Drupal Foundation Project Charter

Transcription

1 Prepared by Christina Konstantinidou, ITS Last Edited February 10, 2014 SOLUTION PLAN REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS DESIGN BUILD TEST TRAIN/DEPLOY MAINTENANCE Drupal Foundation Project Charter Executive Summary Advanced Drupal users have requested easy-to-access Drupal tools for building custom websites. This project will offer two services that fulfill the users request: a Drupal distribution package and a Drupal Feature Server. The Drupal distribution package will include an updated, tested and deployable version of Drupal; related Drupal modules; a university-branded theme; and the documentation necessary to use, support and maintain the distribution package. The Drupal Feature Server will serve as a repository for additional Drupal capabilities that will provide more advanced functionality for university Drupal sites. Using these two services, Web publishers will be able to increase the security, university-branding and efficiency of the websites they build. Business Need and Background The Drupal Foundation project will focus on providing a standardized base installation of the Drupal Content Management System (CMS) for use by web publishers across the university. Some of the highlevel needs identified from the UT Web Infrastructure project and the Digital Experience project are strongly tied with the business needs of the Drupal Foundation project. Those needs targeted by the Drupal Foundation project are: Improve the reliability and redundancy of centrally supported web publishing services. Provide a new and more widely used web hosting service with a wider range of functionality. The Drupal Foundation project will address the first point by the creation and distribution of a standard Drupal installation package which has been verified to meet university web publishing guidelines concerning brand and security. The standard Drupal distribution will increase the overall reliability of Drupal services across the university and is a direct response to requests for a basic set of Drupal functionality that can be readily expanded and used to create custom sites. The Drupal Foundation project will address the second point by the creation of a Drupal Feature Server, that will provide a variety of Drupal modules, templates, etc., that can be used to provide more advanced functionality for university Drupal sites. Both offerings will also reduce the time that campus Drupal developers spend on identifying, researching, and testing Drupal modules and solutions to shared problems. Page 1 of 5

2 Program Description and Scope This project will deliver a Drupal 7 distribution package that includes an updated and tested version of Drupal, related Drupal modules, a university branded theme, support and documentation. A Drupal Feature Server will be created and will serve as a repository for additional Drupal capabilities. Both of these services will be available through a website where users will download the distribution package or select and download individual features. The Feature Server will be accessible by any campus Drupal user and initially will include basic functionality. After the rollout of the Feature Server, users and ITS will be able to expand the list of offerings. The services will be available to all university web publishers. Primary users of the services will be advanced Drupal developers and application administrators who build, manage and maintain their own websites but who want to use a standardized Drupal version and set of modules. ITS will be responsible for maintaining the core Drupal distribution, the Feature Server and supporting tools. The actual theme and features that will be included in the Drupal distribution package and the Feature Server will be determined according to Drupal users needs, as defined by the project's Customer Steering Committee. Since this project will create new services, all related business process and service management documentation will be included in the project scope. While existing maintenance and support processes will be utilized for the new services, new processes will be needed to identify who will have access to the Drupal distribution package and the Feature Server services, where the services will be located, who will be able to contribute features, who will review and assess the added features, when the distribution package will be updated, etc. The four new key processes to be identified will include the activities of: 1. Access to the Drupal distribution 2. Access to the Feature Server 3. Contributions to the Feature Server 4. Updates to Drupal distribution Project Goals The Drupal Foundation project will support current Drupal users by providing useful tools for building and uploading custom sites that can be easily accessed. The new services will provide a common location of information, tools and features that Drupal users can independently access and share. The project will deliver the following outcomes: Users will have access to services that make it easy to publish and manage their websites by using the Drupal distribution package tools and documentation. By building websites with the standardized Drupal distribution package, web publishers will provide a more consistent, university-branded look and feel with more options and features. Website development costs will be reduced because fewer resources people and time will be needed to manage and support websites built on a common foundation. Drupal Foundation Project Charter Page 2 of 5

3 Technical support provided by ITS for these services will be more responsive and efficient due to the use of standardized technologies. Websites using these services will follow the university s security, accessibility and privacy policies. Project Schedule The schedule for activities through the approval of requirements is outlined below. Once the project requirements have been completed, the remainder of the work will be scheduled. A rough estimate based on high level requirements is that the project will be completed by fall PHASE FTE Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Plan 1 Gather Requirements 2 Solution Analysis Design Build Test Document and Train Deploy Program Management and Governance Role Name(s)/Organization(s) Responsibilities Executive Sponsor Julienne VanDerZiel, ITS Applications Review and approve changes in project scope, schedule and budget. Customer Steering Committee Amenity Applewhite, School of Architecture Francine Bray, ITS Applications Bryan Christian, University Communications Lori Lacy, LBJ School of Public Affairs Matt Mangum, Cockrell School of Engineering Michelle McKenzie, ITS Systems Steven Nevers, Moody College of Communication Ethan Persoff, University Unions Jason Ragland, Information Provide direction on project requirements and design. Provide sign-off for project deliverables. Make recommendations regarding changes to project scope, schedule, and budget. Drupal Foundation Project Charter Page 3 of 5

4 ITS Project Team Additional Stakeholders Security Office Sarah Snow, College of Fine Arts Sara Somabhatta, University Development Office Kevin Chang Jenn Coast Joe Goodman Christina Konstantinidou Raul Iglesias Designer (TBD) Tech writer (TBD) Campus Drupal developers and system administrators ITS Help Desk Information Security Office Produce deliverables, create documentation, and provide training and support. Project Facilities and Resources The following staff resources will be required for the project: Drupal Developer:.75 FTE, skilled in Drupal development Web Designer:.25 FTE, skilled in Drupal theme design Technical Writer:.25 FTE Software Tester:.5 FTE System Administrator:.5 FTE Project Manager:.5 FTE Testing will also involve representatives from the Information Security Office and the Web Accessibility Review Team. Hardware resource requirements will consist of new servers (virtual machines) to support the features server. As this project will deliver new services, additional staff resources will be necessary for on-going support. Stewardship and basic maintenance activities are estimated to require.2 FTE annually. Impact Analysis Current university Drupal developers and application administrators will be encouraged to adopt the standard Drupal distribution. This project will also create the foundation for future Drupal services that will be part of the new UT Web infrastructure and the Digital Experience Project. Assumptions A very limited set of features will be included on the features server for this project, under the assumption that additional features will be added as part of other upcoming Drupal projects. Drupal Foundation Project Charter Page 4 of 5

5 The Drupal Foundation project is independent from the UT Web Infrastructure and Digital Experience projects; it does not rely on or affect decisions that need to be made for either project. The university-branded theme will initially be very basic; it can easily be updated as branding standards change as part of the Digital Experience project. Constraints Risks The users must be able to download and install the Drupal distribution package on any server that meets basic system requirements for running Drupal and ITS will have to have the necessary toolset to support this. Resource availability may be affected by other high priority efforts, including the UT Web Infrastructure project and improvements for university emergency communications (including the off-campus emergency website and Revision History Version Date Updater Name Description /12/2013 C. Konstantinidou Complete initial draft /18/2013 C. Konstantinidou Updates in overall text and added changes in Project Governance and Assumptions 0.7 1/10/2014 C. Konstantinidou Updates in overall text and added changes in Project Governance 0.8 1/16/2014 C. Konstantinidou Updates based on the Director s feedback 0.9 1/21/2014 C. Konstantinidou Approved by the Director with suggested edits 1.0 2/10/2014 C. Konstantinidou Approved by the CSC with suggested edits Drupal Foundation Project Charter Page 5 of 5