Consolidation of GasNet websites and portals

For GasNet, the leading natural gas distributor in the Czech Republic, we created a modern corporate website and microsites. We have launched the PDS Client Portal and are working on another portal for customers and suppliers.

Realization 2022 - 2023

Case Studies

Customer profile

GasNet is a Czech gas distributor. The company owns and operates the largest gas distribution network in the Czech Republic. It reliably and safely provides 80% of gas distribution to more than 2.3 million customers. It also manages gas pipelines in all regions of the Czech Republic except Prague and the South Bohemia Region.

The migration of our websites to the Sitecore platform was a comprehensive change in our digital communication. The entire customer journey and the content of key services itself have undergone a significant shift. In addition, the websites have become fully responsive and adapted to mobile visits. Of particular importance was the migration project of our PDS portal for gas traders. The original PDS was developed back in 2010, so this was a major upgrade after thirteen years. However, during the development and testing process, in cooperation with the supplier, we managed to modify the application beyond the original specification. We not only improved the user experience, but also increased security and resilience. The portal is used on a daily basis by almost 200 entities with over 1,200 active user accounts. The normal operation of the existing solutions was not disrupted throughout the project.

Aleš Gregorovič

Senior Manager, PR & Communication

Baseline and project objectives

The goal of the multi-phase project is to replace the outdated editorial system with a new modern solution and consolidate all of the company's websites and portals into one overarching platform, i.e., to create a single "portal" that will make all communications with GasNet accessible to the public, customers, merchants, suppliers, partners and regulators. At the same time, the visual style of the brand was changed, replacing or optimizing web services for exchange between internal applications and portals. Existing authentication and integration solutions were replaced.

Benefits

Modern editorial system and administration for all web projects makes the work of editors and portal administrators easier
Simplified communication with the customer, easy search and quick path to the destination
The customer goes to the site largely with a specific request
Unification of different applications, service systems into one platform from one vendor.
New application for managing portal users, their access and rights
Optimised interface for customers in terms of UX

Solution

All the requirements for the project were best met by the Sitecore XP platform, on which the new website for GasNet is built, the portals are a combination of Sitecore and massive custom development in .NET with a large number of integrations.

GaNet web presentation and microsites
In the implementation of the website, great emphasis was placed on clarity, ease of use and good usability even on mobile devices. The front-end development was based on the graphic design we provided, which corresponds with the company's brand and their graphic manual.

Users coming to the website with requests often don't know the correct terminology or service area. That's why we created the "I Need to Handle" or "Requests and Contracts" sections, where users can easily search and filter content until they get the information they need, often displayed in step-by-step procedures. The design of the information layout and sitemaps was one of the key points of the project.

The GasNet website is accessed by different users with different needs, e.g. builders or developers, technicians with an interest in the distribution system, gas end-users, construction partners or journalists. We had to take these specific user groups into account when designing the site structure and navigation elements. Now everyone can easily access the required information, which is presented in a simple and understandable way using procedures.

There are several applications on the website, mainly related to gas distribution and its technical parameters. The presentation is closely linked to the portals of the DPO for suppliers and the PDS for wholesale gas consumers.

PDS Online Service Portal
A portal that allows GasNet customers (gas suppliers to end-users) to access the data of their points of consumption, the billing data of these points of consumption, to enter self-readings, to submit applications and complaints. Users log in to the portal using a certificate issued by GasNet.

The user management portal is a supporting non-public application that is used to keep track of all external and internal users accessing the website and portals. In addition to identification data and certificates, it is possible to set access rights to applications down to the level of individual functionalities. For example, the portal stores a number of logs with the possibility of filtering and searching or sends information about the validity of certificates, repeated application errors.

Now we are preparing
The DPO Gas Distribution Online portal is an application through which you can easily communicate with the distribution system operator from the comfort of your home. It includes a Supplier Portal that manages relationships with suppliers and partners. Through the DPO, a number of requests can be made, e.g. for connection, opinion, staking, vector data, to report the stage of someone else's construction, to request connection as a Technical Partner or to access documents such as price lists and contracts.