I'm just back into the office having braved the blistering heat to go out and demo EPiServer ro a prospective client. I've done lots of demos over the years of lots of different WCM platforms and I have to say I like EPiServer a lot. It was very easy to show off all the usual WCM features plus using the online form builder, extranet permissions based publishing, embedding flash etc. This system is so easy to use but fully functional. I want one.

 

RedDot version 9 was installed at the client's site today (well done Ken). Now the real fun begins. I find that I'm quite excited to see how the migration runs go. It's funny because migration runs were probably the most boring activity I was involved in during my time with Vamosa, the projects were interesting but the grey screens!! Now we have our very own grey screens and I can't wait (relatively speaking).

If you are interested in a demo of our Livelink WCM to Immediacy migration tool please just get in touch and I'm happy to set up a WebEx.

 

 

It has actually been underway for a while but I have been a little busy and have neglected to blog about it. We are now well into a migration from Obtree (Livelink WCM PS) to RedDot for a UK public sector client. We are currently moving six sites the largest of which is about 14 000 pages and so far everything is going very well. It has given us a good opportunity to load test the software in a less 'controlled' way than before. We have completed the content type design and I am in the process of writing up the mappings which have also been agreed. So, we will have a page to page (and object to content element etc) mapping and also an abstracted mapping to implement in the mim:switch Obtree to RedDot migration tool. 

 Once we have the RedDot content classes built on the client's server we will start the test runs. Watch this space.

I'm sitting in the departure lounge at Heathrow Terminal1 waiting for my flight home after attending the RedDot Community Day at Reading. More about that in another post. What's really impressed me (other than version 10 of RedDot of course) is the fact that I checked in, changed my seat and downloaded my boarding pass in about 3 minutes. So what that's not that impressive? Well I did this on my mobile phone and was sent my boarding pass as a MMS message which is scanned by security. No need for finding a printer and printing one off and then trying to remember where I put it. This was so convenient and easy. The down side is that to change my flight to an earlier one as I have three hours to kill would have cost me over £100. Easyjet would have done that for free. Still, the departure lounge is much improved since BA moved out and the domestic passengers are now encouraged to spend their cash in the shopping mall that is the lounge. Better find a cash machine.

 

I don't think there has been a UK holiday I've taken since 1976 where the sun has shone so much. Just back from a week in Center Parcs in Cumbria (except for Tuesday when I got  train to London for a presentation) and the weather was great. We had a really relaxed time (except for Tuesday when I got  train to London for a presentation) and my kids did so many activities they can't remember any of them. I now understand what my dad means every time he says 'that holiday was wasted on you'. In the nicest possible way.

Anyway back to work today and a boiling hot office. This week sees an EPiServer demo for Bargain Booze, the kick off of a migration project (Livelink WCM to RedDot) for Salford City Council, a migration demo for HS, more work on the Livelink to Immediacy migration project for VisitScotland and a meeting with a design agency with a view to forming a new partnership. Holiday? What holiday?

Glasgow is bathed in sunshine! Thanks to a most fortunate weather configuration this has been the case all weekend. There were 'taps aff' in the park, smiles on everyones faces, ice cream down most kids faces and not a cloud in the sky. We had some friends round for dinner on Saturday night and decided to spend the pre dinner nibbles and drinks in the back garden, eventually one of our neighbours very politely asked if we could move in doors at 2am. We spent the whole evening outside without the use of loathsome patio heaters, fantastic! The lack of cloud cover also afforded us the chance to spot a satellite speeding through orbit, a sight you're not usually going to see from the city. Long may it continue!

I have just been pointed at  a news article telling the world that Open Text is to acquire Vingette (see here) for about $310 Million US.  I wonder if someone should build a Vignette to RedDot migration tool or a RedDot to Vignette migration tool.

In reality I would probably choose EPiServer but then you may already have noticed a switch of focus.

I have just watched an interesting video from the Episerver Day 2009 conference entitled ' The End of Web Content Management and Other Welcome Developments' in which Tim Walters from Forrester tells why he thinks web content management has reached the end of its usefulness and what we need to replace it is WEM; web engagement management or web enablement management (working title obviously).

Many of the suggestions Tim puts forward are easily achieved with Episerver tools such as  community building using Episerver Community or making the authoring interface more user friendly with Episerver Composer  (check out the YouTube video for this). Not that Tim was highlighting Episerver as good at these.

Having worked with many WCM platforms over the past 9 years I am very impressed by Episerver and their approach to the market. It won't suit everyone but it is much admired in the Mimtech office and by several of our clients including the British Council. 

I  agree with much of what Tim Walters has to say and we are definately seeing a move towards greater customer engagement and a recognition that a web site is not an IT tool but a marketing and CRM tool that is constantly evolving and adapting to the needs of customer. 

I have just read an article on the BBC News site about the government's plans to get service providers to record activity on the internet to 'modernise police surveillance tactics'. They want to gather data on emails, phone calls and internet use including visits to social networking sites. "Communications data is an essential tool for law enforcement agencies to track murderers, paedophiles, save lives and tackle crime," Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said. The BBC went on to say 'Ministers say they estimate the project will cost £2bn to set up, which includes some compensation to the communications industry for the work it may be asked to do.'

I just find this too ridiculous to believe. Imagine what the police and social services could do of real value with £2bn. 

 

Boredom is not something I often suffer from, there's not much space for it here with the amount of work we have on. However, I am currently running an audit on a Livelink WCM site as part of a pre migration exercise and, as wonderful as our mim:switch Obtree/Livelink migration tool is, it is very dull to watch. Luckily the tool is also very quick so I can see light at the end of the grey tunnel.

Next I have the export log screen then the import log screen, the fun never ends.