Showcase | New Internet en Intranet environment for the Dutch House of Representatives

Project: Development, implementation and configuration Intranet and Internet environments.

For their new Intranet environment, one of the Dutch House of Representatives’ basic requirements was a communication platform which allowed system administrators and editors to record, manage and publish information easily. They were looking for a suitable content management system to cater for this need. They also wanted to allow for the possibility that the CMS could be used for their future Internet environment. They also sought a competent partner who would implement the system in a professional manner.

Choice

HintTech has been involved in the design, development and implementation of the House of Representatives’ Intranet for a number of years. The House’s proposal was a perfect match for both parties’ experience with previous projects for diverse government departments. These projects were always developed with Tridion Content Management System, a leading European supplier of advanced XML based Enterprise Web Content Management software. With Tridion software, content can be easily managed and is suitable for multiple use.
HintTech has been active in building and implementing Tridion CMS systems since 1997. The HintTech Tridion specialists have successfully carried out diverse projects locally and in other countries. HintTech has executed Tridion projects for the Taxation Department,  the Water Board, the Ministry of Defence, Delta Lloyd, ABN-AMRO, Canon, Toyota, and the Social Insurance Bank, to name just a few. HintTech is a certified Tridion partner and has, with more than 30 Senior Tridion Engineers, one of the largest expertise centres in the Benelux.
Tridion’s newest product, Tridion R5, helps organisations such as the House of Representatives to make effective, efficient, and maximum use of all of their content. Tridion R5 offered the House an integrated solution, using different sources and channels. The Tridion Content Management System has a number of advantages:

• All employees get direct access to relevant information and expert advice,
• Operational consistency is guaranteed over all departments,
• The construction is flexible and easy to use,
• It offers optimal manageability,
• It improves liaison with citizens and partners,
• It helps you maintain up to date content in all specific websites which serve different communities,
• It reduces operating costs,
• It allows you to manage your institutional trademark in all channels.

In this proposal, the choice was made for a fixed price project. This meant clarity and control over the project for both parties.

The combination of experience and expertise in web design, technical implementation, project management and also the possibilities of the platform itself were the deciding factors when choosing to work with Fabrique (web design), HintTech (project management and technical implementation) and the Tridion products. Additional reasons for the choice were HintTech’s experience of working with the government and their systematic approach according to the Tridion Methodology.

Execution

All parties involved had a clear role in the project organisation. This way, misunderstandings could be avoided. The project was led by a project manager from the client side, who reported to the project sponsor and the project board. The project organisation was based on the Tridion Methodology, a structured approach for the execution of Tridion projects.

A typical project organisation for a Tridion R5 implementation comprises of four teams: an infrastructure team, an interaction design team, a content team and a publication development team. Each team in the project had a clearly defined role:

• The infrastructure team was responsible for installing the necessary hardware and software environments for both Tridion R5 and the websites. This consisted of integrating these new environments into the existing environment, load balancing and security.

• The interaction design team determined the appearance and structure of the website, including the site map, the navigation and the definition of all of the front-end functionality.

• The content team defined all content items to be included in the site and, after they were trained in publishing in Tridion R5, they were responsible for entering and publishing the content. For optimal project management, we advised that this group be limited to the most important content owners. When the project was finished, other members of the organisation were also able to contribute to the website in the role of author, publisher, editor or chief editor.

• The publication development team was responsible for building the site in Tridion R5 according to the requirements defined by the interaction design and content teams. The team leader and the application consultant were responsible for creating a technical design.

Internet environment

The positive experience of the structured approach and the technology during the implementation of Intranet has led to the House of Representatives choosing to work with HintTech again in the implementation of their Internet site. This is also based on the Tridion R5 Content Management System. This site received the “Drempelvrij” stamp in June 2008. This is a hallmark given to sites which pass th