Authored by: Jeff Hansen, Lead CMS Architect
Many of our clients often find themselves managing a multitude of websites. Often these sites serve distinct purposes but there are often benefits to considering consolidating these multiple sites into one authoritative site. Some of the advantages of consolidation include cost savings, ease of management, streamlined maintenance, strengthened brand identity, and enhanced user experience. Recognizing the complexity of this journey, WayPath has developed the OnePath Solution™— a tailor-made, systematic approach to multi-website consolidation.
Core Tenets of the OnePath Solution™
The success of any consolidation process hinges on foundational principles. At WayPath, three tenets form the basis of our approach:
Cross-Functional Teams: Diverse expertise fosters innovation. By leveraging a range of skills, we ensure a collaborative environment that expedites decision-making and guarantees optimal outcomes, always keeping user satisfaction and budget considerations at the forefront.
Transparency: Clear, open communication is vital. Our commitment to transparency ensures all stakeholders remain informed. Regular check-ins and detailed weekly insights eliminate ambiguity, fostering a climate of trust and collaboration.
User & Stakeholder Involvement: A user-centric approach defines our methodology. By continuously involving end-users and client stakeholders, we guarantee solutions that resonate with the audience and align with their needs and expectations.
A Five-Phase Journey to Consolidation
Our approach is systematic yet flexible, designed to cater to unique client needs:
- Strategy: Using our Six Pillar approach to digital strategy, we create a comprehensive framework through which we view the remaining phases. By collaborating with stakeholders and conducting vision workshops using methodologies such as Mobius and IDEO Design Thinking, we are ultimately able to help clients prioritize outcomes and business value over a laundry list of requirements.
- Requirements Gathering: Our Agile methodology embraces change, including changing requirements, but we must start from somewhere. We create epics (“Implement a user account management system.”) and high-level user stories (“As a user, I want to register for an account so that I can access members-only content.”) to populate a product backlog that allows us to estimate the timeline, resources, and cost of the consolidation effort.
- Design: With requirements in hand, the fun begins. During the design phase, we focus on the visual design of the future state site, the system’s technical design, future state content strategy, and migration strategy. With a firm foundation, we are ready to begin to build out the vision.
- Implementation: Our iterative development process allows for changing prioritization throughout the process and engages stakeholders frequently through demonstrations and knowledge transfer sessions. Whether two sprints or 20, our solid methodology remains the same and allows us to quickly deliver value to our clients.
- Continuous Measurement & Innovation: Websites are never truly done. As the business and content evolves so do the needs of the site, creating a constant backlog of enhancements and functionality. By monitoring the impact and effectiveness of the site, we can prioritize future work and align the investment with the value delivered.
The Way Forward with WayPath’s OnePath Solution™
Remember, consolidation isn’t just about streamlining your digital assets-it’s about optimizing your business for a more efficient, profitable, and user-focused future. A future that not only stands up to the evolution of the digital landscape but embraces change and innovation as a core part of the journey.
Contact us today and let’s turn the daunting into the doable, and the intricate into the intuitive. Your digital future awaits, and we’re ready to walk that path with you.
