Installation for the Future: Sanitary Technology Expert Geberit Counts on e-Spirit for Content Management

Dortmund, Germany, August 25, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Geberit, European market leader in sanitary technology, has come on board the FirstSpirit content management system (CMS) of e-Spirit AG. Following the group website www.geberit.com, which just went live on August 8, all 40 country websites of the internationally-oriented Swiss group will be implemented with the central CMS. Through the provision of a common platform in which global content and product information are centrally administered and distributed, the Internet presence of the individual countries can be realized with savings in time and costs. Uniform layout and editing templates ensure compliance with corporate design. Through its broad scope of standard functions, FirstSpirit offers the technical foundations and provides the editors, around 100 in number, an intuitive environment in which the creation, administration and worldwide publishing of content are quickly and efficiently possible.

Convincing performance

In a multilevel independent selection process, e-Spirit was able to clearly win against ten other suppliers. Its solution, with its user-friendly interface, extensive “out-of-the-box” functions such as the historization of content and its simple reuse for various output channels and projects, was convincing. Thanks to the low requirement for training and the intuitive operation of the CMS, Geberit-IT was able to assist in the development from the very beginning of the project, and in a short time the employees in marketing were able to conduct initial testing and migration work. As a result, the group website was able to go live as planned after an implementation period of only four months. This approach and the accelerated implementation saved valuable time as well as costs. The global master templates in FirstSpirit, which are used both for the group site as well as for country sites, facilitate easy reuse of layouts and content and ensure a group-wide consistent web presence in terms of look and feel.

Seamless connection

FirstSpirit was also able to win points with Geberit with its flexible integration capability. Thus because the CMS is connected to Lotus Notes through an interface, the data contained there can be automatically uploaded to the website for job announcements. For the efficient integration of videos, Videomanager 5 of MovingIMAGE24 was integrated into the CMS, using the VideoManagement module for FirstSpirit. In this way, the editors can administer video data directly in the familiar editing environment of FirstSpirit and stream them for the websites. The integration of additional third-party systems such as a translation tool will follow in the future.

“With us, innovation is standard – that is a central theme at Geberit. Therefore we looked for a future-proof, scalable CMS for our websites. What was especially important was: In contrast to our old system which we developed ourselves, it had to be able to keep pace with the rapid development of new technologies. In FirstSpirit we found a solution that exactly meets our demands and that is distinguished through a high degree of user friendliness and an optimal cost/performance ratio. At the same time we have a reliable partner in e-Spirit who supports us through the migration phase and beyond,” says Rolf Züger, IT Project Manager at Geberit.

Portrait Geberit Group

The Geberit Group, headquartered in Rapperswil-Jona (CH), is the European market leader in sanitary technology with global presence. From the time of its establishment in 1874, the company has always been a pioneer in the sector, consistently setting new trends with innovative and comprehensive system solutions. Geberit operates sales offices in 41 countries and 15 production sites in seven different countries. It comprises the two product areas Sanitary Systems (Installation Systems and Cisterns and Mechanisms, Faucets and Flushing Systems, Waste Fittings and Traps, Shower Toilet) and Piping Systems (Building Drainage Systems, Supply Systems). In 2010, the Geberit Group generated sales of CHF 2.1 billion. The Company employs 5,800 people worldwide.

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