In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, higher education institutions face the formidable task of harmonizing people, processes, and technology to create a cohesive and future-ready web ecosystem. One of our recently concluded projects on Website Audit and Assessment offered valuable insights into these challenges and underscores the importance of strategic alignment in achieving a sustainable online presence.
The Triad of People, Process, and Technology
A university’s web ecosystem is a complex interplay of:
| PEOPLE | PROCESSES | TECHNOLOGY |
| This includes web administrators, designers, developers, content editors, and other stakeholders across various departments. | The workflows and procedures that guide content creation, approval, and publication. | The content management systems (CMS), hosting infrastructures, and tools that support web operations. |
Aligning these elements is crucial for delivering a seamless digital experience to diverse audiences, including prospective students, faculty, alumni, and partners. Over 30 hours of one-on-one interviews with key stakeholders, decision makers and IT professionals helped in assessing the ground realities.
Challenges in Achieving Cohesion
The assessment revealed several key challenges:
- Diverse Stakeholder Needs: With over 200 websites managed by more than 20 units, each catering to unique audiences, ensuring consistent functionality and administration was complex.
- CMS Integration: The transition to a new CMS, Drupal, alongside existing platforms like WordPress, highlighted gaps affecting smooth collaboration between campus units and the central IT team.
- Resource Optimization: Balancing the allocation of human and technological resources to support the web community effectively was a significant concern.
- Communication and Collaboration: Facilitating open and efficient communication among stakeholders to foster collaboration and streamline processes was essential.
Strategic Recommendations for a Sustainable Web Ecosystem
To address these challenges, the assessment provided comprehensive recommendations:
- People: Optimize resources by defining clear roles and responsibilities, establishing a proposed organizational structure, and considering strategic hires or vendor partnerships based on the chosen infrastructure model.
- Processes: Streamline workflows to eliminate redundancies, enhance the ticketing system for prompt service delivery, and develop robust documentation and training programs to ensure business continuity.
- Technology: Implement effective strategies for managing the Drupal CMS while supporting other platforms like WordPress, ensuring data-driven decisions backed by industry expertise.
We provided short-term recommendations to address immediate inefficiencies, medium-term strategies for optimizing workflows and team structures, and long-term roadmaps to future-proof technology and governance models. Our holistic approach helped Marketing and IT teams break silos, streamline operations, and build a scalable digital foundation that evolves with institutional needs.
Managing a complex university web ecosystem isn’t just about technology—it’s about empowering teams and streamlining processes. Let us know if your web ecosystem needs an in-depth study and analysis!