NTT Ltd’s new global website

“We were looking for a very strong Sitecore delivery partner. Kagool boasts a number of Sitecore MVP’s as well as well as having a solid track record in delivery.”

Senior Manager - Marketing Technology Services, NTT

The challenge

NTT Ltd appointed Kagool to support a website integration programme as well as develop a technical solution leveraging Sitecore, in a phased approach.  The first two phases of the project focussed on the design and development of a robust technical solution.  Sitecore knowledge transfer was crucial to ensure that NTT could take ownership of the platform in their own environment.  Ownership includes both technical support as well content management.

Subsequent phases of the project will focus on the integration programme.  Crucial to the success of the integration programme;  ensure that the user journey is not compromised in any way and ensure that all digital equity from the 28 brands is transferred over to the new site.

To coincide with NTT Ltd’s public announcement, the website had a hard go-live date of 1^st July. It was essential for NTT Ltd that its digital infrastructure supported this launch and that the project was delivered by a trusted Sitecore Platinum Partner.

“We partnered with Kagool because we knew they had the expertise and shared vision to build a best of breed solution that we could move forward with on a global scale.”

- NTT

The approach

Future proofing using Helix principles

The site was built with Sitecore 9.1 using Helix principles, this will future proof the website and lay the foundations for further development. Sitecore's marketing tools were used to ensure the re-use of templates and components for further sites and micro-sites. As part of the deliverables, we also developed a Tour de France micro-site for NTT as part of their team sponsorship, and a corporate site for the newly created holding company NTT Inc.

Collaboration

With the tight deadline given, the decision was made to work through requirements and build using an agile framework. This meant identifying and refining scope as we developed. Our design team provided design concepts for the NTT brand team to use as a foundation for the new brand entity. This was fed back to the product team who created the backlog which the development team delivered, focusing on specific goals and features for each sprint.

Our search marketing team provided strategic input around approaches to URL structure, keyword research, redirect strategy and full SEO technical specification to input to the backlog.

As a global technology company, it was important to NTT to use their own hardware and infrastructure. Our technical architects collaborated and consulted on architecture design with NTT and Sitecore to provide an optimal solution to meet their global needs. The requirement involved multiple cloud-based locations and databases, and integration of development, UAT, SIT and production environments.

Summary and next steps

Since the launch, website usage is steadily increasing

• 41% increase in page views within the first 3 months
• All three websites were delivered on time on under budget.
• Since go live, the product owner teams on both sides continue to collaborate to define ongoing work inline with NTT’s business goals.
• We have created a micro-site toolbox to enable their content teams to quickly and easily add new micro-sites to support their campaign strategy and are about to deliver theming functionality across 17 components giving more visual flexibility.

We are also working on lead generation planning via integration with Eloqua.

“Kagool’s agile methodology aligned with NTT Ltd’s own approach to delivering projects and we were also impressed with Kagool’s SEO capability”

Senior Manager - Marketing Technology Services, NTT

About Kagool

Kagool is a top tier Sitecore Partner that helps enterprise organisations with digital strategy, website development and all aspects of digital marketing. Kagool has offices in London, Manchester, Cardiff and New York. For over 20 years Kagool has been partnering with companies to successfully deliver innovative projects that drive their businesses forward.

We have one of the UK's largest teams of Sitecore specialists. Our team of highly skilled digital specialists includes 5 internationally recognised Sitecore MVP's, that are ready to find smart answers to digital challenges in web design, development, UX, Sitecore SEO, PPC or digital strategy.

Kagool's Microsoft Gold Partner accreditation means that customers can benefit from a unique set of Sitecore services, from web design and development, to 24/7 support and managed hosting on their private cloud, Amazon Web Services or MS Azure.