It is in the interests of all associated with the service to make reasonable attempts to future proof investment in the subject gateway. In this chapter we will consider how concern for future proofing can influence the gateway's decisions as regards hardware, software and content. Good decisions in these areas will provide a sound foundation for the future of the gateway. We will give a brief overview of some issues related to planning for the future in an area of rapid technological change and introduce some thoughts on how planning relates to decision making in the context of subject gateways.

The continued existence of a gateway depends ultimately on a sound business model with assured income. The wider aspects of business planning and marketing will be dealt with elsewhere. Issues relating to system requirements and scalability are also dealt with in more detail in other chapters. In this chapter we will relate planning and decision making to the specific areas of software, hardware and content.

System requirements overview, Scalability

Different gateways will have different strategic objectives which will be expressed in the key characteristics of the services they provide and the level of innovation to which they aspire. Some gateways may wish to deliver services using the latest technology and to gain a reputation for introducing new features and incorporating the most recent software developments; other gateways may be more concerned with inter-working with legacy technology and content and may regard leading-edge technology as inappropriate. Some gateways will want to spend resources on research and development work, while others may want to identify reliable existing products.

Whatever the objectives of the gateway, some general principles can be identified which should inform decision making.

The gateway's decisions regarding hardware, software or content must take into account various imperatives. Each gateway must identify its own specific criteria and these criteria will differ depending on the gateway's priorities. However, there are some generic principles underlying the process of decision making which may be considered to be common to all gateways:

1. Planning for change.

Search services are a growth area in the fluid Internet environment. This area is characterised by rapid shifts; new products are coming onto the market, new gateways are being set up and new technologies and standards are being developed. In addition the sectors in which gateways are working (education, libraries, knowledge industries) are also subject to change. Gateways need to be aware of new opportunities offered by change and be flexible enough to exploit them. In practical terms, this may mean delivering services to new audiences, incorporating new data structures, inter-working with services which may be based on different technologies. It may mean migrating to new systems, merging with other services, or taking on new service areas.

2. Decisions need to be based on criteria that are aligned with the gateway's strategic objectives.

The gateway's strategic objectives need to be realised in day-to-day decisions. This means that all staff in the gateway need to be aware of the objectives and how they relate to their own decisions. For example, the choice of hardware needs to be informed by plans for growth, the choice of software must take account of the costs of inter-working with other services and the choice of metadata standards depends on users' search requirements and on the cost limitations for metadata creation.

System requirements overview, Metadata formats

3. Taking account of the environment.

Decisions need to be informed by knowledge of the environment. Who are the ultimate users of the service and what are their requirements now? How will their needs change? What are the priorities of the investors (funding bodies) and how can they be influenced? Who are the competitors? What are the differentials that distinguish your gateway?

The gateway will need to be aware of the effect of changes in the environment so that it can position itself to take advantage of opportunities, for example in the following ways:

• the system needs to adapt to new methods of data creation, new methods of service delivery
• modular design so that the system can change incrementally

Sound decisions regarding system and content will contribute to future proofing the gateway. However, lasting success depends on many factors outside the control of the gateway itself. Future proofing needs to be seen as just one part of the wider strategic planning process which gateways need to undertake.

Chapter author: Rachel Heery