By way of comparison, there is a competing application, also free, from Copernic, not surprisingly called Copernic Desktop Search. At moment, it is perhaps more advanced than Google's. For example, Copernic's software scans same type of files as does Google's, but also scans music and video files and PDF documents, while Google does not. Both products can only scan Outlook or Outlook Express email at present.

But don't count Google out. Webmasters know it's never wise to do that! After all, they're still in beta with Desktop Search, and they are as surely aware of Copernic's product as they are of MSN. Google has both resources and motivation to not only keep but expand their market leadership.

The Mayor’s selected option

Hmm. Interesting, isn’t it. Not a clear-cut decision. There are good arguments for either approach. The Mayor’s decision will ultimately depend on (a) how sure he is of his own vision, (b) his financial and time constraints and (c) how changeable these factors are likely to be over time. In short, he has a trade-off decision of relevance vs. reliability.

Turning analogy onto Intranet Projects

In chapter 16 of my Intranet Portal Guide, I explore these concepts in a bit more depth.

However – put simply – answer for you will depend largely on how sure you are of your vision, support of stakeholders, availability of resources and degree of change in your organisation and it’s requirements.

If you are operating in a stable business environment and are well funded and supported, then waterfall offers real benefits. You could establish an Intranet Portal that is well founded, scalable and secure. If not, then RAD could offer you means to make some progress now at low cost and use results of your early work to build a stronger case for future investment. It also allows you to vary approach – or begin again – should circumstances or requirements change.

Most Intranet evangelists will find themselves perhaps in a mixed situation, where there is support and funding but there is also risk of rapid changes to underlying business environment and requirements. Here, I would recommend a mixed approach: Use a waterfall project to establish underlying portal infrastructure (as this platform will be bedrock on which you will build and needs to stand test of time). Then use a RAD method to build content and applications (developing solutions that are timely and relevant to businesses operating in a fast-moving and competitive environment).

About the author:

David Viney (david@viney.com) is the author of the Intranet Portal Guide; 31 pages of advice, tools and downloads covering the period before, during and after an Intranet Portal implementation.