The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) staff were experiencing frustrations with the limitations of their current SharePoint 2013 CMS and wanted to identify options for enhancing the functionality on their corporate website (www.vcaa.vic.edu.au) to better meet customer expectations.

Our first step was to gather the key functional requirements for the new website, so we conducted a series of research activities including an expert review of the current website and available functionality, analysis of site analytics and one-on-one interviews and a workshop with subject matter experts as well as desktop research of potential CMS and hosting options.

The research exposed the issues and gaps with the current website and recommended the high-priority functionality required to enhance the website and address future customer and business requirements.

Four options across a combination of CMS and hosting possibilities were described and assessed to ensure a more effective VCAA website.

The assessment of each option compared the level of risk in implementing the option, timeline for development and implementation, fit to high-priority functionality and costs for resourcing, development and ongoing maintenance.

The result was a preferred Drupal 8 CMS option with Acquia cloud hosting and support. The strength of this solution was its robust and flexible open-source software with extensive out-of-the-box components that would deliver the high-priority functionality identified by key VCAA stakeholders as essential to future business and customer expectations.

The final report enabled the VCAA Executive to make decisions regarding the future of the website based on documented evidence and considered recommendations.