Percussion Projects:Approaches & Strategies

or I can't believe it's not XSL

Introduction

Odin has been involved in many successful Percussion CMS projects (Rhythmyx)

Percussion ExperienceListening to the customerFlexibilityHigh level project methodologyAgile DevelopmentKey decision points

Upgrade?

Faster DevelopmentImproved Content Authoring experience Publishing PersonalisationImproved Deployment

Identify Business Case and Key Requirements

Before starting a project there needs to be business case.

Listen to the users and developersUnderstand the issues they are facing Prioritise issues and identify big wins What issues will be corrected by upgrade What issues 'may' be corrected by upgrade

Work out where the bottlenecks are in the process

Manage expectations

Understand the 'current issues‘ fullyCommunicate the what will definitely be resolvedFocus on the new functionality and positivesEnsure Project sponsors and end users have same Ensure resourcing is planned fully before startingUAT throughout the project - so people get a feel for the changes.Prepare for the worst, but expect the best

Planning and Resourcing

Type of ProjectSection development of site

New Content types and templates

Manual/Automated Migration

Upgrade Platform upgrade Template code change Automated Migration Manual Migration

Rebrand of site New templates Code reuse

ConstraintsResource AvailabilityBudgetTimelinesDependencies to other projects

ApproachesPhased Approach / Big BangMentoring Development team / Outsource all developmentPost Implementation planning

Reducing risk 

CustomisationsIdentify 'custom' areas that could cause issuesCommunicate with PercussionMay be better ways of implementing

EnvironmentsTiered Architecture (Development, Test, Pre-Prod, Production)

Should comprise fully separated set of components

Virtual Servers Flexibility to increase capacity Initial High cost – but savings over longer term Simpler rollback and cloning facilities

Agile MethodologiesRequirementsDevelopment planning and implementationTesting

Rollout timingsWeekends/Evenings allow most flexibility

Starting the Project

Analysis of current systemInitial RequirementsInitial DocumentationIssue ManagementDevelopment Source Control

During the Project

Project Management and LeadershipDocumentationIssue ManagementContinuous Integration testingDevelopmentFlexibilityDo not be afraid to change approach if it is

not working

Go Live/Rollout Steps

Be positive Aim to upgrade over weekends Prepare an Implementation Plan Ensure the end users are prepared Rollback

Post Implementation Steps

Measure performance increasesProject ReviewProject WarrantyPost implementation Support

In house development team supplemented by Odin on-demand consulting and Percussion SupportOutsource all Application support to Odin On-demand Consulting and Product Support to Percussion