This presentation was for a workshop at the Institutional Web Management Workshop in 2005: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2005/sessions/savory/ From the abstract: Dealing with external agencies for your web needs can be a frustrating experience - for you, as well as for them. Whether you're dealing with institutional IT services or a third-party company, there are many common problems that can occur. This workshop will take a look at the issues involved in getting the job done, including: * how to efficiently specify your work * how to pick an external company * how to check on and measure progress * how to sign off and quantify achievements * liaising between external companies and internal IT services * dealing with ongoing support and maintenance

1. Whose work is it anyway?
IWMW, Manchester, 6th July 2005

2. The problem...
• Where to start it?
• How to get it done?
• Who should do it?
• How to make sure it works?
• What is ‘it’ anyway?

3. The problem...
• Where to start it?
• How to get it done?
• Who should do it?
• How to make sure it works?
• What is ‘it’ anyway?

4. The solution?

5. The solution?
• To be determined

6. Some thoughts...
• Preparation
• Problem definition
• Resourcing
• Progress
• Completion

7. Preparation

8. What you need to know
before you begin
• Who is responsible for the project?
• Do you have a project leader?
• What’s the reason for the job?
• Internal development?
• Third-party deployment?
• Bid-related?

9. About internal
development...

10. Some suggestions
• Solve the smallest possible problem.
Incrementally.
• Have the smallest possible team managing it
(preferably one person).

11. About bids...

12. Writing bids
• Does the awarding body have special
requirements?
• Be aware of all the issues
• Get vendors / developers / technical
advisors involved before submission

13. Defining the job
• Scope
• Timescale
• Budget
• Requirements
• Users
• External factors

14. Problem definition
How to efficiently specify your work

15. Specifications
• Should you be writing technical specs?
• What’s the design methodology?
• Monolithic / waterfall?
• Agile?
• Hit ‘n’ hope?

16. Specifications
• ... or should you be trying to define the
problem?
• ... or what you want to happen?

17. Specifications, the XP way
• User stories
• Provided by you
• ...often with help from the developer
• ...or an analyst
• ...or marketing

18. Resourcing
How to pick developers

19. Criteria for selection
• Internal or external?
• Contractor, employee, service, company?
• Reputation, price, competence ...
• The Google effect
• The community effect

20. Selection process
• Have a formal process defined in advance
• Meet with them
• Is an RFI/RFP/RFQ stage appropriate?

21. Criteria and questions
• What is their background?
• What similar work have they done?
• What work are they doing at the moment?
• What are their methodologies?
• What is their normal daily rate?

22. Liaison
• How to keep internal and external
resources talking?
• Introduce them to each other early on
• Ask for policies/methodologies from both
• Establish clear communications channels
• Make conversation a default, not a
decision

23. Progress
How to check on and measure progress

24. Be involved
• Release early, release often
• Test in context
• Check documentation
• Measurable objectives: what are they?
• feature-based? time-based?

25. Getting what you want
• Change management
• Issue and bug tracking
• Iterations

26. Completion
How to sign off and quantify achievements

27. Signing off
• Have clear exit criteria defined at the start
• Signing-off as continuous process
• Do external evaluations early