BACKGROUND
Moët Hennessy UK Ltd is the wines and spirits distribution arm of LVMH the luxury product group. Moët Hennessy UK Ltd distributes such well known brands as Moët & Chandon, Veuve Cliquot and Dom Pérignon.
THE CHALLENGE
Moët Hennessy UK wanted a user-friendly intranet site that could be used by UK employees to source and store all shared documentation – from marketing collateral, sales forecasts and financial information to HR procedures and processes. In particular the site needed to be easy to use and very accessible for staff working from the Moët Hennessy offices in central London and remotely via broadband.
Jacqueline Rouse HR Director explains: “Prior to introducing the intranet you would typically find multiple copies of documents on our system which had been tweaked to suit different purposes and lots of emails flying around requesting template documentation. We wanted to encourage a more efficient use of our IT resources, reduce unnecessary email traffic and tighten our quality procedures with respect to shared documents. In addition we wanted a system that our UK employees would want to use and one which would be flexible enough to allow for future growth and adaptation.”
THE SOLUTION
Modcomp had already undertaken a number of successful projects on behalf of Moët Hennessy’s IT Services department and was appointed to develop the intranet given previous experience in this area and its status as a Microsoft Gold Partner.
“Modcomp was very flexible and responsive to our requirements from the outset,” explains Jacqueline Rouse. “The team worked with us to interpret our brief applying extensive knowledge and experience from other similar assignments. In particular Modcomp’s consultants spent time with the people who were likely to use the system to understand exactly what features would be most useful. This ensured that they became truly engaged from the outset.”
The Moët Hennessy intranet or ‘Wonder Wall’ as it has been named by staff to fit with LVMH’s new corporate values ‘Always Wonderful’, was the product of extensive team work between Modcomp and Moët Hennessy employees. This achieved a perfect balance between the design, structure and functionality of the site. Microsoft Sharepoint software was chosen as a basis for the intranet because it offered the ideal balance between off-the-shelf functionality and a tailor-made solution. Specifically designed to act as a single portal for shared documents it is easily integrated into other Microsoft software and provides an effective platform for the rapid development of other powerful customized applications. As a result the ‘Wonder Wall’ site was developed from start to finish in just four months.
CONCLUSION
Moët Hennessy UK’s intranet site ‘Wonder Wall’ went live in April 2008. Says HR Director Jacqueline Rouse: “The most powerful measure of the success of this project is the levels of traffic to the site. Our biggest concern was always whether or not staff would use it, but because it was developed with their input and it is simple to use it has been very well received. Not only did Modcomp develop the site for us, they also trained our people to use it. Now we have the ability to update and refresh content regularly ourselves and the site is generally viewed as an essential resource and information repository.”
Apart from site traffic, another key benefit of the intranet is the reduction in levels of email traffic which in turn has improved general efficiency and productivity as well as driving quality across the company. As a result of the success of this project in the UK, the intranet template is being rolled out across Moët Hennessy offices in Europe.
In addition to the core site, Modcomp has gone on to develop a number of associated applications. This includes an area where staff can order their personal allowances of Moët Hennessy products online linking directly with the company’s SAP systems and an application which allows Point of Sale materials to be ordered online on behalf of retailers.
Concludes Jacqueline Rouse: “We have been extremely pleased with the role played by Modcomp in meeting our brief. The resulting Sharepoint site has met our expectations in every way - in particular by providing us with a practical tool that is flexible enough to be developed and enhanced to meet our changing requirements. Already it is evolving beyond its original purpose as a central document sharing resource to also be a valuable internal communications tool. As a next stage we are considering the prospect of giving our customers access to certain areas of the site. The potential is endless.”
ABOUT MODCOMP
Founded in 1970, Modcomp has been providing data acquisition and system integration solutions for over thirty years, to a wide variety of markets as diverse as retail, financial, government, aerospace, energy, utilities, factory automation, broadcast and communications. Modcomp is an international company with a world-class reputation for bringing quality, high-performance innovations to its customers.