Section 20.6. MSWeb s Achievement

20.6. MSWeb's Achievement

Nothing that the MSWeb team didwhether considering the initial problem, coming up with an approach, and developing the tools and expertise to make it happencan be described as revolutionary. Rather, these were rational steps taken to address complicated problems. So why discuss its work here?

Well, if you have ever worked in a large organizationor even many smaller onesyou know that what's rational isn't often what happens. The rational, the obvious, and the good often never make it off the drawing board, thanks to corporate strategies that change with the wind, extreme fluctuations in budgets, and, worst of all, the dreaded reorganization. And Microsoft isn't immune to such problems; one MSWeb team member went through seven different managers and had three title changes in just five months.

The MSWeb team has developed some neat taxonomies and tools. But we're recognizing the team for its most impressive achievement: successfully implementing a rational plan in a large, corporate environment. The team members understood that only a holistic approachone that accommodated content, users, and contextcould make a difference. They also knew that enterprise-wide solutions require sufficient timeyears, not monthsto take hold.

If you're taking on a similar challenge, we suggest you follow Vivian Bliss's advice:

. . . Improving information systems affects people, process and technologies. To not recognize that will spell doom. In other words, technology alone is not the answer. Just as merely tweaking the UI is not the answer, nor is building a taxonomy that is not flexible or able to be leveraged in publishing and finding. Another key is to have a multi-disciplinary team. Just one discipline does not have the answer.