BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT promotes wider social and economic progress through the advancement of Information Technology science and practice. It aims to share knowledge, promote new thinking, inform the design of new curricula, shape public policy, and inform the public. As the professional membership and accreditation body for IT, BCS serves over 70,000 members in the UK and internationally, delivering a range of professional development tools for practicioners and employees.

The Challenge

In 2009, BCS commissioned Box UK to perform a retrospective evaluation of their website. BCS decided to undertake a comprehensive rebranding of their organisation, which provided a great opportunity to completely rebuild the site’s navigation, architecture and aesthetic design. A key project to emerge from the review was the creation of an online social network - we were required to design, develop and implement this new feature and any necessary functionality. The redesigned website and member area had to be integrated into BCS’s existing systems, including their Integra membership management system. 

Our Solution

Working closely with BCS, our UX team produced a series of recommendations to improve the site’s navigation and layout. For the member network our web developers created the Amaxus Social Media Module specifically for this project; as the latest version of Amaxus has been developed to offer a comprehensive content delivery platform, this was integrated directly into the installation, providing BCS with all necessary functionality for  a dedicated member network. A key challenge facing this project was the intergration of Amaxus with BCS’s proprietary database Integra, which held  the company’s membership information. To overcome this, an externally-developed API was implemented to allow Amaxus to access the Integra system and identify the user as a member of the network, which ensures the user session smoothly operates between the two systems.

"Amaxus 4 is a powerful, fast and sophisticated CMS that provides the platform we need to expand our online provision and capability", said Carl Harris, Website Manager at BCS.

The Outcome

The relaunch of the BCS public website and member network has been extremely well received. The network has been seamlessly integrated into BCS’s existing systems, ensuring the organisation now has an active, engaged membership base. We now offer the Social Media Module as a value-add option for all Amaxus clients. 

"Increasingly, organisations are looking for new ways to engage with their stakeholders online," said Benno Wasserstein, Managing Director at Box UK. "We are very pleased that the technical work that resulted from the BCS Member Network will now be made a permanent, value-add option for all Amaxus clients."

• 65,000 extra visitors to site in first month after redesign
• 36% increase in membership page traffic
• Award-winning - Best Use of Web/Digital in Transform 2010: The UK's Rebranding Awards

About Amaxus

With its capability as a market-leading platform capable of running multiple multi-lingual sites from a single platform,  and with a proven track record, Amaxus provides clients with functionality, flexibility and scalability. With over ten years experience building large-scale websites that enable users to create sophisticated content easily, our impressive client list ranges from FTSE 100 to international standards bodies and leading organisations across the UK public and  heritage sector. Amaxus is a product of Box UK, with offices in London and Cardiff, UK.

For More Information

For more information or to arrange a demo of Amaxus, get in touch.

Download the PDF