Hands-on product testing

Now that the vendor demos are complete, the University will invite selected vendors to participate in our hands-on testing process (Phase 3). As the implementation of a new web content management (WCM) system will impact over 100 web content editors, it's critical for the University to get hands-on experience with each product before it makes its final selection.

During this phase, vendors will assist the University in configuring a fully-functional version of the product for testing purposes. Further, vendors will be expected to provide sufficient email and phone-based support to troubleshoot issues encountered during the configuration and testing process.

In the meanwhile, the University will invite selected members of its community to participate in hands-on portion. These campus participants will include web content editors, web designers, and current WCM system administrators representing key stakeholders at the University.

Campus participants in Phase 3 will be invited to attend a training session for each vendor's product, and will be given access to the product and instructions to complete a testing process. Testing steps and processes will vary depending on each participants existing web content management role. Test results will be documented using a standard form.


Results from the testing process will be compiled by the Core project team and reviewed, in consultation with testing participants as necessary.

Vendor demo wrap-up

We completed our 4 vendor demos yesterday. Two 2-hour demos per day was a somewhat grueling schedule for the participants, but we are happy to get them done quickly.

A big "Thank you!" to all the vendors that presented, as well as all those that have participated in our process thus far.

During the next week, we will be reviewing the vendor demonstrations in greater detail, communicating with our demo participants, and determining which vendors will be invited to participate in the next phase (hands-on testing).

We anticipate selection and feedback for vendors to be available during the week of April 22.  In the meanwhile, we may be in contact with vendors to answer technical questions about their products. 

RFP responses & vendor demos

We're happy to announce that we received responses to our RFP for web content management systems from the following vendors:

• HannonHill
• OmniUpdate
• Percussion
• TerminalFour

The RFPs have been distributed to the WCM Core Team, and are under review.

Vendor demonstrations are scheduled for next week, and are open to the campus community. Because space is limited, we request that campus community members RSVP to attend any of the demonstration sessions.

Demonstrations are scheduled as follows:

• Hannon Hill - Tuesday, March 9, 12:30pm - 2:30pm PST
• TerminalFour - Tuesday, March 9, 3:00pm - 5:00pm PST
• Percussion - Thursday, March 11, 12pm – 2pm PST
• OmniUpdate - Thursday, March 11, 2:30pm – 4:30pm PST

Click here to RSVP for the WCM vendor demonstrations

Location information will be provided to those that RSVP.

RSVP for upcoming vendor demos

We are scheduling vendor demos for the following times:

• Tuesday, March 9, 12:30pm - 2:30pm
• Tuesday, March 9, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
• Thursday, March 11, 10:00am – 12:00pm
• Thursday, March 11, 1:00pm – 3:00pm

Demos are open to all members of the CI community, but space is limited, so you must RSVP to attend. Location information will be provided via email to those that RSVP.

CLICK HERE to RSVP for the vendor demos now!

Vendor demo update

The next phase of the WCM evaluation process will include demonstrations by vendors. The 2-hour demos will help the University key system features. While the demonstrations are largely structured (in order to enable a method for comparison of features across products), each vendor will have an opportunity to showcase the unique strengths of their product.

Each vendor will receive the vendor demonstration agenda and a set of sample files to be used in the demonstration.

Vendors who are participating in the RFP are being contacted to obtain preferences for demo scheduling; however, participation in the demos will be determined by the University based on the RFP evaluation criteria. The demos will be scheduled for the week of March 8-12.

Project status update; RFP

The WCM Core Group met on January 7 to discuss the outcomes of the Phase 1 evaluation. 20 web content management products were evaluated according to the criteria.

There were 76 initial criteria; some criteria were eliminated during the evaluation process.
Each criteria was assigned a “Relative Importance” value (1-5, 5=highest importance) that was reviewed and approved by the Core WCM team.

In order to further narrow the field of candidates, the Core Group decided that comprehensive pricing and service information should be obtained by RFI or RFP prior to proceeding to the vendor demo phase. An RFP was created, and on February 3, 2010, five vendors were invited to respond to the RFP (in no particular order):

• Hannon Hill Corporation
• OmniUpdate
• PaperThin
• Percussion
• TerminalFour

Yesterday an optional virtual conference was held by University IT and Procurement staff for the offerors to answer any questions regarding the RFP. Notes from that conference will be appended to the RFP and distributed via email next week.

The deadline for the RFP response is March 1, 2010. We're looking forward to seeing the vendor proposals.

Phase 1 almost complete; about Phase 2

The product evaluations for Phase 1 are almost complete. The Core Team will meet again in early January to review and discuss the initial results and to select the vendors & products which will proceed to Phase 2.

In Phase 2, products which meet the Phase 1 criteria will be invited to present a demonstration of their product to the Core and Advisory group members.

A detailed demonstration agenda will be provided to vendors in advance, and CI participants will use a set of critera evaluate the vendor products. Each session will include a question and answer session.

Vendors who participate in Phase 2 will likely provide demonstrations via WebEx or similar technologies, though the Core Group can choose to have them come to campus to present their product demonstration.