Textron Inc. Consolidates Website Management to Reduce Costs and Enable IT to Work on Strategic Activities
 
 

Textron Inc. Consolidates Website Management to Reduce Costs and Enable IT to Work on Strategic Activities

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Textron Inc. is one of the world's best known multi-industry companies and is a pioneer of the diversified business model. Founded in 1923, it has grown into a network of businesses—including Bell Helicopter, E-Z-GO, Cessna, and Jacobsen—with facilities and a presence in 25 countries, serving a diverse and global customer base. Textron is ranked 236th on the Fortune 500 list of the largest US companies.

With numerous subsidiaries and more than 50 public Websites, Textron needed a Web experience management solution to centralize control, minimize costs, and enable more efficient operations. Specifically, the company wanted to take IT out of the picture as much as possible, enabling sales and marketing leads for subsidiaries to make Website updates as they deem appropriate for their business.

Textron worked with Oracle partner Element Solutions to consolidate its Website management systems onto Oracle WebCenter Sites. The implementation enabled Textron’s subsidiaries to adjust more quickly to customer demands and Textron’s IT staff to concentrate on other processes, such as writing code and developing new workflows, enabling them to enhance company processes. In addition, Textron can use Oracle WebCenter Sites to integrate its Website updates more closely with social media and mobile platforms, enabling marketing and communications teams to make updates anytime and everywhere. The initiative has enabled Textron to save money by freeing IT up to work on more important tasks, instituting new e-commerce and mobile initiatives to better engage customers, and by ensuring efficient Website management processes to quickly adjust to customer demands.

 
 

 
 

Challenges

A word from Textron, Inc.

  • "Oracle WebCenter Sites enables our IT staff to get out of the way and allow marketing and communications professionals to leverage their knowledge of customer needs to independently update Website content. In addition, the solution provides a foundation that enables us to integrate our marketing campaigns with emerging communications channels, such as social media and mobile platforms." – Brad Hof, Manager, Advanced Business Solutions and Web Communications, Textron Inc.

  • Consolidate management for more than 50 public Websites for subsidiaries, such as Bell Helicopter, E-Z-GO, Cessna, and Jacobsen onto one central Web experience management platform
  • Enable marketing and communications professionals at Textron’s subsidiaries to make Website changes—such as product offerings when new helicopters or airplanes are created—without having to work with IT
  • Reduce costs by enabling IT professionals to spend more time performing strategic tasks—such as writing code and project workflows—that ensure greater overall efficiency for the conglomerate
  • Develop e-commerce and mobile initiatives, as well as integrate Websites with social media, to enable subsidiaries to better interact with customers

Solutions

Oracle Product and Services

  • Used Oracle WebCenter Sites to integrate Web experience management capabilities for all Textron brands, including Bell Helicopter, E-Z-GO, Cessna, and Jacobsen
  • Developed Website templates to enable marketing and communications professionals to easily make updates to their Websites, without having to work with IT
  • Reduced Website management costs, as it costs more for IT to coordinate Website updates as opposed to marketing and communications
  • Enabled IT to concentrate on other activities to enhance overall operations for Textron, such as project workflows
  • Acquired a platform that enables marketing teams to integrate their Websites with social media and mobile platforms, allowing subsidiaries to make updates and contact customers anytime and everywhere—including through tablets and smartphones
  • Reduced the time it takes to update content on a Website, including press releases, by enabling communications professionals to make updates directly
  • Developed more appealing visual designs for Websites to help enhance customer purchases

Why Oracle

“We considered a number of products, but chose Oracle WebCenter Sites because it provides the best user interface. We reviewed customer references and analyst reports, and Oracle WebCenter Sites was consistently at the top of the list,” said Brad Hof, manager, advanced business solutions and Web communications, Textron Inc.

Partner

Textron is updating its Websites to Oracle WebCenter Sites on a continual basis. For bigger Websites, such as www.bellhelicopter.com and www.cessna.com, it works with Oracle partner Element Solutions. Element Solutions took the lead for the integration on those two Websites, completing the projects within expected time and on budget. Element Solutions finished the upgrade to Cessna’s site in 12 months, and Bell Helicopter’s in 6 months. In addition, Element Solutions used Oracle WebCenter Sites to develop a multilanguage global intranet for Textron’s 30,000 employees.

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