Hector Castro, Communications Director
This year the agency is tackling this problem by planning to build a new site with the system called Kentico, which is the same tool we use for our public website.
While the agency will use the same tools for both websites, a new intranet need not mirror the layout and look of our public website.
Decisions about the layout and navigation will be based on input from WSDA employees around what will be most useful for an agency intranet site.
In the coming weeks, the project team will send a survey to all agency staff aimed at gathering feedback about what you consider the most important features and topics to build into a new intranet.
Same content management system
One thing that will be the same for both internal and external websites is how webpages are managed, and content is created and updated.
Our current intranet uses a tool called Expressions that is difficult to maintain. This obsolete software is no longer supported by its manufacturer. Only a handful of agency staff have the software and know how to use it to update intranet content.
Training to use the Kentico system is already available, and more than 80 WSDA employees are now familiar with using this tool. Using Kentico will make it much easier for programs to keep intranet content current and useful to staff.
Along with me (Hector Castro), the intranet project team consists of Tim Valdez and Kathy Davis from the Communications Office; Susie Olson, Curt Secker, and Harold Boggs from IT; and Kristin Rondeau and Vicky Graham from the Performance and Planning Office.
We have not yet set a launch date for a new site, but expect the work to take most of 2022. Our goal is to create a new WSDA intranet that serves staff needs and makes their jobs easier.
In summary: Inside Agriculture, the intranet website for WSDA employees, is overdue for an overhaul. The existing intranet is more than 20 years old and, though the homepage received a facelift a few years ago, it is operating on an older, outmoded platform. In the coming weeks, the project team will send a survey to all agency staff aimed at gathering feedback about what you consider the most important features and topics to build into a new intranet.
