How would you define the success of ITHAKA's Portico digital preservation service?

Introduction

Defining the success of ITHAKA's Portico digital preservation service requires a comprehensive approach that considers multiple stakeholders and the unique challenges of long-term digital archiving. To address this product success metrics problem effectively, I'll follow a structured framework covering core metrics, supporting indicators, and risk factors while considering all key stakeholders.

Step 1

Product Context

Portico is a digital preservation service provided by ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving scholarly content. The service aims to ensure that academic literature, journals, and e-books remain accessible to researchers and institutions in the long term, even if the original publisher ceases operations or the content becomes unavailable through other means.

Key stakeholders include:

1. Academic libraries and institutions (primary customers)
2. Publishers (content providers)
3. Researchers and scholars (end-users)
4. ITHAKA itself (service provider)

The user flow for Portico typically involves:

1. Content ingestion: Publishers submit digital content to Portico.
2. Preservation: Portico processes, validates, and stores the content securely.
3. Access: When triggered, Portico provides access to preserved content for subscribing institutions.

Portico fits into ITHAKA's broader strategy of supporting the academic community by ensuring the long-term availability of scholarly resources. It complements other ITHAKA services like JSTOR, which focuses on current access to academic content.

In the digital preservation landscape, Portico competes with services like CLOCKSS and national library initiatives. Portico differentiates itself through its focus on serving libraries and its trigger-based access model.

As a mature service, Portico is in the maintenance and growth stage of its product lifecycle. The focus is on expanding its content coverage, improving preservation techniques, and ensuring long-term sustainability.