Why Users Need Self-service Websites - Part 1
 By Nitin Paranjape
The problem
Traditionally creating and managing websites is strictly an IT affair. Usually end users cannot create sites, pages or content directly. Nor can they decide who should view/edit the site. This means that every small change has to be routed through IT. This leads to two significant problems: the IT workload increases and further, users do not get the desired level of freedom and flexibility.
Manage your website
Why do users need self-service websites? The answer is simple—to work more efficiently and effectively. But what kind of sites do users need to create? Well they do not need to create the primary public website. Also users cannot manage a complex Intranet with integration with different department systems such as HR, Finance, Sales, etc.
However, there are other needs which are eminently suitable for delegating the website management task to users. These needs are typically related to teamwork or collaboration. Users need to build sites for sharing things amongst each other.
How do users share things currently? There are two proven mechanisms: e-mail and file shares.
Both options have their own disadvantages. E-mails with lots of CCs and attachments are a nightmare. They create technical issues related to storage and bandwidth usage. But more importantly, such mails confuse people. Different versions of the same document may float across multiple mailboxes. It’s difficult to know where the final document is and who is currently reviewing it.
File shares are a potential internal security hole. In earlier versions of Windows, users could share a folder with just a few clicks. A shared folder, by default, was readable by everyone. This was a major internal security risk. Windows Vista (and Win 7) have solved this problem. If you try to share a folder, Vista/Win 7 will ask you for the names of users with whom you want to share the folder. In either case, file shares lock down the data to individual PCs. Server-based file shares are better, but controlling them is a challenge.
Despite knowing the disadvantages of both these methods, we continue to use them. Why? Because these methods work and are easy-to-use and more importantly—there was no other choice to share things earlier. Now we have a platform called Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) that allows this to be handled in a satisfactory manner.
Before we discuss WSS, let us address the issues with the concept of user self-service. What users really need is a mechanism of eliminating random CCs with attachments and large file shares.
Issues with user self-service
On the face of it, this idea of allowing users to create and manage their own websites sounds absurd and unacceptable from an IT perspective. Many issues and concerns crop up related to controlling security on the site, ownership of content, how to impart technical knowledge to end users and whose responsibility it is if something goes wrong.
Let us see how all these issues are handled by using WSS.
Controlled self-service
Users want to share various things such as documents, calendars, tasks, simple lists of information, announcements or even pictures. However, sharing today is primarily happening using e-mail.
E-mail was not designed for such things. For example, sharing your calendar with 10 project team members is cumbersome. Privacy issues also come up with large-scale sharing. The IT load for assigning sharing rights on mail folders may also increase.
We also usually delegate tasks by sending mails. This works, but it is almost impossible to track the progress/completion of tasks. Tasks sent as mails lie in the ‘Sent Items folder which is essentially crowded. Additionally, task delegation may involve only two parties, but others may still want to know the progress or completion status. This involves additional mails and CCs—further confusing the matter!
E-mail was primarily designed for person-to-person communication with few people on CCs (FYI). But we are misusing it to the greatest extent. This happens because the only method available to end users—which is easy-to-use and completely under their control—is e-mail. Therefore, we need a method that is equally easy and can be controlled by a user. That method is a self-service website created by the user, which can contain whatever the user needs. Here’s a simple example of how user self-service can transform productivity:
Objective
- To share a document with 20 team members for a project
- Make sure everyone always has access to the latest copy
- Everyone should know whenever there is a change to the document
Traditional method
- Create a document
- Mark a CC to 20 people with the attached document
- Whenever the document changes, mark a CC to 20 people with the attached document several times over...
Better method
- When a project starts, the project manager creates a new website just to manage the project
- She adds the team members to the site and gives them appropriate access
- She uploads/saves the document to the project site
- She sends a link to the document to all team members
- The link does not change even if the document is revised
- The team members automatically receive a notification when the document is changed
Now you can see for yourself how a user-created website can dramatically simplify daily work. In the next article I will cover more details about how we liberate end users by using WSS-based self-service.
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