Hitachi Europe operates across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, providing expertise in energy, transport, healthcare, public safety, R&D and robotics. They have a vast online presence, operating 27 international sites, each with regional variations and multi-language functionality.
In 2018, JBi Digital took part in an extensive selection process for the opportunity to partner with Hitachi and support their digital operations in Europe.
On being chosen as Hitachi’s new digital partner, JBi were tasked with providing strategic and technical support for their existing Drupal website, as well as utilising our creative team to enhance the website’s appearance and UX.
In providing ongoing technical and strategic support to Hitachi, we are required to coordinate with various stakeholders including Hitachi’s IT team.
We have implemented a process which ensures that code releases, security enhancements and backup procedures are implemented in a methodical and coordinated fashion, with timely sign off from all required teams and stakeholders.
A key aspect of our relationship with Hitachi Europe is to collaboratively review and make aesthetic improvements to their Drupal website, including the addition of new sections and microsites.
The Hitachi Europe home and careers pages, for example, have recently undergone redesigns. Hitachi wanted a fresher, more modern look and feel for these pages, reflecting their innovative brand and technology.
We have updated the appearance of these pages, simultaneously aligning them with and improving upon Hitachi’s existing branding.
The JBi design team has also created a number of innovative features to improve the site’s look and feel, including these animated infographics!
The Hitachi European Gateway and associated 27 regional sites needed to be serviced over HTTPS. The challenge of this project was to effectively manage the enforcement of SSL certificates while maintaining Hitachi’s strong SEO value.
All in all, there were over 4,800 pages to be updated, meaning that the JBi team had to plan, implement, test and release in a diligent and seamless manner. Each of Hitachi’s 27 regional sites had a number of complex redirects and settings that needed to be updated.
This project was combined with a re-direction and clean-up strategy involving thousands of irrelevant pages on the live site.
Overall, the SSL implementation was a success and Hitachi’s IT and customer teams were very pleased.
“JBi have been instrumental in helping us with our online activities and strategy – the team have been an absolute pleasure to work with. They are always proactive in their support and we are very much looking forward to seeing what our relationship brings in the future.”
Simon Crouch, Brand Manager at Hitachi Europe
If you have a project that you would like to discuss with our team, please don’t hesitate to get in touch through hello@jbidigital.co.uk, or by calling 0207 043 2510.
