Sharp Electronics Corporation is one of the worlds best-known brand names, creating consumer electronics and business products that benefit peoples lives at work, at home, and everywhere in between. Worldwide, Sharp has some 58,000 employees. In Hong Kong, Macau and Southern China, the 300-strong team at Sharp-Roxy (Hong Kong)Ltd.(SRH)is responsible for sales, distribution, advertising, promotion and after-sales services covering the full range of Sharp products.

The Portal Challenge
Innovation that surprises; technology that inspires. These words are at the core of the Sharp credo. When SRH was faced with the challenge of creating a web-based showcase for its products, it knew it had to do justice to that demanding philosophy. Until experts from IBM Global Services (IGS) came on the scene, SRH had to rely on a local design house to provide conventional static web site content for presentation of product information. It was a solution that offered little in the way of additional value - added services.

So the challenge facing SRH was to build a fully featured portal.

SRH's decision to rejuvenate their existing web site came with a set of clearly defined objectives. The overriding aim was to deliver improved customer services and customer satisfaction. The portal had to present a significantly enhanced brand image, one that projected Sharp as a dynamic and innovative company. Improved efficiency was another key objective. The new portal should allow for quick and easy content update that can be done internally instead of relying on the external design house. SRH also wanted a system with interactive interfaces allowing customers to provide feedback, submit warranty registrations and enjoy many other benefits.

SRH decided on IBM after reviewing a shortlist of seven candidates. IBM's proven experience in building portal web sites, and its ability to implement and support a highly scalable solution, was a key factor in SRH's decision.

"We needed a partner with the ability to advise and support us on our long-term web strategy, "said Michael Tam, Information Technology Manager of Sharp-Roxy (Hong Kong). "We did not want to simply find a vendor with the lowest price and run the risk that it might not be around a few years later. Heavyweight, professional support from a world-class, trusted brand was a key requirement."

Professional services and superb products make the difference
Based on SRH's objectives, IGS' consultants did a detailed evaluation of the existing Web environment and worked closely with their IT development team to revamp the web site. A new portal architecture was designed and built using Domino Application Server running on a Windows 2000 server as the driving engine in the front end. This is supported at the back end by a WebSphere Application Server running on Redhat Linux and DB2 as the database management solution.

"We are very satisfied with the professionalism of the IGS experts. The right insight and advice has provided great value to us in coming up with the most suitable portal design," said Mr.Tam. WebSphere, Domino and Linux together offers SRH a cost-effective and highly functional portal solution which also maximises the return from their existing software investments. "We see it as a premiere web engine which is cost effective and ideally suited for future web application development" said Mr. Tam.

Reaping the rewards
The project commenced in September 2001 and the new portal went live in December the same year. The new portal has given SRH valuable differentiation and a new competitive edge.

The number of visitors to the SRH site increased by 47% in the first month after it was launched and the new features have significantly improved customer service. Customers can now download drivers and find dealer locations on the web site. They can do warranty registration on line which is faster and more convenient than sending warranties through the mail. SRH can now offer comprehensive product information on the web to help customers make the right buying decisions. New functions such as Membership Registration and Newsletter Subscription have dramatically increased the effectiveness of various promotional campaigns. All these increased customer benefits which directly help enhance customer loyalty that will translate into more business opportunities. The Domino workflow engine has enabled SRH staff to dynamically upload content such as press releases, product catalogues, product FAQ's, and dealer information on the web site.

Using the Content Management System (CMS) interface, user departments such as Sales, Marketing, Customer Service and others can set events in motion by submitting new content to an editor. The editor sends files through the internal workflow system built into IBM's Domino server, which in turn sends e-mail alerts, with the appropriate links attached, seeking approval from various parties of any changes. When the documents have been edited and approved, the user departments are notified so they can upload the new material themselves directly to the web site. While it took almost a week to upload content to the old web site, the job can now be done in a day or two.

Not only is the process faster, but it has saved SRH some HKD$250,000 a year too. This was the cost for outsourcing the content updating to the external production house that hosted the old web site. The savings arise because the new system is template-based; user departments can simply create new content and paste it in without going through the design and product on stages every time.

Continuing partnership
The availability and reliability of the portal will depend on the subsequent maintenance of the technology platform. To ensure quality support, SRH has trusted IBM Global Services with the 24x7x365 hosting services covering network equipment monitoring; security consultation & management; backup and recovery service; helpdesk support, as well as on- going maintenance of the server platform. SRH can also request additional storage and bandwidth on an as-need basis without making massive up-front investment.

"The professional support from IBM Global Services in this project, all the way from consulting, implementation and managed services to back-up and security has allowed us to offload much of our operational work," continued Mr.Tam. "This means we can focus our resources on enhancing the functionality of the portal to create more value for our customers. We have achieved a rare blend of world-class quality at an affordable price."

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11/2001
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