, where in our view an information management strategy is of great importance in ensuring effective governance.
Content management and search software selection
We support the selection and deployment of content management software. We can develop a content management strategy, and from this prepare a formal RFP that can be sent out to a short list of vendors, and can then support the vendor evaluation process. We can carry out similar projects for the selection of enterprise search software and corporate portal software.. We maintain complete independence from any vendor.
Project management methodology
Each project is managed as a set of work packages, each of which has a specific deliverable. We agree and document a clear statement of the objectives, scope and format for all formal deliverables to a client, often using Prince2 as the basis for our project planning. A feature of our work is the way in which we use a risk management approach to prioritise the work programme. We provide clients with access to a web-based collaboration platform for the duration of the project. We like to develop frameworks for reports and other project deliverables at an early stage in a project that we can then review and modify as the project progresses.