|
|
The department was not in a position to acquire, install and train the operating staff in the set-up of a Web Server to support this project in the short time frame presented by the project plan. APWSS had developed and made available the Alberta Government Web Server in January and we were able to negotiate the use of their server for the project. Acquisition of the AFRD Web Server is now complete and the set-up and training is underway with a projected implementation in October.
Equipping the Project Barley Team
The Executive Committee, Implementation Committee and the Information Seekers & Providers all required access to the Internet to participate in the project. In some cases the required hardware was available and these people were provided with the workstation software and SLIP access to APWSS and the Internet.
A number of the participants were not adequately equipped (50%) and required either additional hardware or telecommunications to be added to their workstation. As a fall-back, two workstations were equipped in the ITSD computer room to allow those individuals access to the Internet until they could be equipped.
Some of the Information Seekers & Providers were located in offices outside the Edmonton area and were connected to the Govt AGNPAC network node closest to their location. This proved to be a problem because of the dial-up access port availability in these areas was low.
Desktop Software
The project team decided to use Netscape 1.1 and take advantage of the capabilities of the package for graphical presentation. This choice caused some problems for users with other browsers which did not have the same features as Netscape 1.1.
The dial-up software (Trumpet Winsock) used for the project was shareware and although not very complex, came with little to no support. Future software packages should be commercial if possible and come with full support.
Packaging of all of the software Browser, TCPIP, Newsreader etc. should be standardized and tested more fully before implementation.
Information Migration to the Web Server
This aspect of the technology used on the project seemed to be the least troublesome. Procedures from content creation through verification and placement on the server were developed early and worked well.
Technology Supporters were very positive about the project and see this type of technology as a major change driver in the way the department does business. They were pleased with their ability to "come through" and "deliver" in such a short time. The group is pleased with the amount of learning and knowledge they have gained as a result of the project and the technical progress that has been made.
Overall there were a large number of technical glitches and problems for both staff and producers. Some producers expected more technical and software support from AFRD.
The was a great deal of variation in quality of support from service providers . It appeared to be location specific rather than provider specific. In some cases providers were extremely bad in their support in other cases they were extremely helpful.
Hardware requirements should have been better defined for participants in advance of the project.
Departmental staff were frustrated at times with the technology support, but felt it was largely a problem of resources. They said Systems needs more people to support this initiative
The user of this information agrees to the terms and conditions in the terms of use and
disclaimer.
Copyright © 1999-2000 Her Majesty the Queen in the Right of Alberta. All rights reserved.