This is a presentation for a panel discussion on the emerging role of a WebMaster. These slides and discussion will be presented at the CIO Conference entitled WebMaster Perspectives: Surfing the Business Potential Conference hosted by CIO Communications, publishers of CIO Magazine and WebMaster Magazine on August 11-14, 1996 in San Francisco, CA

WebMaster Definition

Webmasters are masters of persuasion. They must convince Executive Decision Makers, Marketing Moguls, Human Resource Warlords, Technological Wizards, and Individual Contributors of their mastery and expertise in using this new, mysterious, ubiquitous phenomenon – the Internet/Intranet (I).

The WebMaster is a unique individual capable of metamorphosing with the times. The WebMaster is an evolutionary whose roles and responsibilities change with each new pass on the effects of the World Wide Web on the organization. What we know today as a WebMaster will certainly change tomorrow. One thing is for sure; the role is emerging more and more as an Executive Knowledge Management position.

Overview – the Evolution

Introduction

WebMaster: Publisher

Stone Age:
		Find, install and navigate a browser
		Set up a simple in-house server
		Write in HTML, text, links, graphics
		Teach others

In the early stages of Web Development, WebMasters were self-appointed. They emerged from grass roots groups, perhaps from engineering or from a technology group. They knew now to ftp information across the network, install and configure software. They determined quickly how to serve pages from their workstation, PC or MacIntosh. They could write HTML code because it was as simple as WordPerfect codes. And they became the company evangelist, teaching others how to get started, what to do first to “get on”. They acted as pointes of contact for the emerging technology. Then, the marketing people showed up.

WebMaster: Communication Designer and Developer

Tool Age:
		Shop for tools: publishing, conversion, maintenance, metrics
		Rules for tools: establish policies, procedures, standards and budgets
		Integrate tools: database connectivity, interactivity

As people in the organization began to pay attention to the accessibility of information off web pages, they began to want easier tools to create better websites. HTML publishing tools, conversion tools, and website maintenance and metrics software needed to be evaluated, recommended and supported. In addition, communication standards and policies were established. Infrastructures had to be identified. Ownership of the web had to be established. Legal issues had to be tackled first, what could or could not be permitted on-line. Then, the WebMasters needed to group people together to get behind the tools, processes, and produce a single company voice that made their web uses clear. The WebMaster evolved into an administrative position, with more than average technical expertise, knowledge architecture design, and a marketing ambassador for the organization.

WebMaster: Business Analyst

Industrial Age:
		Identify Business Goals, ROI, and Competitive Edge
		Design Collaboration Models
		Strategize Workflow and Reengineering Models
		Customize to Delight the Customer

The WebMaster’s role changed very quickly when hundreds of organizations began pouring content onto the web. Suddenly, brand awareness, targeted on-line marketing, and competitive strategies became the skill du jour for the WebMaster. It was imperative to become familiar with the business goals of the organization, and realize how your Web Presence was going to affect the sale of products and services on the open market. Also, Intranets grew to prominence overnight, and many WebMasters were split in two – Internet WebMasters and Intranet WebMasters. One job dealt with marketing and external communications, the other required any equally wide range of skills: process improvement, business reengineering, quality issues, collaboration modeling, and learning organizations.

WebMaster: Technical Wizard

Electronic Age:
		Performance and Tuning of Websites
		Provide Security and Commerce Capability
		Integrate Web and Legacy Systems
		Business models, rules & database design for object-role modeling

WebMasters are more than business strategists in this age. They are required to be well rounded, and act as General Tactician as well. They must understand how to integrate the technology with the business strategies. They must be cutting edge technologists, who understand the requirements of client side image mapping and interlaced graphics. They need to understand how encryption works, and what makes a commerce server secure. How does EDI work, and how does the web client/server technology integrate with legacy systems without recreating centralized mainframe environments. They need to balance the high impact value of on-line transaction processing with real time customized, competitive Intranet websites that give their organization the leading edge of knowledge management.

WebMaster: Innovator

Cyber Age:
		Integrate Experiential Capability (Shockwave, Real Audio, VRML, Java, Sega)
		Market Innovation
		Automate Workflow
		Create Cyber Culture

Not only does the WebMaster need to know how to streamline all the knowledge applications onto the World Wide Web, or onto the sophisticated Intranet, but they must be integrating the latest technology to enhance the user’s experience. Award winning multimedia presentations are becoming competitive, integrating real life expert interaction in the form of chat rooms, streamed audio and video, and real time interactivity of results using Java are required stuff of the next couple of WebMaster years. The virtual reality shows, including the high intensity, discovery oriented Sega environment are all entering the dreams of the WebMaster at night. The skills required include software engineering development management, program management, change management, and multimedia expertise in audio, video, and virtual reality. It’s time to take a breath, now.

WebMaster: Partnership Maker

Global SimBusiness Age:
		Partnering with Telco, Cable, Software, and Entertainment Companies
		Develop Network Centric Applications
		Manage Virtual Orgs, Virtual Business, Virtual Universities
		Internationalize

WebMasters must partner and negotiate with critical technologies and key companies around the world. The technological mergers and acquisitions will be first, redesigning web architecture as we know it now. Mergers with software companies and business application developers who are network centric are occurring, and the skills for managing the mergers, analyzing the business opportunity, and cutting the deal are becoming even more driven into the WebMaster’s job.

WebMaster: 21st Century Knowledge Executive Network Producer

Xanadu Age:
		Nelson Ratings Website
		Fully Integrated, Interactive, Customized, Simulated Websites
		Big Name Producers, Directors, and Big Name Actors
		Seamless Global Communication

Ted Nelson, the visionary of the Xanadu Project, saw all business interlinked, accessing global repositories of information and services, education on-line, fully integrated networked computer systems providing multimedia and knowledge repositories for the expert development projects of the world. The 21st Century WebMaster’s talents will crystallize into a clear job description. The knowledge worker who has evolved through the rapid, Einsteinian era of web development, to web business strategist, to web innovator, will emerge as a high level information/knowledge executive, responsible for large network web productions. Much like executive Hollywood movie producers, the WebMaster will be responsible for the full integration of tools, business strategies, social institutions, finance, human networking and partnering, and innovation, creativity and validity of this new, mysterious, ubiquitous phenomenon – the Internet/Intranet.