Description

Initially, BDC had applied a very segmented approach in terms of both content and technological infrastructure. The BDC Websites (Internet, intranet, Extranet, etc.) were at first built on different platforms, and the costs associated with sharing functionality and content proved to be prohibitive. There was no integrated Web approach in use at BDC. Each Web application (Internet, intranet and Extranet) had been developed separately according to different functional and technical principles.

With more than 25,000 individual hits per month, the BDC Website was attracting a good deal of traffic. The BDC call centre was receiving some 150,000 calls every year, many of these dealing with requests for general information that could have been routed to the Internet Website. On the old version of the intranet, internal documents of general interest, printouts and request forms were posted without first creating an advanced interactive environment s that was satisfactory for employees. The old version of Extranet had only a secure loan request form without really developing the full potential to create a true partnership with existing clients.

Evolution

The overhaul of BDC’s new Website is part of an overall effort to refurbish Internet, Extranet and intranet Web portals all at once. The corporate portal is positioned to be a veritable virtual outlet through which users’ needs are listened to and processed as they would be through traditional channels.

Website: through profiling, the Website is able to show Web users quickly to the most pertinent information for them. The concept consists in profiling, qualifying and routing users to the section of the Website the most likely to meet their needs, while encouraging users with the most potential to interact, converse and communicate with BDC.


Extranet site: a secure Extranet section is entirely dedicated to clients, giving them access to account management and customer service functionality, business tools, financial calculators, and more. Clients thus have access to a variety of tools and self-service functionality as well as personalized online services.

Intranet site: a complete research and analysis procedure was run on the existing intranet system towards reorganizing and proposing a new structure and a new navigation model. The approach consisted in analyzing the needs of personnel based on useability and knowledge extraction methods. An information architecture was devised on the basis of these results. With this architecture, navigation paths can be created that are easy to understand and remember according to needs linked to different user tasks. The architecture recommends reorganizing the information so as to make key content and tools as directly accessible as possible.