Government Department Enjoys a New Intranet
SMS Ref #: CS00016
A Government Department had evolved into several separate units, each with its own intranet site, with little cohesion and no common web publishing approach.
The Government Department, in development of an essential intranet business solution, had evolved six separate services, each of which had little or no cohesion or common approach to web publishing. This organisational approach had resulted in:
- multiple sites, each with own look and feel
- diverse navigational systems
- end-user frustration
- lack of credibility
- content duplication
SMS was engaged to resolve these issues.
SMS conducted an intensive investigation of stakeholder needs.
The SMS team set about a program of intensive consultations with large numbers of users and business owners. By adopting a ‘living with the business’ approach, we were able to add depth of perception to our work and speed up the process. SMS also ran a series of in-depth interviews with webmasters and a number of workshops. SMS then provided further direction on the mapping and analysis of existing intranet sites to identify high value content. Throughout the operation, the SMS team kept all stakeholders informed of progress.
SMS advised on the design, information architecture, governance processes and permissions model of the new intranet.
The SMS team defined the features of the new intranet:
- a common look and feel
- one information architecture
- integrated into the department’s intranet site
- underpinned by appropriate technology
- contains high value content that is focussed on the end user
- underpinned by a workable governance framework
- is part of a longer term strategy
The Government Department proceeded with the recommended development and the intranet's content was significantly enhanced in the process.
The department accepted SMS's concept development for the new system. SMS was invited to manage the implementation of the new system (including management of a team of up to eight staff to migrate all high value content to the new intranet, all in a very tight timeframe). The SMS team also participated in creation of over 1,000 pieces of new content, the decommissioning of legacy sites and the training of several hundred department users of the content management system. The new content included:
- business profiles for all businesses
- team profiles for the vast majority of teams
- application/tool profiles for key department applications and tools
- location profiles in the intranet for all major and some medium department estates