The following are are the important feature and attributes by which we will evaluate our solution options, along with a ranking as to importance. Note that some relate to the CMS and others to the service provider. In other words a secure CMS can be hosted insecurely.
Scored criteria
Scoring should be on a scale of 0-5, where 0 means that the product/service doesn't meet the criteria at all and 5 means that it meets it fully or exceeds our expectations.
| Feature or attribute | Importance | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
Simple/usable editing interface (CMS) Users with low level of technical skills are easily able to create and edit content with no or a minimum of training. Users can acces suitable and affordable training resources. | Essential | 15% |
Hosted/cloud-based (Service provider) The CMS is available as a hosted service, either in NZ or overseas, where the server and software infrastructure are maintained by the vendor. | Essential | 15% |
Developers readily available (CMS) The technology must be 'mainstream', meaning that there is a ready supply of developers that can be hired/contracted should development work be required. No niche or fringe platforms. | Essential | 15% |
Support (Service provider) Users must have access to a help desk during NZ working hours as a minimum. Multi-channel options are desirable. | Essential | 15% |
Multiple sites and permission levels (CMS and service provider) The service can support multiple sites (even of different domains), each with multiple levels of access. Authentication can be integrated with the ITS service/source of truth. | Essential | 5% |
Server reliability/uptime, including upgrades (Service provider) The servers are available for at least 99.5% on a seven-day basis, including upgrades. Planned upgrade outages are outside NZ working hours. | Essential | 5% |
Plug-in library (CMS) There should be many plug-ins available to extend the core functionality with the minimum of development effort. Including:
| Essential | 5% |
Backing up, restoring and versioning (CMS and service provider) The CMS supports versioning of the content/sites and the associated review and rollback. The service provider either offers a back-up service or the service allows for auto backup via cron job or other program. We can restore our own files by yourself. | Essential | 5% |
Simple/usable control panel (CMS and service provider) Web Team (i.e. super admin) access to a useful and usable control panel to monitor and manage all sites on our instance | Desirable | 5% |
Templates (CMS) Easy templating to enable reuse of look and feel aspects. Readily available pre-built templates, even if pay-to-use. Good native support for responsive sites. | Desirable | 5% |
Integrates with our other shared services (CMS and service provider) The site can draw on our CDN The pages on these sites will display in home site search results (if required). Google analytics is available across all the sites. | Desirable | 5% |
Automating tasks (Cron Jobs, Auto Script Installer, .htaccess, SSI, content migration) (Service provider) Features to increase our productivity and ability to deliver a good service. | Desirable | 5% |
Other criteria
Scoring should be on a binary scale, so Yes/No, the product/service is acceptable when compared to this criteria.
| Feature or attribute | Importance | Scoring |
|---|---|---|
Security (CMS and service provider) The service must meet the University's minimum security standards. See DIA Cloud Checklist Template - To Vendor.xlsx | Essential | Yes/No |
Account conditions and suspension (Service provider) The terms and conditions must be acceptable and should be generous and transparent. | Essential | Yes/No |
Price (Service provider) We must be able to afford the price. Check sign-on cf renewal. | Essential | Yes/No |