This presentation was part of the FCN-FICM intranet-sharing webinar in July 2015.

1. National Institutes of Health • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Intranet best practices: Employee engagement,
ease of use, and customization
Cheryl Thompson
Web Manager
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

2. National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Purchased Percussion in 2009/2010
• HHS purchased a Department-wide license in 2013/2014
• Slow migration of multiple sites (previously: no CMS)
• Implementation packet
– Training
– Customization
• Ticket request system is simpler for users than CMS
• Considerable time savings on large edits
(reorganizations, etc.)
Percussion CMS Adoption

3. National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
New Junction
• New intranet launched: 2012
– Previous sites:
• No common design
• No common structure
• Multiple servers
• No CMS
• Poor usability
• Outdated and abandoned content

4. National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Old Intranet Intranet at Launch Intranet Now

5. National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Historical use of Cold
Fusion for applications –
skilled staff and large
custom made inventory
• Integrated custom
applications where
possible
• Local search engine:
Thunderstone
• Style guide for use by staff
implementing COTS/Open
Source software
Technical Architecture

6. National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Integration
– One Stop
Shopping
Pulls from
Dean
Evans
Calendar
System
CMS
Scheduled
Content
Cold Fusion
Script
JavaScript
Division
User of
CMS
ColdFusion
Application
(Converts
Email)
Twitter
Widget
CMS Publish
to Two Sites
Searches
All NIEHS
Sites +
Some
GSA, NIH,
HHS, etc.

7. National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Engagement
- Employee
Interests
Motivational
quotes or
facts (with attribution)
Users can
hide items
of low
interest
Menu for
those on main
campus.
Surprisingly
controversial!
Vetted
by
working
group
HHS,
NIH
and
NIEHS
“Not everyone has a window”
Also Searches Thrift
Savings, Daycare, OPM…

8. National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Thank you!
Cheryl Renee Thompson
Web Manager
Office of Communications and Public Liaison
Office of the Director
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
National Institutes of Health
Department of Health and Human Services
P: 919.541.1072
F: 301.480.3250
thompsonc2@niehs.nih.gov