Working with a Vendor Partner

When working with our vendor partner, RDA, on a website project, the work is broken into two phases with a separate statement of work for each: Discovery/Design/Define and Build/Deploy. The first phase is to determine what needs to be built while the second phase is for building and launching the website. Details for the activities in each phase are included below.

RDA can work with units and University Communications and Marketing (UCAM) to develop a scope of work that includes the right mix of activities based on what the unit needs or wants and what the unit budget can support.

The table below shows an overview of who is involved with each activity and whether there are associated costs.

Phase	Activity	Required?	Lead	Costs
Discovery, Design and Define	Discovery phase project kickoff and onboarding	Yes	RDA	Yes
	Sitemap	Yes	RDA	Yes
	UX and visual design	Yes	RDA	Yes
	As is and future state workshops	Yes	RDA	Yes
	User research	Optional	RDA / UCAM	TBD
	Usability testing	Optional	RDA / UCAM	TBD
	Persona development	Optional	RDA / UCAM	TBD
	Content strategy development	Optional	RDA / UCAM	TBD
	Content audit	Optional	RDA / UCAM / Unit	TBD
	Technical review	Yes	RDA	Yes
	Content migration review	Yes	RDA	Yes
	Component mapping and gap analysis	Yes	RDA	Yes
	Scoping workshop	Yes	RDA	Yes
	Build and launch phase planning and estimation	Yes	RDA	Yes
Build and Deploy	Site configuration	Yes	UCAM / MSU IT	No
	End-user training	Yes	UCAM	No
	Build phase project setup, onboarding and management	Yes	RDA	Yes
	URL mapping	Yes	RDA	Yes
	Testing	Yes	RDA	Yes
	Front end development	Optional	RDA	Yes
	Component development	Optional	RDA	Yes*
	Third party integrations and related development	Optional	RDA	Yes
	Content migration Supported content migration: Manual assistance Scripts and execution Migration testing	Yes Optional	Unit RDA	No Yes
	Data import	Optional	RDA	Yes
	Launch support	Yes	UCAM / MSU IT	No

*Costs for component development may be covered by University Communications and Marketing if the component is determined by University Communications and Marketing to be of strategic, global use for campus. Development of unit-specific components will be covered by the unit.

Project Activities

See below for a description of all possible stages in a full project plan, including optional elements.

Discovery Stage

Planning

During the planning stage of a project, information relevant to the scope and execution of the project is gathered and stakeholders are aligned.

Possible deliverables:

Project brief
Project plan

Strategy

During the strategy stage, existing materials, resources and research are gathered to inform the project. Additional research work may be completed to fill in gaps and answer outstanding questions.

Possible deliverables:

Personas
Information architecture
Site maps
User flows
Journey maps
Experience brief (strategy)
Experience plan (technical)

Requirements

During the requirements stage, anything required for the website is documented. This could include things like analytics needs, goals and key performance indicators, content or feature requirements, and needs for system integrations.

Possible deliverables:

Measurement plan
Prioritized requirements
Minimum viable product, or MVP, requirements
Initial high-level content strategy

Design Stage

Architecture

During the design stage, the website plan starts to take shape. Tools like site maps, navigation concepts and wireframes show what page layouts could look like. User testing might inform decisions.

Possible deliverables:

Wireframes for main user flows
Site map
Navigation structure
Branding alignment concepts
Usability testing

Templates and Components

During the templates and components stage, page templates are created to streamline site creation. Components may be mapped to content and any necessary components are identified and detailed.

Possible deliverables:

Wireframes to specifications
Roadmap for new components
Prototyping
Content strategy
Analytics tagging plan

Define Stage

Specifications

During the specifications stage, any necessary development work is detailed and content plans are finalized.

Possible deliverables:

Infrastructure plan
High fidelity prototypes
Style guide
Content migration plan
Specifications and user story requirements for development

Develop and Deploy Stage

Build

In the build stage, the website is assembled.

Possible deliverables:

Templates
Components
Authoring environment
User story refinements for development work
Training

Migration and User Acceptance Testing

In the migration and user acceptance testing, or UAT, stage, content is moved into the website. The website is evaluated to ensure everything looks and behaves appropriately and as expected according to the specifications outlined for components and in the project brief. The website undergoes review and is prepared for launch.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much will Sitecore XM Cloud cost my unit?

The university covers all enterprise expenses for Sitecore XM Cloud, including hosting and user access. There is no cost to the unit for use of the platform.

Custom development work by MSU’s agency of record, RDA, that is specific to a website and does not serve a university-wide need will be at the expense of the unit.

Additional website-specific work by RDA, such as end-to-end website projects, will be at the expense of the unit.

We’re interested in hiring an agency to help with design and build. Is that possible?

Yes! University Communications and Marketing has an agency of record, RDA, that assists MSU with Sitecore projects. University Communications and Marketing can coordinate work between units and RDA and facilitate the contracts needed for Procurement’s processes. Units interested in a project estimate can contact Katie Kelly. Any work done by RDA will be at the department’s expense.

How does the relationship between my unit, University Communications and RDA work?

University Communications and Marketing has a digital experience program manager who will serve as the unit’s point of contact within University Communications and Marketing. This role will advocate on behalf of the unit in discussions with RDA and will represent university-wide experience needs and priorities in cross-campus planning efforts.

RDA will create a statement of work, or SOW, for each phase of a unit website project. Units approve an SOW and sign a memorandum of understanding, or MOU. RDA then bills University Communications and Marketing directly, and University Communications and Marketing will charge the unit. This makes the billing process more efficient by eliminating the need for requests for proposals or RFPs and new purchase orders.

Throughout a website project, the program manager and other University Communications and Marketing staff will participate in meetings and workshops, as needed, along with unit representatives and RDA staff. RDA staff will lead the unit through the project with the unit having full involvement and approval workflows throughout. Depending on the terms of the SOW, either RDA or the unit will be responsible for content migration.

Getting Started

To get access to Sitecore, a unit fills out a site inquiry form. From there, the program manager will contact the unit to explore the scope of the website and discuss the website creation process.

For units building a website on their own, a website request form is submitted to provide additional details necessary to create the website container; training is provided by University Communications and Marketing, and users can begin work.

For projects involving our vendor partner, additional meetings may be scheduled to initiate project discovery, define the scope of work and kick off the project.