It is the first time i have entered a story on this system so excuse me if it appears in the wrong place...

This is not strictly speaking an iMIS story as this particular customer does not yet use iMIS, however the tools we have used for this site are iMIS integrated tools so this could very well have been achieved in an iMIS integrated environment. The site is www.musiciansunion.org.uk and this was built using vcGenius CMS 4.5 about a year and a half ago. Musicians Union are a UK based Labor Union and are part of the Trade Union Congress the body that represents all Labor Unions. Recently, the TUC voted this vcGenius site "Best Web Site" and you can read the full details here http://www.fishtech.net/site/cms/v4_newsArticleView.asp?article=378

I noticed that there are now a few CMS options that are available both via ASI and via aISP's and there are also now other hybrid solutions that contain both content management and also social networking/collaboration tools. I wanted to tell the channel about our approach to delivering web sites to our own iMIS users as it may be helpful if you have any similar aspects to your own situation.

We come across many different types of clients/iMIS users and our solution proposal to them is really based on an understanding of what drives them as organizations.

"We have just invested heavily in a new site and require iMIS integration"

For this type of user we would recommend that they stick with their current web site unless they have a very real need for change. There is nothing worse in my opinion for a client that has invested heavily to be told they need a new site and truly, there is a lot that can be achieved by way of iMIS integration with most sites. Our solution would be to use our Web Services for iMIS product to link to their iBO.Net enabled iMIS database and to work with the site developers to provide Login integration firstly and then to offer the use of our iMIS integration templates for Profile, events and billing for example which can be "skinned" as needed so that they integrate with the look and feel of the customers web site.

"We want to integrate to iMIS but dont want to have all our eggs in one basket"

These types of clients have a natural antipathy to doing all their business with any one organisation and no matter that as a supplier we would like them to, they percieve that having all ones eggs in one basket is an unacceptable level of risk. These clients will always look for market alternatives and take decisions based on risk perception rather than on purely what is the best technology solution. They will sacrifice functionality for a "feel good factor" and for these clients we work with their preferred web designer or CMS provider or in house team and we advise them on how to create a front end that should they (g_d forbid) decide at some stage not to use iMIS they can still get value from their investment in technology. For these users we look at what they want to achieve and then offer to work in partnership with their preferred supplier. Somtimes they just want a way of importing or exporting iMIS data, sometimes they want dynamic integration and we use iBO.Net or Web Services as the glue that binds it all together.

"We want to have a totally seamless fully integrated solution and design and integrated community and collaboration is a key requirement"

For these clients we often recommend vcGenius CMS since it is strong on design and can enable almost any web design to be used without sacrificing upgradeability. One of the nice things about vcGenius is it is simple to implement and train and so clients generally like it very much and can be productive quickly. What i like about it is that it has a clear structure and many social networking/collaboration features that can be switched on or off within each section of the content hierarchy so it is very easy to create groups in iMIS and then create private web areas or "communities" that allow collaboration in private over the web.

"We want to have a totally seamless fully integrated solution and hold one supplier accountable"

These types of organizations have a strategic view of the world and believe that it is less risky to hold one organization accountable so they tend to take the best fully integrated solution on offer and want everything to be as standard as possible. They believe that by taking this approach they avoid one vendor blaming another or upgradeability issues and if something goes wrong they can hold one technical support department accountable. This can work well and can reduce ownership costs but it comes at a price and that is that often the web site does not look very good, does not work very well, can have speed issues, may have more options available than are strictly needed or it may just not do what the end customer needs.

"We really want to develop a fully iMIS integrated system but dont want to lose our site design and force users to use a different interface"

For these customers we try to work closely with them and would normally offer one of two options. We had a client who wanted to keep the existing site design and create a fully iMIS integrated solution (www.bps.ac.uk) and for them we copied the existing site into our vcGenius 4.5 software and then used Web Services for iMIS and active templates plus our Applications Manager solution to build the new site but for others we worked with an existing web designer to provide full iMIS integration.

"We have already got a web site we are happy with and we now need to build much more community with groups and collaboration"

These types of clients could perhaps use one of the new Social Networking products that now have iMIS integration. We have signed on as a partner with Higher Logic and are attracted by the tight integration and the use of a modern SaaS platform. For those that need a more traditional platform perhaps as a members web site it is possible to use our own vcGenius product which also provides much of the same social networking and collaboration as Higher Logic.

It would be interesting to get any other aISP's views on the options...