Should you build from scratch, or deploy a SAAS product like Office 365 or SharePoint for your company intranet?
At first glance of your never ending list of requirements for your digital workplace, building from scratch may seem like the best option. This way, you can cater to each specific requirement of every department within your business. Up front costs may be lower too, since you could choose to build on open source software. Depending on the way your budget and team resources are apportioned (i.e. lots of development and support in-house) it might seem prudent to build your own intranet using a tool like WordPress.
But there are (at least) three very good reasons why we back SharePoint for intranets Office 365.
There are a couple of ways to slice this pro Office 365/SharePoint argument. Firstly, the SharePoint Online offering has come a long way. Gone are the bad old days of arduous and lengthy customisations. Over time, SharePoint Online has refined their offering to the point of being able to offer a basic, yet highly atuned intranet out-of-the-box experience. Secondly, for a more targeted digital workplace, there is a now very mature market of SharePoint Online products. Additional site templates, page layouts, ready built web parts, mobile apps, document libraries, and stronger governance are included. Allowing you to deliver exceptional intranets within weeks.
We recognise that some free (or freemium) options for modern intranets seem more cost effective. But your number one aim should be about providing a great user experience and streamlining business processes, while making sure that development and support costs are maintainable. If you decide on a an option that takes a lot of resources to build, you will not be able to offer your staff the premium experience they deserve. And we don’t need to remind you that satisfied humans are productive employees.
To expand a little on hidden costs, many of us have experienced the frustration of going with a less expensive option of software choice, and then realising that the resources being spent on either development or maintenance mean that option was not so inexpensive after all. When you select a team of experienced people who can support and maintain your digital experience, you’ll be able to focus on doing that you do best.
Simply put, modern SharePoint has done the hard yards for you. Knowledge management, content management, and task management can be designed to meet you modern experience expectations. If you choose to go with SharePoint, we can help you plan, build, launch, and support an intranet that exactly suits your employee needs.
Why not get in touch with us to discuss your cloud-based intranet solution requirements?
