Freeing a University Portfolio From Site-by-Site Budgets: A Multisite Platform for Tufts University
Every new program at Tufts had produced another website, in whatever technology was current that year. A brand change meant editing dozens of themes by hand. We consolidated the portfolio onto one codebase with a pattern library, and made new sites something staff could start without a developer.
The work
The Challenge: Dozens of Sites, Each One Its Own Project
Every new program at Tufts had produced another website in whatever technology was current that year — so a security patch meant touching them one at a time, a brand change meant a developer editing dozens of themes by hand, and a visitor met a university that looked like several universities depending where they landed.
The Strategy: Treat the Portfolio as a Product
Stopped treating each site as a project and started treating the portfolio as a product.
- The reframe is the investment case. Money spent on one site under the project model buys one site; under the product model it buys a capability the whole portfolio inherits.
- One Drupal codebase on Acquia Site Factory. The first agency migration to that pairing.
- A pattern library does the governance. Brand consistency is enforced by the components rather than requested of whoever is assembling a page.
The Outcomes: A Portfolio That Absorbs New Sites Instead of Growing Exceptions
A portfolio that absorbs a new site instead of growing another exception.
- Trust | Brand changes propagate through the pattern library, not dozens of hand edits | One codebase to patch, upgrade and audit
- Engagement | Non-technical staff stand up a new property without a developer | The department that used to open a project now opens a site
The detail
Why it mattered
- Universities accumulate websites the way they accumulate programs. Each one arrives with a budget, a launch date and someone who wants it to look distinctive. Tufts had done this for years, leaving a portfolio built separately, in varying technologies, each with its own theme.
- The cost is invisible until something has to change across all of them. Every security patch, platform version and accessibility fix had to be applied site by site, across a portfolio no one had built to be maintained together.
- The brand drifted, and a visitor could see it. Separate themes drift, and a brand update meant a developer revising each theme by hand. What a visitor met was a university that looked like several universities depending which program they had landed on.
- Consistency is not decoration for an institution. It is part of how the institution reads as one thing.
How it was built
- The reframe came before the architecture. Stop treating each site as a project and start treating the portfolio as a product. Money spent on one site under the project model buys one site; under the product model it buys a capability the whole portfolio inherits — which is the only way the math works across dozens of properties.
- One Drupal codebase on Acquia Site Factory. The first agency migration to that pairing.
- The pattern library does the governance. Brand consistency is enforced by the components rather than requested of the people assembling pages, which is the difference between a standard and a hope.
What changed
- One place to patch, upgrade and audit. And brand changes propagate through the pattern library instead of through dozens of hand edits.
- Staff can stand up a site without a developer. This is the result that says most about the model. The department that used to open a project now opens a site, and the portfolio absorbs it rather than growing another exception.
University multisite consolidation questions
Why do universities end up with so many websites?
Because sites arrive the way programs do — each with a budget, a launch date and someone who wants it to look distinctive. Tufts had accumulated a portfolio built separately, in varying technologies, each with its own theme, and the cost stayed invisible until something had to change across all of them.
What does consolidating onto a multisite platform buy?
One place to patch, upgrade and audit — and brand changes that propagate through a pattern library instead of through dozens of hand edits. Under the project model, money spent on one site buys one site; under the product model it buys a capability the whole portfolio inherits.
How is brand consistency enforced across dozens of sites?
By the components, not by the people assembling pages. The pattern library does the governance, which is the difference between a standard and a hope — and what a visitor meets is one university rather than several depending on where they land.
Can non-technical staff launch a university site?
Yes, when the platform is built for it. On the Drupal multisite Pare & Co built for Tufts, a department launches a new site from the shared codebase and pattern library — components already built, branding already enforced — instead of opening a development project. The new site inherits every patch, upgrade and audit the platform gets, rather than adding one more system to maintain.
Client leadership
Doug Sisko
Doug Sisko’s specialty is growth and conversion strategy. He has led consolidations where the cost of running a portfolio was crowding out the work that grows it.