CIPS (web3) Information Portal and CMS Integration
The Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) exists to promote and develop high standards of professional skill, ability and integrity among all those engaged in purchasing and supply chain management. CIPS assists individuals, organisations and the profession as a whole. Its headquarters are located in Easton on the Hill, near Stamford, Lincolnshire.
CIPS approached PSP with a view to replacing their website with a full e-commerce solution. They required a completely new site that could be used to provide information relevant to the business, plug in to third party systems, and be used as a tool to allow users to purchase memberships, event bookings, reading materials etc. Along with development of the site itself, CIPS also required a custom admin portal to allow them to track and administrate orders, run reports, administrate products and courses, and perform many more functions.
Requirements
PSP-IT have a long standing professional relationship with CIPS and have designed and developed a number of IT applications that enable CIPS to run their day to day IT operations seamlessly. Alongside the new website build and following an IT business review with CIPS, PSP-IT suggested additional developments that would allow CIPS to automate facets of their membership administration and events etc. The following requirements were identified;
• Custom administration portal - an easy to use administration site to manage products, orders, reporting, memberships, events and many other items
• Automatic Integration – Integration with third party applications and CIPS’ own in-house applications used to control items like memberships, event setups etc.
The requirements needed to be developed in conjunction with the website build so that they could go live at the same time as the website.
Solution
In response to CIPS' requirements, PSP-IT have developed a completely new administration portal. This custom site gives CIPS access to administration of website orders and shopping baskets, country settings, financial information such as tax codes, exchange rates and payment options, discount codes and vouchers, assessment centre details, fee settings and much more.
The custom portal is used alongside the Episerver CMS platform to fully administer every element of the site. Pages and content are setup and managed in EPiServer CMS. The products and other administration items that sit behind the Episerver pages and populate these are handled in the portal and the backend CIPS systems. This gives CIPS full flexibility to control every aspect of their website.
The portal is also used by CIPS to handle exceptions and any issues that may appear when a user utilises the E-Commerce aspect of the site. There will undoubtedly be times where issues can occur during the process of buying something online. The area of the portal dedicated to handling these issues allows CIPS to quickly and efficiently respond to, diagnose and fix any problems.
Beyond the development and in line with PSP’s commitment to quality and their ISO recognition, comprehensive test plans were created and utilised, and user guides were created to support user training, implementation and to ensure maximum buy-in from all stakeholders.
At the conclusion of this successful project and in addition to the new website CIPS now have the following fully functioning applications;
• Efficient and intuitive management portal system
• Seamless integration with third party systems and CIPS’ in-house systems
Where to find us
We'd love to welcome you into our office! We're only 20 miles north of Peterborough, conveniently just off the A16.
Carver House
Apex Court, Elsoms Way
Pinchbeck
Lincolnshire
PE11 3UL
