Robert Buttacavoli
Global Leader, Client Technology Services
Mercer Human Resource Consulting
New York, N.Y.
www.mercerhr.com
MANAGER’S PROFILE: In charge of the information-technology practice for the 13,000-employee consulting firm, a subsidiary of insurance brokerage Marsh & McLennan Cos.
WEB WAIT: Three years ago, Mercer produced its public Web sites by hand. Everything from approving content to formatting pages was handled manually by individual Webmasters in different departments. It could take up to a week to get a single document posted. “The bigger we grew, the more those inefficiencies became a cost strain,” Buttacavoli says.
HIS PROJECT: Mercer rolled out Interwoven’s TeamSite content management system in 2002. Today, about 250 “content producers” across the company use the software to publish roughly 6,000 documents per year—instantaneously, if they choose to. Total cost: $800,000, half of which was for the software, a quarter for consulting services and the rest for servers and other items.
SITES UNSTAFFED: Buttacavoli guesses that Mercer cut its content management costs by 65% by moving to the new system. The biggest savings: Fewer staffers to run its Web sites. “If we had 20 people in 20 locations managing sites, say they’re all getting $100,000 a year—it adds up pretty quickly,” he says. Mercer now has three developers creating new features for TeamSite and the equivalent of 1 1/2 full-time staffers handling server maintenance. “We don’t need Webmasters anymore,” Buttacavoli points out.
