Sector(s)
World Kinect, a Fortune-60 company, faced IT challenges with 42 Drupal websites due to rapid expansion. They sought weKnow's help to consolidate their websites for streamlined operations.
weKnow's solution included partnering with Pantheon for scalable infrastructure and implementing the Drupal Domain Access Module for central administration. Outcomes:
- 3X faster development.
- Simplified administration via a single interface.
- Enhanced security.
- Scalable infrastructure with Pantheon, reducing in-house management.
About the project
How weKnow Streamlined Digital Operations for a Fortune-60 Company
The problem
World Kinect had been experiencing accelerated growth beyond their projections.
In fact, they had been growing faster than Apple for the previous 10 yrs. They had 2,500 locations and over 8,000 employees worldwide. The accelerated growth was unfortunately accompanied by some strain on the I.T operations pertaining to their Drupal websites. They came to weKnow for help enhancing their operations on over 42 Drupal websites.
They wanted to consolidate the 42 websites into one Drupal multi-site installation to be able to control the code base from one installation of Drupal.
The challenges
We determined that the requested multi-site setup was not going to offer the client the flexibility and independence needed by each website.
Upon further investigation, we determined that the requested multi-site setup was not going to offer the client the flexibility and independence needed by each website.
Also, there was another major roadblock was their in-house infrastructure, setting up developer environments was taking 4 -6 hours. Further, the authentication process on their local system complicated the development process by hindering deployment through a myriad of false errors.
The solution
The solution we had to bring forward needed to solve two major issues, streamline development operations, and a stable developer friendly infrastructure.
Fortunately, one of our closest partners, Pantheon, had the infrastructure requirements we were looking to implement. Their infrastructure solved the development environment issues as well as scalable infrastructure for the websites. That was one problem solved!
We now shifted our focus to central administration of the websites, and what we recommended was using the Drupal Domain Access Module. This is a set of modules that combine to offer central administration of all website within one Drupal installation. It also allowed for the websites to have different domain names.
Overall project outcome?
3X faster develop-ment.
42websites. One interface.
Why Drupal was chosen
Drupal was chosen for its flexibility and scalability, making it an ideal choice for addressing the diverse needs of World Kinect's growing digital infrastructure. Its adaptability allows us to efficiently manage and expand their 42 websites while ensuring a seamless user experience.
Technical Specifications
Drupal version:
Key modules/theme/distribution used:
The Drupal Domain Access Module was chosen for its ability to centralize administration, support different domain names, and accommodate World Kinect's rapid growth while enhancing security and benefiting from the Drupal community's support.
