Getting started: Building a digital agency
So, if today’s reaction on Twitter is anything to go by, it appears that people are interested in following the development of the Collections Trust’s latest venture as it comes together over the next 12 months. We’ll be announcing a new Twitter account for this project shortly and in the meantime, we’ll be using this blog to keep track of things.
OK - the elevator pitch. Between now and March 2011, we’re going to be developing a whole new part of the Collections Trust which will provide the full range of digital services to museums, archives and libraries. Operating on a commercial basis, but still within our charitable purpose of connecting people to collections, this new venture is going to be a key part of promoting the principles and aims of OpenCulture.
When we say ‘the full range of digital services’, what do we mean? Well, this is still to be finalised, but the idea is to enter into partnership with a number of people and companies to offer support across the whole lifecycle of planning, implementing and running an online service. This might include:
- Consultancy services in planning the Digital elements of projects
- Support for specification and procurement
- Support in fundraising for Digital development
- Support in bid-development
- Web hosting for small/medium-sized institutions
- Cloud-based data hosting
- Website development, migration and quality-assurance
- Web application development
- Interactive & other application development
- Digital Asset Management Software as a Service
- Procurement of Collections Management software
- Hosted Image Library management, including retail & subscription services
- Legal advice
- Data brokering via the Culture Grid
- Digital Archiving & preservation
Blimey.
The idea is to create an agency as a ‘front-end’ to all of these services, and to broker them from 3rd-party partners in such a way that the client experience is (we hope!) seamless and integrated.
So, given that all of these things exist out there, why should the Collections Trust get involved? Lots of reasons, really. The first is that if we’re really going to achieve the ambition of OpenCulture to throw open the doors to the sector’s digital information, we need to enable a transformation in the use of digital media.
The second is that we know that a lot of the people we work with find their ambitions thwarted by the constraints of a Local Authority Central Procurement Unit or IT policy. If, as seems likely, Authorities are going to turn more and more to contracting-out, we think the time is right to develop an agency which can be contracted to work with Culture & Leisure services to open up Digital services to taxpayers.
Finally, we think that the process of finding and commissioning good digital services is too ad-hoc, too prone to risk and too inefficient. We want to bring to this agency the same trust that people have always had in the Collections Trust, and in the process to offer significant savings on current provision.
So, that’s it really. The next step for us is to take this proposal, give it more shape and get our Board of Trustees to kick the tyres and give it a thorough going-over. Assuming it survives this process, we’re into working up a full business-case and starting to put together our partnerships. We’ll keep you posted on the blog, but in the meantime, if you’re interested or have any suggestions, get in touch!
December 8th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
[...] OpenCulture » Blog Archive » Getting started: Building a digital agency openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk/2009/12/08/getting-started-building-a-digital-agency – view page – cached So, if today’s reaction on Twitter is anything to go by, it appears that people are interested in following the development of the Collections Trust’s latest venture as it comes together over… Read moreSo, if today’s reaction on Twitter is anything to go by, it appears that people are interested in following the development of the Collections Trust’s latest venture as it comes together over the next 12 months. We’ll be announcing a new Twitter account for this project shortly and in the meantime, we’ll be using this blog to keep track of things. View page [...]
December 8th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
So this is like a real-life equivalent to the online Culture Grid. Culture Grid makes connections between content and users: here’s some great content, and Culture Grid introduces it to an online venue where it’ll be exposed to a great number of users. With this digital agency, you’re creating a similar mechanism for know-how and services: here’s a LAM who needs quality help, and here’s this new agency withing the Collections Trust which can connect you to service providers. I could see how this would be quite attractive, especially if you get a consultation to clarify your needs before you get hooked up with a 3rd party partner.
December 8th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Fantastic idea Nick.
Can people from the colonies join it - or is this just going to be a UK play - i.e. UK projects - UK suppliers?
December 8th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Hi Gunter,
Exactly! Much of the genesis of this proposal is in the fact that sector organisations are at very different places on their journey towards open publication of cultural data.
Some are way, way ahead of us and doing amazing things. Many, however, are less well-advanced. If the dream of the Culture Grid is to become a reality, then we need to back the Culture Grid up with real-world services and infrastructure.
Also, and this is more of a personal view - there are great suppliers, and there are not so great suppliers. I deal with too many museums that are paying £60k for a website and £10k for hosting, and it means people are reluctant to take risks and try things out. By backing the Grid up with a real offer, I think we can make a real difference.
As you say, we’re planning to do this thing 100% in plain sight, to get the views of the sector. This in itself is interesting - any other organisation can mobilise to do exactly the same thing. But we don’t think it’s the idea that’s the critical success factor, we think it’s the implementation.
December 8th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Hi Paul,
Many thanks for your message. Not UK-focussed at all! One of the main partners in getting things going is a leading-edge Digital agency in Australia. Our aim is to assemble a dream-team of skills worldwide, so if you’re up for it, drop me a line offline and we’ll talk it through!
All best,
Nick
December 9th, 2009 at 6:54 am
Nick,
I’m going to be a dissenting voice on this one, I’m afraid.
If you’re commercial, you’re commercial, even if it’s all done via partners. Being commercial destroys your ability to act as a broker: you can’t be a player and be the referee at the same time. Essentially this holes the SPECTRUM Partners project below the waterline. Suppliers (apart from the chosen few) will see CT as competition, not a “partner”, because that is what you have chosen to be.
Being commercial also shifts your position and possibilities within the community. At present, many museum people contribute freely to the work of CT, on the basis that it is working for the common good. You may find that willingness evaporates if CT has a commercial arm.
I can understand your frustration with the poor or expensive services that museums can get, but surely the answer is to extend the approach you have already adopted for CMS, for example by starting a “CT Partners” scheme for website developers, web hosting companies, etc. Then you can encourage the adoption of best practice, provide some transparency over pricing, etc., and let museums choose the service they want to use, without compromising your own position. You would, in fact, be strengthening your existing “brand”.
Your description suggests that would be carrying across the “Collections Trust goodness” to the new commercial arm, making it better than other commercial operations. Unfortunately, financial realities will also be a factor, and you may find that the challenges of making this thing work impact adversely on the CT’s core operation. Even if you are using agencies to do the detailed work, you will still need to employ staff to monitor the whole scheme and deliver the consistent interface you describe above. And it’s not the easiest time to start a commercial enterprise, nor the easiest market to deliver it to.
Best wishes,
Richard
December 9th, 2009 at 8:44 am
Hi Richard,
These are really useful obsrvations, and many thanks for them. Some I agree with, others less so, but the main thing is that we need to understand and address these concerns as we go through the process.
There are a couple of points I’d like to address directly. The first being ‘if you’re commercial, you’re commercial’. I flat out disagree with this, I’m afraid, being an ardent champion of social enterprise. The Collections Trust, and the MDA before it, has operated on a quasi-commercial basis (or at least on a trading basis) for decades - and the proposed digital agency is very similar to the erstwhile MDA Services enterprise in the 90’s, which didn’t fundamentally undermine our role in the sector.
I also disagree that this does anything other than strengthen the SPECTRUM Partners Scheme - we are neither developing nor selling systems. Instead, we are doing something the Partners have asked of us for years - helping the sector to become better clients and more efficient purchasers of Collections Management systems. I am sure that some may regard this as competition, but once it is clearer what we are actually doing, I think people will understand this for what it is - which is essentially economically-sustainable brokerage.
The same is also true of the newly-launched Collections Trust Affiliates Scheme which brings together independents and freelancers with expertise and experience in specific sector disciplines. Again, this is a form both of brokerage and extension of our offer to museums.
You are correct in identifying the vital role that volunteer contributions play in our work - we are, after all, a very small outfit - but in my experience the majority of people understand the difference between the things we do for the sector and the things we do for money.
FInally, the straitened economic times affect all of us, and while Collections Trust continues to receive vital funding support from the MLA, we should not be complacent. Developing commercially-viable business models for some areas of our work enables us to sustain the rest - in this case the proposed agency will enable us to sustain and build on the Culture Grid. Remember that it is not that the Collections Trust is going commercial, but that we are building commercial activities to support the achievement of our core charitable aims.
I do not, as you know, treat the trust invested in the Collections Trust lightly, but I believe there is a legitimate model to be had here which builds on this trust, reinforces our role as brokers, but also enables us to support both the changing role and economics of the sector.
All best,
Nick
December 9th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Although I see the reasons for this development I am unconvinced that it is the best road to go down. Isn’t it just Discs-UK expanded? And how many museums used Disks-UK?
But say it was to take off… I worry that you are going to create a monopoly of ‘approved’ partner companies that actually leads to creativity and innovation being stifled. Competition, innovation, risk - isn’t that what drives us forward?
Yes some museums are paying far over the odds for web sites and hosting, but I’m not sure the answer is a digital agency. Knowing who to consult, some realistic costs, how to write a brief… up skilling people seems more important to me. And as digital work is becoming more integral to the work that museums do then we really should be ensuring that we have people with the necessary knowledge and skills.
I can’t help feeling that a digital agency will in a way cut museums off from the wider digital world - yet another silo!
Finally, working in a museum in a Local Authority I have to say I can’t see my LA buying into the idea of using a ‘museum’ digital agency!
May 13th, 2010 at 7:26 pm
[...] while since I’ve been able to update you about the development of our Digital Agency (see previous post on this topic), but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been [...]