The world of modern intranets keeps on growing, and long gone are the days of boring company intranet solutions.
Now is the age of the new digital workplace – which includes a modern intranets at its core – and all good intranet providers should be expanding the technology they offer to keep up to date with the latest developments.
That said, it’s important to keep a focus on the core services that a successful intranet software should provide. Fancy bells and whistles are nice, but they don’t get the job done and they aren’t necessarily what users need on a daily basis. And so, it’s important that you choose an “intranet as a service” provider that ticks all the boxes.
Just like software as a service (SaaS) solutions, a modern intranet as a service offering is an all-in-one package that includes cloud-based hosting, support and maintenance, and the intranet solution itself. Organisations will usually pay a monthly subscription fee, which is often more affordable than a large upfront cost.
Additional intranet services include installation and ongoing security updates. These are incredibly useful for companies that don’t have their own in-house IT team or the capacity to manage it themselves.
So, if you’re looking to change intranet provider or are seeking your first ever intranet software purchase, here are the five core services that any worthy intranet service must provide:
This is the most integral component of any good intranet software, but it might not be something you immediately think of.
We all understand that every business is different, but we also need to respect that every individual within an organisation is different as well.
Different departments within your company require altogether different applications and services daily, and your cloud based intranet software should be able to adapt in a straightforward way for each of their needs.
For example, the sales team will require a different landing page for their intranet compared to the HR team. So, make sure you look for an intranet designed to be customised for different teams.
We have progressed years beyond the point where every member of a business was expected to work in the same office every day of the week. Employees working remotely is commonplace across many different industries.
To get the most out of the working day, many team members need access to company data and applications on the go or from home. As such, your intranet should be adaptable and accessible no matter what device the user is accessing it from and provide a consistent user experience on both desktop and mobile.
Indeed, any intranet service that locks staff down to one computer and one location is going to hinder growth and give competitors an edge.
There are many advantages to working from home and being able to communicate with colleagues remotely. For example, when remote workers are unavailable, they can still provide feedback or input on the project due to their ability to access the meeting and monitor the progress of their team members. This allows for better internal communication within your company whilst keeping them productive.
No matter from where your intranet software is being accessed, it needs to be fast to load and fast to provide the information your teams need. A truly speed-orientated intranet software perfectly loads no matter what device it is accessed from and, as such, will have undergone focused development for mobile use, rather than just desktop.
One of the biggest challenges for organisations is the need for their intranet to be fast, mobile-friendly, and responsive on both desktop and mobile devices. This means that the chosen intranet service must be tested on all typical mobile devices found across the organisation to ensure that it can load quickly and easily from any device.
One of the major benefits of top performing modern intranet software is that it creates a private space for team members to collaborate and get work done.
The intranet software must provide internal communication tools that fosters a healthy company culture. These tools will enable better employee communication, so that information can be easily shared with other team members and provide the feeling of connection.
There are several different intranet applications that can help encourage this community building, from internal communications tools, collaboration tools, and knowledge management to social networking tools.
Social intranet platforms and tools provide an environment where employees can collaborate and communicate with each other. This allows them to share their knowledge and expertise, which leads to greater knowledge sharing across the board. Along with this, they also allow employees to contribute ideas and feedback on how things should be done.
Either way, you need to first assess the needs of your organisation and think which applications or tools will best promote employee engagement and push the business forward with new ideas and better collaboration.
This is something you may not have considered but it’s a vital aspect of any worthy intranet service.
Instead of just thinking about how your intranet software can help your employees and business today, you need to think about how it fits into your plans for the business in a year or five years from now.
Developing, incorporating, and training staff on new intranet software can be both timely and costly, so you need to decide what your long-term goals for the company are and incorporate those into your intranet service today.
Before deciding on your intranet solution, you need to take the time to think in detail about the exact needs of your business, and better yet, speak to everyone in your organisation to get their feedback and ideas. A great intranet service will help push your business forward and open up new and exciting opportunities by providing an effective and collaborative environment – just make sure it includes the above five features!
Claromentis is a top UK intranet provider, helping organisations all over the world create digital workplaces that help them work smarter and engage with people to reach their goals. We provide an array of intranet services and software solutions to some of the world’s largest brands, as well as ambitious and driven SMEs. Our customers range from Virgin Care and Golden State Warriors to charities, financial organisations, and educational institutions.