There are endless options when it comes to selecting the best Intranet Software – all offering you different features and functionality. So how do you make the important decision to invest in the Intranet platform that’s right for your company? Here are some smart tips to guide you through the decision making process, helping you to select the best company intranet software that’s suited for your business.
Getting started… Choosing your Intranet Software will require careful planning, as every business will have different requirements that they want from their new comms platform. Besides, investment in Intranet software can be expensive so it becomes important to identify the key business goals you want to achieve so that the software can benefit your organisation. There may be different reasons why you want to implement an Intranet solution for your business, from boosting efficiency, creating a central hub of resources, or improving employee productivity.
However, there are some essential factors that need to be taken into account when opting for the best Intranet solutions:
1. Type of Intranet Solution The first step is to decide on the sort of company Intranet software that is the best suited for your business and has the features that are able to meet your requirements. One of the most important decisions is choosing between an on-premises Intranet solution based at your offices or to opt for a cloud-based Intranet hosted with a secure provider (SaaS). On-premise Intranets can prove to be expensive due to the costs involved in running and maintaining them, so can sometimes be suitable for larger enterprises. On the other hand, SaaS intranet solutions are quick and easy to implement, affordable and can be fully customized to meet your specific requirements. Moreover, because they are hosted with the intranet provider, and not on your premises, these cloud-based intranets offer you a hassle-free solution without any technical implementation or maintenance on your part.
2. Cost Structure There are different kinds of payment models when it comes to Intranet solutions and this depends entirely on your company’s budget. The upfront model allows to pay the entire cost and own the Intranet solution, whereas the subscription model where the license to use the model can be acquired on a monthly or on yearly basis.
3. Smooth Integration with Third-Party Systems Intranet software must be able to seamlessly integrate with a whole host of existing systems to help make your digital workplace more holistic and efficient. Integrating with Windows Active Directory or MS Office 365 helps businesses access their emails, meeting rooms and calendars within one online space, plus provides useful Single Sign-On (SSO) to make integration to these systems effortless. Depending on how you want to utilize your new digital workplace, you will want to ensure that your intranet provider has the flexibility and expertise to offer you bespoke features and functionality built around your organisation’s unique systems. Your new intranet needs to be able to adapt as your business grows, and offer you the features and integration that can help support that growth.
4. Capabilities of Your Internal Team to Support the Software It’s important to be realistic when choosing an Intranet solution for your business, as your internal team must be able to support the platform and help the content grow once your company intranet has been implemented. Even if you purchase an off the shelf solution or create your own customized Intranet software, you will require continuous support from your team for making improvements and generating content to keep your intranet fresh and your users engaged over the long term, otherwise your intranet will become redundant and underused.
5. Scalability Scalability is one of the key factors to consider while choosing the right Intranet platform for your business, as your company is likely to grow and expand its user-base in the future. You need to consider the corporate structure of your company, if there might be teams or internal/external divisions that might require their own separate intranet interface to accommodate a growth or unique content. If so, you’ll want to ensure that the intranet software you choose has the capability to accommodate multiple private communities and separate intranet interfaces for each of your separate divisions/teams – something which the Hub is fully capable of doing at no additional cost.
Intranets can allow companies to gain an edge over their competitors by having more efficient business processes and communications, providing your employees everything they need to maintain high productivity and increased engagement. An intranet platform makes it easier to stay connected with suppliers, partners, customers and colleagues using its agile business tools, as well as connecting with remote employees with the resources they need to keep them better informed, resulting in better teamwork, collaboration and sharing of knowledge to boost productivity throughout your organization.
If you are interested in discussing how an intranet solution could help your business boost efficiency talk to our experts:
020 7099 6370 | hub@pancentric.com.