My initial role at Volvo was based in Cambridge at the European headquarters and involved taking all of Volvo's fragmented hotchpotch of Internet sites and consolidating it into a seamless experience on one system.
It was a wonderful job. The people were great and I got to do lots of travelling, especially to Sweden, but also to the US and Brazil where I got to see the Iguazu Falls. My favourite part of the job was training staff on the new system which allowed me to meet people from all over the world. Our project team consisted of just 3 people (Mats, a dynamic and friendly guy, Caroline who I became very good friends with and myself.) But together we were a great team and we made a very substantial difference to Volvo's global Internet presence.
An article I wrote (2003)
This year, Volvo migrated its internet sites onto a new unified platform with a consistent design across business areas. Volvo Construction Equipment co-ordinated and managed this project on behalf of the Volvo Group. Here we discuss the background to Volvo’s new internet platform and the benefits it holds for future web initiatives.
The need for a new platform
Volvo’s internet presence was becoming expensive and fragmented as business areas increasingly did their own thing. Problems included a hotch-potch of different “looks and feels”, the use of more than 12 different content entry tools across the organisation and sites hosted on numerous servers, scattered around the world.
To solve these issues, a new unified internet platform was needed that would allow business areas to create, drive and own their own sites but, at the same time, extract synergies between them and ensure a consistent design across all sites.
The approach taken
A task force of business area representatives, led by Volvo Construction Equipment, was set up to find a solution. It was clear that a pragmatic approach was required using one design, one content management system, one global set of templates and one hosting solution.
It was decided that Microsoft Content Management Server (MCMS) would form the core of the volvo.com platform. MCMS was chosen for it’s ease-of-use and interoperability with other products and the fact that its out of the box functionality fit with Volvo's business needs better than any other product. Being an out of the box solution also meant Volvo could take ongoing advantage of upgrades and new functionality developed by Microsoft.
The project was led and co-ordinated by a programme center based in Volvo CE’s offices in the UK. The supplier group comprised of Volvo IT North America, Framfab and Microsoft. The project team consisted of representatives from Volvo HQ and Volvo’s business areas.
The project adopted a “think big, start small, scale fast” approach. Volvo CE’s global site became a pilot to validate the robustness of the new platform. Volvo Buses, Volvo Aero and Volvo Penta’s global sites were then rolled out, followed by Volvo HQ and Volvo Financial Services. Volvo Trucks’ global site will migrate by the end of this year.
What has been achieved so far?
The new platform has proved to be flexible and robust and multiple sites have now been launched across the world.
Global sites have been rolled out for HQ, 5 business areas and 4 business units. 16 market sites have also been launched across 10 countries as well as 11 Volvo country sites (e.g. www.volvo.co.uk ). In addition, Volvo CE has rolled out 4 dealer sites (e.g. www.lbsmith.com). In total, 180 editors across the world have been trained and are working in MCMS.
External exposure to the sites has been significant. Volvo.com sites on the new platform currently enjoy 38,000 visits per day from 32,000 visitors who view 250,000 pages.
Benefits of the new platform
The new platform provides several benefits and opportunities for Volvo’s web initiatives:
1. A flexible range of templates to choose from
The MCMS solution is template driven. Currently a shared set of 30 flexible templates has been created for editors to choose from, allowing information to be displayed in a multitude of different ways.
2. Shared templates make development and maintenance easier and cheaper
All business areas share the same set of templates. This means that all upgrades and maintenance of templates are done only once. Business areas are encouraged to suggest additions and improvements to the existing functionality of templates, allowing everyone to benefit. So far this year, over a dozen major template enhancements have been made to existing templates.
3. A user friendly CMS tool for non technical people
The content management system is easy to use and requires no technical knowledge. Just about anyone can do it after less than a day’s training.
4. A streamlined process for entering, updating and publishing content
MCMS allows multiple editors to work in the same site at once and different people can manage different parts of the site. Responsibility for updating content can be delegated to editors all over the world but control over the final version that gets published can, if required, be retained by a global or market infomaster.
5. The ability to share applications between business areas
In the past, business areas created their own applications, leading to much re-inventing of the wheel. The common platform opens up the opportunity for business areas to share applications. For example, several business areas now share the same “contact us” functionality. Volvo Penta and Volvo CE will soon share the same functionality for their dealer locators.
6. Content shared between multiple sites
The platform allows documents and product specs that are shared across multiple market sites to be stored and managed in one central place. Volvo Penta and Volvo CE make particularly strong use of this approach, saving much time and effort in maintenance.
7. The ability to seamlessly integrate applications into the new design
Existing applications do not need to be reprogrammed. Using i-frames, they can be seamlessly integrated into the site with minimum effort. The only requirement is that the “look and feel” of the application is consistent with that of the volvo.com design. Volvo CE has integrated its e-business applications seamlessly, with excellent effect. North America, for example, has enjoyed an increase in requests for dealer quotes by over 300%.
8. The opportunity to re-utilise MCMS for other projects and platforms
Volvo CE’s Dealer Sitebuilder project takes advantage of existing corporate content by reusing it on Dealer's Sites. This gives Volvo CE control over key brand information, while allowing the dealer to contribute his specific information. Volvo CE, Volvo Penta and Volvo Financial Services are exploring the use of MCMS as part of the Volvo eBusiness (VeBiz) platform for dealer extranets. Another project in progress is exploring the use of MCMS as a new platform for Violin.
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