Liferay Portal’s economical open source framework provides HanseMerkur with a superior platform for ongoing development, integration and maintenance. In addition to its improved CMS which supports over 350 pages of content, the site offers new customer features such as the ability to initiate an insurance contract online. An improved Search Engine Optimization (SEO) technology also leverages changes in content in real time, thereby increasing the incidence of search engine hits.

HanseMerkur’s initiative for an improved Web presence began in early 2006. According to the company’s director of research and development, Dr. Horst Karaschewski, the company wished to dramatically increase the amount of information available online to prospective customers. HanseMerkur envisioned its site populated with marketing content in mixed formats like HTML, graphics and PDF. Visitors to the site would interact with online content including contracts, job applications and downloadable forms.

“We looked at portal development tools from several commercial and open source providers,” noted Karaschewski. “We were attracted to Liferay’s advanced features, ease of use, and its CMS’ ability to handle extensive amounts of content. After meeting with Liferay representatives at the CeBIT tradeshow last March, we actually expanded our proof of concept to take advantage of Liferay’s superior list of features.”

“Liferay’s CMS enables HanseMerkur to organize and present its online material in an easy to maintain system,” added Suresh Shamanna, Liferay’s director of European operations. “The client’s design team was impressed with Liferay’s flexibility in dynamically integrating external applications and internal content.”

Liferay’s European professional services team completed construction of the new site under a demanding two-month deadline. “Liferay’s turnaround on our project was exceptional. The consulting team was highly motivated and delivered the resources and expertise we needed to get the job done correctly and on time,” said Karaschewski. “Whenever changes were required, Liferay’s staff was able to accommodate them. The end result is a quality site and a working relationship that will support HanseMerkur’s future needs.”

During HanseMerkur’s collaboration with Liferay’s consultants, the company chose to sponsor a new Search Engine Optimization (SEO) feature to be implemented as a standard into Liferay’s coming 4.2 release. With this new feature, HanseMerkur’s new site and Liferay Portal 4.2 can automatically and dynamically optimize its visibility on leading Web search engines. SEO ensures that the buying public is drawn in with site information updates and keeps the HanseMerkur brand in the forefront of consumers’ minds.

HanseMerkur plans to continue working closely with the Liferay team for further enhancements and feature build-outs in the coming months. For a full description of Liferay Portal, or for an online demonstration of Liferay Portal’s capabilities, please visit www.liferay.com.

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