Across many corporate groups, it is not uncommon for websites to vary widely in design from one site to the next. Yet simply bringing all websites together under a single platform to create a more cohesive presence can lead to an entirely new set of challenges. This is because changes to production workflows and operational rules associated with website migration often meet with resistance or hesitation, and once budgets and security requirements enter the picture, the task becomes even more complex.

In April 2025, the Mitsubishi Electric Group launched a new service called DCP (Digital Communication Platform) Sharehouse. As the name suggests, it brings the Group’s diverse websites together under one roof, streamlining the processes of website development and operations. Yet, the initiative is more than simply bringing together websites on a common platform; it aims to establish “brand governance” to preserve the value of the Mitsubishi Electric brand across the Group and build a foundation for effective data utilization. Looking further ahead, it also presents a strategic vision for shaping the Group’s future by enabling AI utilization and more sophisticated marketing. We spoke with members of the Digital Communication Department (DCD) in the Brand Communication Division, the team leading the project, about the inspiration behind the concept and the behind-the-scenes efforts to promote its adoption.

Contents

The Mitsubishi Electric Group as a whole currently operates approximately 960 websites—nearly 1,000 in total. Because each had sought to present a unique design, they lacked consistency in brand identity, while their use of different technologies and infrastructure posed significant challenges for centralized management and security. In addition, website operations were optimized individually, with little knowledge sharing, making Group-wide optimization a distant goal, Yoko Asao explains.

Asao: “Since 2014, we have been consolidating our global corporate websites under the Global Website Integration (GWI) project, primarily to strengthen security. The project involved migrating websites to a hosting service, but because each site had been developed independently to meet its own objectives, we found there were limits to managing them collectively.”

Asao also notes that website owners faced limited annual budgets for website operations, with most of those budgets going toward outsourcing the development of their sites.

Asao: “By providing a service that undertakes website development and operations, we wanted website owners to use the time, effort, and budgets freed up by the service to realize the websites they truly envision. That was our starting point for DCP Sharehouse.”

Put simply, DCP Sharehouse is exactly what its name suggests—a shared house where multiple websites live under one roof. The essential facilities, such as rooms, a kitchen, and bathrooms (representing the IT infrastructure and the tools for website development, operations, and analytics), are already in place and maintained by the landlord, allowing website owners to move in (migrate their websites) with minimal effort. The landlord also ensures that the house remains safe (website security).

The pricing is all-inclusive, covering all the facilities and services. The residents are the Group’s companies and business departments, and the Digital Communication Department (DCD), acting as the landlord, takes care of all operations, from website design and development tailored to each resident’s needs to updates and implementation of security measures. A range of plans is available, from standard plans to highly customizable ones, allowing each resident to choose the option that best suits their needs. For those requiring even greater flexibility, the house also offers a DCP Penthouse on the top floor.

How did the DCD members explain the migration to DCP Sharehouse and gain the understanding of those who initially showed resistance and hesitation? Takehiko Ishizuka looks back on those efforts.
Ishizuka: “We felt we needed a successful example to begin with, so we set our eyes on firstly migrating our corporate website, where the differences in structure between the sites for Japan and overseas had long been recognized as an issue.”

Ishizuka started explaining the concept of DCP Sharehouse to the corporate website team, persuading them to become its first residents. As expected, he was initially met with skepticism and questions such as, “Why do we need to do this?” and “What are the benefits?”
Ishizuka: “We spent about six months trying to change the way they viewed the initiative by carefully explaining its benefits: a unified brand image across the Group, a consistent user experience, and lower website development costs that would allow website owners to focus on their core responsibilities, such as creating content and analyzing website performance.”

Thanks to Ishizuka’s efforts, the corporate website took the lead in migrating to DCP Sharehouse, making it much easier to persuade others to follow. As a result, 61 corporate information websites across 38 countries and regions and in 26 languages had migrated even before the official launch. Applications then opened in fiscal 2025 for websites of Mitsubishi Electric’s business departments and for Group companies in Japan and overseas.
“We are receiving a large number of applications as the benefits of DCP Sharehouse are becoming better understood as more people see the websites that have already migrated,” says Akiko Kuchida, who conducts pre-migration reviews of prospective residents.

Kuchida: “When talking to website owners who aren’t very familiar with websites, describing it as ‘moving house’ makes it easier to explain things like the big clean-up involved before the move (taking inventory of and organizing the website) and arranging the furniture (preparing content). In this sense, the name ‘DCP Sharehouse’ is very effective. Now that the understanding of its benefits has deepened, applications are increasing beyond what we had anticipated.”

The technical side of DCP Sharehouse, including its infrastructure and the operation of various cloud-based tools, is managed by Fumitaka Nakane and Ryuji Tanaka. Website operations and management, as well as web analytics, are overseen by Takahiro Ito. Together, the three support DCP Sharehouse from the IT side.

To enable a wide variety of websites to be operated as a single “Sharehouse” within a unified platform, the system had to be designed with both flexibility and versatility in mind. Nakane recalls, “After identifying what would be needed to support future expansion, we gradually put everything in place, working closely with the vendor responsible for building the system, and ultimately managed to overcome our challenges.” Even today, close collaboration among the multiple external service providers and vendors involved continues to be indispensable to the stable operation of DCP Sharehouse.

Meanwhile, Ito developed a web analytics dashboard that enables website owners to improve their websites based on data.
Ito: “Website owners who aren’t very familiar with the web can simply look at the overview, while those who want more detailed insights can dig down into the data. By offering this kind of flexibility, we tried to make it easy for website owners to use data to drive the PDCA cycle and improve their websites.”

Tanaka was responsible for contract and billing management, as well as planning and operating the form building service.
Tanaka: “Website owners who have web knowledge often asked whether they could use the cloud tools we provide for certain purposes or integrate them with other tools. It is important for us, as the service administrator, to carefully determine how far we can go to respond to such requests and realize a system that is easy to use.”

Regarding the pricing structure, Kuchida expressed her confidence, noting, “Our all-inclusive pricing model has been well received because it allows each department to use its website strategically without having to worry about additional costs every time the site is updated.”

We asked the three members of the IT team what they believe is DCP Sharehouse’s greatest strength. Nakane pointed to its ability to enable unified brand management across the Group while maintaining security. Tanaka gave the fact that new features can be added and responses to failures can be made through the cloud platform. Ito highlighted that it can clearly define the roles of website owners and the platform itself in terms of what website owners are responsible for and what the platform provides, in line with the times.

Because a “sound” system alone will not gain traction among users, DCP Sharehouse offers services that are easy to use, easy to maintain, and easy to improve. This is another of its key design principles.

As of March 2026, approximately 130 websites have migrated to DCP Sharehouse. Going forward, our goal is to migrate 300 websites by 2030 and complete the migration of all Group websites by 2035. “We will continue working together as one team to ensure we steadily achieve our goal of migrating 300 websites by 2030,” says Asao. She also notes, “Once websites move into DCP Sharehouse, our initial objectives of ensuring unified brand and data management across the Group will naturally be achieved, so I believe we have charted a clear path toward those goals.”

Asao was recently named one of the 2026 Japan Adobe Advocates, a recognition provided by Adobe to key individuals who promote the company’s Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) solution both within and outside of their organizations.
Asao: “It’s truly an honor. I hope the recognition will help accelerate the migration of more websites to DCP Sharehouse.”

Asao describes DCP Sharehouse as “a living thing.”
“While it is still very much a work in progress, its potential is highly promising. We will continue to nurture it as a platform that enables website owners to make the most of the data generated by their websites to plan and deliver content that truly supports their strategies and benefits their business," Asao concludes.