If your organization isn’t leveraging SharePoint, an intranet may be a good way to get started.
We have written several articles about a SharePoint-based intranet. We have outlined the benefits, provided best practices to get started, and shared examples that illustrate what is possible when you use SharePoint as an intranet platform.
Kiefer has a long history of helping clients deploy an intranet in SharePoint. We developed a Web Content Accelerator (WCA) that allowed us to deploy intranets in SharePoint 2013 and 2016. The WCA featured web parts that were built by Kiefer’s team of SharePoint consultants and allowed us to rapidly deploy an intranet with features and functionality that were in demand. We had developed calendar web parts, photo carousel web parts and many others that are critical to delivering a quality user experience.
SharePoint Online and the Modern Experience
When Microsoft announced modern experience in SharePoint Online, we were very excited about the possibilities. Visual design is a very important part of the Internet experience and Microsoft has done an excellent job providing organizations with a framework for the intranet that is both functional and visually appealing. In addition, web parts that used to be built custom are now simple to deploy in SharePoint Online… and the good news, there are many useful web parts that can be used to launch a dynamic and useful intranet.
Intranets are important
As organizations adapt to more hybrid working models that have employees in the office and employees working from home, equipping your workforce with the right tools is critical.
An intranet can provide everyone access to a single source of truth and a single place to go to find trusted enterprise content. Forms, directories, company news, and templates can all live on your organization’s intranet. Without a dedicated place to go to find this content, users resort to storing information on their hard drive and share inaccurate, and/or out of date content with their colleagues by attaching documents to e-mail. Trusted enterprise content should be easy to find, accessible from anywhere and available on any device.
Information architecture is the foundation of a useful intranet.
The foundation of a useful intranet is a well thought out information architecture (IA). While visual design will draw a user in, if it is difficult to find information on the intranet, users will hate it. Kiefer’s team of consultants have deep expertise in IA and a set of useful tools and resources that assist in mapping out how your information is organized on the intranet. Experience and best practices guide our approach to designing IA and we can help you in building an intranet that fits the culture of your organization.
Download a free infographic, Intranets Connect the Organization.