5 Portal Problems and Their Solutions

5 Common Portal Problems
& Their Solutions
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Highly effective intranets & websites


Who is Prescient?
o 11 years of rich history
o World-class intranet experts
o Strategic Internet & intranet consulting, planning & design
services to many Fortune 500 & big brand clients, small
and medium-size leaders
o More intranet engagements & clients than any firm (class)
o A well defined and proven methodology


Listen. Understand. Deliver.


Clients include…


Twitter hashtag

@intranet2 @tobyward


Today’s Agenda
o Why do so many portal project fail?
o Overview of 5 most common issues:
• Ignoring end-user requirements
• Failure to adapt to new generation of employees
• Underestimating cost/complexity
• No plan for content renewal
• Lack of governance model
o Q&A


High Failure Rates

40% % of portal initiatives that fail to
garner adequate adoption to
achieve ROI.
Source: Gartner, 2012 Portal, Content and Collaboration Summit


High Failure Rates

10-15% % of portal initiatives that are
scrapped altogether.



High Failure Rates

50% % of projects that take longer
to complete than expected



Problem #5:
Ignoring End-User Requirements


Ignoring End User Requirements

o Intranet is not a push medium
o Don’t always assume users want traditional intranet
content


Traditional intranet content

Source: Social Intranet Study, 2011


Business requirements
10 Super 9 8 7 Good 6 5 Passing Grade 4 3 Poor 2 1 Terrible

• Interviews
• User Surveys North America

• Focus Groups
Outside North America

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%


Solution #5: Gather Business Requirements

o Eases political tensions
o Gives employees a voice
o Ensures long term participation
o Breaks down silos
o Increases adoption rates


High Failure Rates

80% % of Internet users visit blogs
and social networks

Source: The Social Skinny


Problem #4: New Generation of
Employees


Problem #4: New Generation of Employees

41% say “Social media and networks, online
communities and other Internet
communications tools are important to
me in the workplace.”
Source: Insidedge Generational Communications Survey, 2011



Source: Insidedge Generational Communications Survey, 2011


What’s changing:

o Digital natives joining
o Baby-boomers retiring
o Always connected
o Personal/business lives blurred
o Accustomed to social learning


Solution #4: Start Planning

82% % of organizations without
Intranet 2.0 tools are
currently planning for social
media.



Solution #4: Start Planning
o Intranet 2.0 Collaboration Plan
o Social Media Guidelines for Employees


Problem #3:
Under Estimating Cost/Complexity


Problem #3: Underestimate Cost/Complexity
o Allocating minimum budget and timeline to planning leads
to bigger problems down the road.


Problem #3: Underestimate Cost/Complexity
o Intranet often collectively refers to many
disparate KMSs
o Scope creep
o Snowball effect
Corporate intranet

Other KMSs (CRM, HRIS, ERP etc.)

EVERYTHING


Solution #3: Underestimate Cost/Complexity
o Scope needs to be defined up front
o Minimum 6 – 8 weeks for Assessment & Planning
o 3 – 4 weeks for Technology Evaluation
o Phased approach


Problem #2: Lack of Fresh, Relevant
Content


Problem #2: Lack of fresh, relevant content
o Few organizations allow employees to rate content (e.g. 1-5 stars,
thumbs up/down).
o Only 29% have content ratings
o 14% enterprise wide use
o 24% have no plans or interest



Problem #2: Lack of fresh, relevant content
o Employees use inaccurate/outdated information.
o Lose faith in content, rely on less efficient means of
information retrieval (e.g. email).
o Intranet becoming less “sticky”.


Multinational Electric Company

38% say “Information/content is
not relevant to me”

Source: Prescient User Survey, 2012


44

Archived Documents are Grey

45

Solution #2: Lack of fresh, relevant content
o Lifecycle, not a one-time event
o Not a “set-it-forget-it” task
o Requires continual monitoring
o Solution: Content Management Plan and
Governance


Problem #1:
Lack of Governance Model


Problem #1: Lack of Governance Model
o Often an after-thought in many organizations
o Many orgs. still do not have
a governance model (22%).



o Those managing the intranet can be spread too thin.
o Many intranets are managed only by a handful of people.




46%
% of orgs. have two
to five staff dedicated to
managing the intranet.




o One intranet; many owners
• e.g. Corporate Communications owns content, IT owns the
technology.
o Gray areas


Solution #1: Lack of Governance Model
o Involves more people than just the day-to-day managers.
o Which one is right for your organization?


Q & A / Free consulting


56

Contact Us
prescient@prescientdigital.com
www.PrescientDigital.com
www. IntranetBlog.com

www.Twitter.com/intranet2
www.Communexions.com
416.926.8800


5 Portal Problems and Their Solutions

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