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Honda WSI

The Honda Web Services Infrastructure mission is simple, to create the best website infrastructure in the automotive industry. The philosophy behind the construction of the WSI was in line with the Honda corporate philosophy. It appears as if this user doesn't have JavaScript enabled, or doesn't have the required Flash Player version.

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Project Mission

The mission is simple, to create the best website infrastructure in the automotive industry. The philosophy behind the construction of the WSI was in line with the Honda corporate philosophy.

View the mission

History and Timeline

The Web Services Infrastructure has experienced a brief but exciting history. Starting in 2009 it has become a self-propelling website infrastructure.

Introduction

The Web Services Infrastructure was started in December 2009 and continues strongly today. Led by Darren Wheatley, the Web Services team, under the direction of the Honda E-Business Committee, was tasked to refresh the suite of websites to become the best in the industry.

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Mission and Philosophy

"To create an interactive, enjoyable and fresh mechanism for serving Honda's rich media and content to the community by utilising proven, but recent, web technologies without discriminating against age or physical and technological limitations"

This mission seeks to meet the company philosophy by providing an easy to use mechanism for viewing Hondas range of efficient products whilst leveraging the concepts of ambition, youthfulness, sound theory, fresh ideas, productivity, enjoyment, morale improvement, harmonious work flow and the use of research to achieve a modern and exciting communication platform that will become a talking point in the industry. The goal is to impart the joy of buying in customers.

Content is of paramount importance for internet sites and the rich content from Honda must be used well. Each piece of information must associate with other areas of the site so that intelligent content serving can be achieved. This will increase usability and the overall user experience.

A customer target was created to show Core functionality, Expected functionality and functionality that will WOW customers. New Honda MPE websites based on the WSI must have include core and expected features as well as introduce as many of the WOW features as possible. The headings for the customer target are:

Core functionality – the base offering for an internet site
Expected functionality – what the general public have come to expect
WOW functionality – all the things that will make people go "WOW" when they see it

The following image describes the Honda MPE customer target:

History and Timeline

A number of projects have been successfully implemented since December, 2009.

These are:

In December 2009 the Honda Web Services Infrastructure was conceived.
In January 2010 Reactive was engaged as creative partner to Honda MPE and created the initial Honda Marine website concept.
In February 2010 RFP released for first website and WSI infrastructure.
In March 2010 Insigma Global Solutions was engaged as development partner to Honda MPE
In May 2010, IDCPA evaluated the major motorcycle manufacturers websites in Australia. Honda achieved 8th position.
In July 2010, the first WSI website was launched, Marine.Honda.com.au to showcase the Honda Marine engine range of products
In September 2010, the second WSI website was launched, Motorcycles.Honda.com.au to showcase the Honda Motorcycle range of products. View the Honda Australia Motorcycles website launch press release.
In February 2011, the Marine Microsite Team Honda marine was linked to the WSI API for registrations and authentication.
In March 2011, the Honda Member Area was launched, the first WSI website with authentication. The member area links to Hondas Salesforce CRM and Eloqua digital communication platform.
In May 2011, IDCPA evaluated the major motorcycle manufacturers websites in Australia. Honda achieved 2nd position, moving up 6 positions and passing all major competitors.
In May 2011, the third WSI website was launched, Powerequipment.Honda.com.au to showcase the Honda Power Equipment range of products. The Q4 2011 issue of the Honda Communicator (19.3MB download) describes its launch.
In August 2011, the fourth WSI website was launched, PoweredBy.Honda.com.au to showcase companies that use Honda engines to power their products.
In November 2011, the first complete WSI microsite was launched, www.CBR1000RR.com.au to launch the 20th Anniversary 2012 Honda Fireblade CBR1000RR. This website uses a completely different template structure to the previous websites and was completed in 2 days by a single developer, Andrew Clark, and costing no additional money ($0).
In October 2011, the fifth WSI website was launched using the initial template scheme, HART.Honda.com.au to showcase the HART rider training list of services and information about safety when riding a motorcycle.

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Services

Services are broken up into a number of different major sections which then contain a number of specific functionality. The following tree attempts to describe most of the services in the WSI:

Security - The security model is based around the Honda MPE ISD Security model;
- Active Directory Integration
- Group based policy model
- Microsoft .NET security protocols
- Enforced password policy and governance
- Multiple step password retrieval process with "secret question" facility
- Integrated account creation process
- Security exception alerting and reports
- Detached security monitor
Content Management - Many standard content management features have been included in the WSI;
- WYSIWYG Editor with basic formatting enabled (for site consistency)
- Automated Site Creation
- Dynamic Content Areas with automated navigation
- Access to multiple templates
- Publishing Workflow
- Scheduling
- Preview and authoring environments
Content Types - All the basic content types are covered, including some additional power user style features;
- Font replacement text areas
- HTML and Javascript content parts
- Headings and sub headings
- Links
- Images and image players
- Video and video players
- Sound and sound players
- Adobe Flash parts
- Formatted List parts
- Custom formatted form controls
Roles - A number of roles exist within the system to allow flexibility and to ensure the system is scalable;
- Customer (Member of the public)
- Member
- Special Content Member
- E-Commerce Member
- Head Office Staff
- Content Creator
- Content Approver
- Content Publisher
- Head Office Reporter
- Head Office Adminstrator
- System Administrator
- System
Templates;
- Homepage template, 2 x 2 with Flash banner
- Homepage template, 4 x 1 with Flash banner
- Dynamic content template (with SQL style syntax for cross-website data lookups)
- Promotion listing template
- Promotion interest template
- News listing template
- Image gallery template
- Video Gallery template
- Wallpaper download template
- Product listing template
- Product detail template
- Product comparison template
- Shopping cart template
- Shopping checkout template
- General Content template - 2 column, text left with image right
- General Content template - 2 column, text right with image left
- General Content template - Text with image centre bottom (full width)
- General Content template - Text with image centre middle (full width) and text
- General Content template - Text with image centre middle (full width) and text bottom right and image bottom left
- General Content template - Text with image centre middle (full width) and text bottom left and image bottom right
- General Content template - Image centre top (full width), text left, images right
- General Content template - Image centre top (full width), text right, images left
- General Content template - Image centre top (full width), images right, images left
- General Content template - Image centre top (full width), images right, images left, image centre bottom (full width)
- Login page template
- Registration template
- Retrieve password template
- Retrieve Honda ID
- Reset password template
Active Directory and Salesforce (CRM) Integration services - Salesforce to Honda Bridge;
- User exists - Check Salesforce
- User exists - Check AD
- Update User Details - Salesforce
- Update User Details - AD
- Update User Password - AD
- Update User Email - AD
- Update User Email - Salesforce
- Update User Asset - Salesforce
- Salesforce Housekeeping - Update all data
- AD Housekeeping - Update all data

People

People are the most important asset of a business. The WSI team works well together, specialising in specific areas to achieve the maximum benefit. Some of the key team members are:

Darren Wheatley is Web Services Manager and the creator of the WSI. Darren began working in the industry in 1994 and has approximately 17 years experience. His drive, analysis and understanding of business needs has led to the successful creation of the WSI.

Andrew Clark is the key front end designer / developer for Honda MPE and has expertise in HTML and CSS. Andrew began designing in 2004 and has approximately 7 years experience. He is the creative force behind the rapid deployment of WSI websites as his knowledge of HTML and CSS allow him to quickly design and implement the various Honda MPE websites. Andrew is also a pivotal resource for the Honda Communication strategy and company eDM creation and direction within Eloqua.

Chris Leask is the Customer Service and Warranty Manager at Honda MPE and is a key resource for the integration of Salesforce and Eloqua. Chris' knowledge of the business and internal workings of the Salesforce CRM are invaluable to the integration between the WSI and Salesforce CRM. Named the Salesforce to Honda Bridge (S2H), the project that links the CRM to the WSI is successful largely due to his input and assistance.

Louise Antoniou works at Honda MPE and is a key resource for Marine content. Louise has a complete understanding of the business and was able to provide all the content necessary for the website to be created and launched.

Emma Kershaw is the Motorcycles Public Relations officer at Honda MPE and is a key resource for Motorcycle content. Emma assisted to gather and organise the Honda Motorcycles website content for its creation and launch.

Susan Barca works at Honda MPE and is a key resource for Power Equipment content. Susan has an excellent understanding of the working of the Power Equipment division. Susan is also a power user of the WSI and is able to completely manage the Power Equipment website.

Haining Xing (Neil) is the development team project manager for the WSI. Neils grasp of the big picture and steadfast project management of the remove team is a key reason for the success of the WSI. Neil, and the team, are able to think laterally with requests and can anticipate required functionality rather than just implement the minimum. This is often reflected in the technical specification reviews and regular project meetings.

Kun Huang (Brandon) is the lead technical resource for the WSI and his software architecture is the foundation of the WSI. Brandon's understanding of requirements, documentation and ability to implement scalable, reusable code is an essential part of the WSI team success. Brandon works for Insigma Global Services.

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Honda Australia Motorcycles and Power Equipment Pty Ltd

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