Federal Energy Regulatory Commision
Challenge
In early 2019 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commision (FERC) looked to Mobomo for the redesign of www.ferc.gov. Our focus was on improving the experience of finding information for landowners as well as performing a full site migration to Drupal 8. In April 2020 Mobomo successfully launched the redesigned site and helped implement FERC’s first sitewide content management system.
Solution
IMPLEMENTATION Mobomo worked with FERC’s internal IT department to make sure the new website and supporting infrastructure was developed and migrated into production seamlessly. With Mobomo handling the design, development and application side of the equation and FERC IT handling the network infrastructure (Azure) and security components, a careful coordination effort was maintained to make sure all teams knew their roles and responsibilities and all FERC Change Management policies were followed. The project lifestyle was split into two phases. Phase 1 focused on creating the User Stories, visual components, and mapping of all components needed to move FERC’s web presence into a modern, enterprise system. Phase 2 was the build out and migration piece that led to a successful launch in mid-2020. Three Key Performance Indicators (KPI) of Success Migration of Legacy Content Moved over 6,000 static HTML files from an unmanaged file system to a Drupal database Created shortcuts and virtual links within Drupal so user bookmarks would not break Maintained existing Social Media connections and RSS feeds Training of Key Team Members Provided group and one-on-one virtual training sessions Developed user level and administrator documentation Created extended support hours for post-launch help and training refresher courses FERC Adoption of an Enterprise CMS Provided guided talking points for senior management to communicate the virtues of the new CMS Create adoption plans for content owners specific to their function needs Worked to mitigate launch and post-launch issues to maintain client confidence CONTENT MIGRATION As FERC.gov serves as the authoritative source for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission documentation and regulation reporting, simplifying the content model and migrating existing content to the new Drupal system were key success factors. In addition to migrating content, simplifying the content model was also key. The legacy site contained many files that were unused and created clutter and navigation issues. By providing guided statistical analysis of the legacy FERC.gov website, Mobomo was able to help them pare down their content model from over 20,000 static webpages to 6,000 dynamically managed pages within Drupal. Migrating 6,000 HTML pages into a database was a challenge for the team. By using a methodology of custom scripting (“site scraping”) and some manual page creation, Mobomo was able to move as much content as possible to the new system as quickly as possible. DRUPAL TRAINING Mobomo practiced the “Train the Trainer” methodology with FERC. This program provided extensive training to four key members of the FERC/OEA team with the intent that (with Mobomo’s support and documentation) they would train remaining staff as needed or identified later. This model saved FERC costs associated with larger training classes and allowed our training team to go “deeper” with a smaller training class. The team received supporting training documents to use as either future internal training materials or as checklists for their own content management roles. FERC IT was also provided with a series of governing and administrative documents as well as training sessions to support their effort of managing the Azure environment in which FERC.gov was hosted. While Mobomo would continue to provide training support and administrative resources, the goal was for FERC IT to largely handle the network infrastructure administration duties autonomously. Mobomo also regularly provided FERC’s Security and Change Request Management teams documentation and best practices information regarding systems and software implementations. FERC Adoption of a New Content Management System Mobomo worked with the FERC Office of External Affairs (OEA) to make sure the rest of the FERC agency was well prepared for adopting the new Drupal-managed website. In addition to the extensive training, Mobomo worked with the OEA management team to create a series of talking points which could be used for messaging with the FERC executive management teams and leadership. Talking points were also developed for new content management system users with a focus on building confidence in the system and illustrating how much of an improvement the new site was. Creating new, simplified workflows helped the content management team ease into their roles on the new CMS and continued training provided confidence and support as they navigated the first weeks of their new toolset. Working with FERC IT, Mobomo created support SLAs and processes for maintaining the on-going support of the website and ensured the long-term success of the newly modernized FERC.gov.
Results
Mobomo created a refreshed, modern, responsive Drupal 8 website that is mobile-friendly, section 508 compliant and has robust search capabilities. It also uses our Create-Once Publish Everywhere (COPE) philosophy leveraging reusable templates and content types so content can be redisplayed throughout the site in various manners such as articles, data feeds, events and calendar options. FERC IT was also provided with a series of governing and administrative documents as well as training sessions to support their effort of managing the Azure environment in which FERC.gov was hosted. While Mobomo would continue to provide training support and administrative resources, the goal was for FERC IT to largely handle the network infrastructure administration duties autonomously. Mobomo also regularly provided FERC’s Security and Change Request Management teams documentation and best practices information regarding systems and software implementations.
Mobomo
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