Linchpin Intranet at Computop
Confluence has been in use at the international Payment Service Provider Computop from Bamberg since 2017.
This was followed two years later by the expansion to an intranet with Linchpin. What were the reasons for this? How did the system change from a wiki to a collaboration and information hub? And what challenges have arisen since then? Simon Bertran and Nicat Nagiyev from Computop provided the answers at Tools4AgileTeams 2021 in the Digital Workplace with Atlassian Software track.
Who is Computop?
Computop Payment GmbH from Bamberg offers local and innovative omnichannel solutions for payment transactions and fraud prevention worldwide. In e-commerce, at the POS and on mobile devices, merchants and service providers can choose from over 350 payment methods. Computop, a global player with locations in Germany, CN, UK and USA, processes transactions worth $35 billion annually in a climate-neutral manner.
Computop at the T4AT 2021
Simon Bertran and Nicat Nagiyev spoke at the 10th Tools4AgileTeams in the Digital Workplace with Atlassian Software track about Linchpin as a collaboration and information hub at Computop. They also gave an insight into what the system looks like today:
Why did Computop look for a new intranet solution?
Due to our growth, we conducted an employee survey together with the Otto-Friedrich University of Bamberg. One of the findings was that internal information transfer and communication are capable of development. As a result, we introduced Jira in 2016 and Confluence the following year, initially as a knowledge platform.
However, news was still communicated internally via the Sharepoint intranet at the time. In order to provide our colleagues with a single point of access to all information, we looked around for a Confluence-based intranet solution.
What were the requirements for the new intranet?
After we had introduced Jira and Confluence, we didn’t want to add yet another new system with the intranet. It should also be intuitive to use and, last but not least, provide all colleagues with the information they need in an uncomplicated way.
For this reason, Linchpin was chosen. We were able to use our existing Confluence structure as a basis and easily expand the system with the Linchpin intranet features. With the Big Change, the new start page, Linchpin is now the umbrella for our information policy.
How was the introduction of Linchpin communicated at Computop?
Our goal was and is to ensure that Confluence and Linchpin are accepted and used as a collaboration and information hub at Computop. We therefore used different communication channels for the introductory phase:
Firstly, we used blog entries from the existing Confluence system to draw attention to the changes. We used videos to provide insights into the project work, the reasons and benefits as well as the new system. We also produced a flyer with onboarding information to provide our colleagues with information about the new system.
The blog entries continue to be the tool of choice for providing information about new system functions, which are documented in more detail in how-tos, for example. We also offer face-to-face communication at “Simons Intranet Treffs”. Meetings are also held with our divisional gardeners. They are regularly kept up to date by Computop’s internal Confluence administration, e.g. on new features and processes. They also provide first-level support for the users of the individual Spaces.
What challenges have you encountered since the launch?
Our company growth not only triggered the introduction of Atlassian tools, but also continues to accompany us. As the number of projects grew, so did the number of our colleagues, teams and departments. Since the introduction of Confluence in 2017 until the end of 2021, the number of Computop Paygate GmbH employees has doubled.
The introduction of a system is not the end of our work; further developments and optimizations are constantly being added. Here, we are working more closely with our divisional partners. Since then, we have been dealing with new requirements, such as compliance and our ISO 27011 certification, new Jira integrations and new Spaces. We also adapted new functions, such as adjustments to the Linchpin Enterprise News Workflow or Linchpin Events. We also optimized our system. The result: more information with fewer clicks. For example, we subsequently dispensed with the tab functionalities.
