Allspring revamps site, elevates UX with Optimizely CMS

Allspring Global Investments is an independent asset management firm formed in 2021. The company provides a wide range of investment management services, including mutual funds, retirement planning, and institutional investing, catering to a global client base across various asset classes such as equities, fixed income, and alternatives.

Managing and advising a portfolio of over $571bn worth of assets as of 6/30/2024, Allspring emphasizes a client-first approach and integrates environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into their strategies.

Allspring Global: A New Beginning
In November 2021, Allspring emerged as a standalone entity following its separation from a large financial institution. This marked the beginning of a significant digital transformation aimed at establishing a distinct identity and enhancing client experiences. Optimizely’s CMS played a pivotal role in this transformation.

As Tahmina Choudhury, Head of Client Journey Management Technology explained, the transition and separation from its previous financial institution presented several challenges. The legacy systems, particularly a 20-year-old Java-based application, created complexities in managing and transferring data to the new website. Despite these hurdles, the primary focus remained on ensuring a seamless client experience and establishing a robust digital presence.

Why Optimizely/Separation from Previous Bank

Allspring underwent a nearly three-year transition to separate from its previous entity, focusing on building necessary systems from scratch while migrating legacy systems to the cloud. This rapid, all-encompassing shift was unique in the heavily regulated asset management industry, which typically moves to the cloud incrementally. 

Choosing a content management system (CMS) for Allspring was challenging due to the stringent regulatory environment of the asset management industry. In its previous guise, the company was restricted to using SDL Tridion with limited control, managed by an enterprise group.

Post-separation, Allspring conducted a thorough RFP process in 2020, evaluating leading CMS platforms like Sitecore, Optimizely, and Acquia. The decision to choose Optimizely was influenced by its cost benefits, flexibility, security features, and integration capabilities. The transition allowed Allspring to move from a highly restrictive environment to a more flexible, cloud-based infrastructure, enhancing their technological capabilities.

Allspring undertook a comprehensive process to build its new website on Optimizely's CMS, focusing on enhancing the client experience and providing a dynamic, data-rich platform.

The project began with a "lift and shift" of the existing site from the previous infrastructure to Optimizely, despite challenges posed by legacy systems and ongoing data transitions. The redesign aimed to make the site visually appealing and significantly increase data availability, tripling the amount of data displayed. This required extensive co-development with expert partners Perficient to adapt to interconnected systems still linked to its former bank. Previously, the website hosted only a third of the data it now holds. This expansion was crucial for a data-driven industry like asset management.

Launched in March 2024, Allspring’s new website is a dynamic and visually engaging digital experience that better tells Allspring’s story and supports its data-driven approach, showcasing their products and services effectively. Galliard Capital Management, a subsidiary of Allspring, also hosts its website on Optimizely’s CMS.

Beyond the public-facing websites, Optimizely’s CMS was also utilized to create an intranet for internal communications. This intranet, named Springboard, facilitates resource sharing, departmental communication, and provides access to newsletters from the CEO. It serves as a crucial communication tool for Allspring's employees, although plans for further enhancements are underway.

Content Management and Developer Efficiency
Prior to implementing Optimizely, Allspring's content processes were cumbersome and required significant developer intervention for updates and new content creation. With Optimizely’s CMS, content authors gained more autonomy, reducing the dependency on developers for routine tasks. This shift allowed the development team to focus on strategic integrations and improving the overall technology infrastructure.

Client experience is at the heart of Allspring’s digital strategy. The new website design, with its dynamic content and personalized user journeys, aims to cater to various personas—from individual investors to institutional advisors. The goal is to make the website intuitive and responsive to the needs of different user groups, thereby improving user engagement and satisfaction.

Since redesigning their website with Optimizely, Tahmina Choudhury noted that Allspring has seen a significant increase in web traffic and received positive industry feedback. Clients and industry peers have reported that the new site is considered one of the best in the industry. This recognition highlights the success of the redesign and its impact on improving user engagement and perception.

One of the standout technical benefits of Optimizely’s CMS is the control it offers over the tech stack. Developers at Allspring have leveraged features like Smooth Deploy to streamline deployments, which was not possible in its previous environment. The flexibility and control provided by Optimizely have significantly improved operational efficiency and allowed the team to implement custom solutions as needed.

Allspring's development workflow involves multiple environments: Development, User Acceptance Testing (UAT), and Production. They use GitHub for code repositories and GitHub Actions for CI/CD pipelines, with plans to transition to Jenkins, aligning with enterprise standards.

For context, a branching strategy in software development is a plan or methodology that developers use to manage the different branches within a version control system like Git. Branches are used to develop features, fix bugs, or experiment with new ideas in isolation from the main codebase. 

Allspring’s branching strategy was overhauled to accommodate hot fixes and feature isolation, preventing unready code from moving to production. This involved creating isolated branches for different features and hot fixes, which can be merged into the main branch once tested and approved. This new strategy reduced the risk of deploying untested code and minimized downtime.

Customizations and APIs

Optimizely’s CMS has been customized extensively to meet Allspring’s specific needs. Custom APIs were developed for data integration, particularly with Unity for fund data and an external data analytics provider for web traffic monitoring. These custom APIs ensure that real-time data is available on the website, providing users with the latest information.

Allspring employs Datadog for monitoring the health of their CMS and website, tracking key metrics like page load times and uptime. Optimizely’s CMS links with an external analytics tool Allspring use for web traffic analysis, providing insights into user behaviour and engagement. These tools help maintain optimal performance and ensure a high-quality user experience.

Security and Compliance

Security is paramount for Allspring, given its financial services background. The CMS and website undergo regular security assessments, including dynamic application security testing (DAST) to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities such as SQL injection risks. The use of Optimizely’s built-in security features, coupled with rigorous internal protocols, ensures that Allspring meets its compliance requirements.

Conclusion: A strategic partnership

Allspring’s partnership with Optimizely has been transformative, enabling the company to establish a robust and dynamic digital presence. The focus on client experience, combined with technical excellence and strategic integrations, has set a strong foundation for future growth. As Allspring continues to evolve, Optimizely’s CMS remains a critical component of its digital strategy, ensuring the company can meet the ever-changing needs of its clients.

Allspring plans to enhance its digital ecosystem around Optimizely's CMS and the Optimizely One platform. Having successfully redesigned their website, their next steps include integrating a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system with Optimizely to streamline content management. They are also selecting an accessibility vendor to ensure content complies with accessibility standards before publication. Additionally, Allspring aims to implement an SEO tool and a translation vendor, creating a seamless and efficient ecosystem centred on Optimizely to improve their operational efficiency and user experience.

By leveraging Optimizely’s capabilities, Allspring have not only navigated the challenges of transitioning from a large financial institution but has also positioned itself as a leader in delivering exceptional digital experiences in the asset management industry.