A global design software leader sets high standards for the experience that greets the tens of millions who cross their digital threshold each month. Visitors may be among the top creative minds or novices just starting out with this client’s solutions for design and digital interaction.
The client looked to enhance the performance of the complex and sophisticated systems that were behind the client’s digital front door. These systems served web production needs for sites in 64 countries and more than 30 languages, with some of the highest-volume sites in the world.
Taking its global web production (GWP) to the next level with the right partner was essential. The client turned to HCLTech due to the history the company had of successfully completing similar programs for other global players.
hours of manual effort eliminated each month
publishing projects delivered in first 18 months
countries in 30 languages with better web experience
The Challenge
Creating enhanced experiences
The three-year project began in March of 2020 and encompassed web production—authoring and publishing content for new products and special projects, modifying existing product content and ensuring content quality.
As a result of operating in challenging COVID lockdown environments, several processes had to be streamlined including timely onboarding for new team members and rebadging those employed by previous client vendors. In addition, team members had to be trained and certified to operate with HCLTech methodologies and processes.
Operating with COVID restrictions required remote work to be enabled for team members and custom client-specific configurations and policies had to be created for laptops. QA procedures and checklists, independent audit practices and dashboard creation were also streamlined.
Meeting an aggressive go-live plan for a project of significant scope is challenging under ideal circumstances. Beginning this journey during the earliest stages of the pandemic tested the creativity, flexibility and determination of everyone involved.
The Objective
Great experiences across multiple geographies
HCLTech strived to serve the client’s global web production needs for delivering an outstanding experience globally for visitors and users. Meeting this objective required collaboration with five major business units across geographies including stakeholders from product marketing, field marketing, ecommerce, and localization teams.
The Solution
Designing smaller workflows, communication cadences and competencies
HCLTech proposed a solution to support global web production needs for millions of visitors that was built for effectiveness and ease for the fundamentals of workflow designs with proven operating models, methods and practices, ongoing talent development and a strong communication cadence at every level.
Developing operating models to align with work methods across geos and teams
The HCLTech GWP team developed operating models aligned to the way the client’s US, international and content QA teams performed their work including:
- Aligning the model in the US to work with the client’s business units by including 44 publishers in 19 small HCLTech squads.
- Internationally, the model assigns responsibility to owners for one or more of the geography sites. Content is then adapted to the geography’s currencies, local language and site designs. The international team then manages geographic rollouts for all business units. This is in contrast to the US model of aligning publishers to stakeholders.
- The Content QA model is a collaboration between the client and HCLTech, concentrating on performing QA tasks on the assigned projects, story allocation and issue resolution.
The operating model workflow is created to be agile. The JIRA request first comes to the US track for authoring and content QA, then the content is rolled out to all geographies after validation by the international team.
Raising team performance by building competency
The program focused on building team competencies as talented teams with the right skills are indispensable. Team members received end-to-end training and assessments provided by a 12-member internal team from HCLTech. In just over six months, 47 team members completed the client’s proprietary sites business practitioner exam, enhancing their authoring skills and capabilities.
Delivering regular communication at every level
Success of this program depends on strong, clear and direct communication at regular intervals, including:
- A strategic review is conducted twice a year to examine service metrics, forecast demand for upcoming quaters and evaluate new initiatives.
- A supplier review and a business review are done monthly to examine project health, identify any risks and review plans and operations for the next month. These reviews bring together the HCLTech and client executive sponsors, directors, and delivery and operations managers to promote transparency and proactive, timely decision-making.
- A status review is done weekly to examine SLA adherence, track and prioritize backlog, resolve issues and plan capacity. These also help identify and intercept any emerging concerns before they can turn into full-fledged issues and address quality, identify best practices and mark areas for improvement.
The Impact
Reduced hours of manual effort with excellent client satisfaction
In the first 90 days of the project, the initial ramp-up of 70 team members was complete, the client’s vendor resources were rebadged to the HCLTech team and a weekly governance process was established. During the next 90 days, the project advanced to steady-state governance on schedule without compromising quality. Two new instances were launched, and the QA process was enhanced.
In the quarters that followed, HCLTech continued to deliver key accomplishments in quick succession. By the end of the first year, a second phase of 35 team members were onboarded, 47 associates were certified and 52 new sites were added.
In the second year of the project, the team launched the client’s annual conference that welcomes hundreds of sessions and speakers. Content for one of the client’s major contests was launched and the next stage of tasks and team expansion was also completed.
In addition to launching the client’s annual conference, the HCLTech team also migrated the entire portal to a new version of the client’s proprietary content management and digital asset management solution. A new creative software version was launched in the Americas and an online global event was launched for the developer/user community.
By the 18 month point, a five-fold increase in the size of the team was achieved to over a hundred with more than 6,000 publishing projects delivered to the client. By the end of year three, the team is expected to reach a total of 250 members.
Selecting HCLTech as its partner made it possible for this client to deliver enhanced website experiences to the tens of millions of users who cross its digital threshold in search of solutions and knowledge that will supercharge their own creativity. As the client’s group manager said, “It’s great to see the dedication and flexibility from HCLTech to ensure that launches are smooth.”
Looking to the future, HCLTech is working with the client to define the web publishing roadmap and align HCLTech’s capabilities, processes and tools to ensure smooth execution. The next major milestones are adding new scope, revamping the whole publishing ecosystem to a new cloud-based platform and increasing QA and publishing automation. In a testament to the partnership’s success, it will be extended for another three years.
