SharePoint Intranet: Redefining Businesses Productivity, Collaboration, and Scalability

In bustling office environments, leaders often struggle to keep their teams on the same page. Important documents get scattered across various platforms, and communication threads are easily lost, leading to inefficiencies and frustration.

Here, switching to a content curation, document management, and collaborative intranet platform like SharePoint can bring remarkable transformation.

For more than a decade, SharePoint has enabled over 2,00,000 billion users to develop highly functional intranet pages quickly and without having to write any code. These responsive, dynamic sites are easy to create and maintain, enabling engaging experiences across devices.

Here’s a blog post that will help you learn everything about SharePoint intranet, from its features and benefits to the intranet development challenges it solves, and industry use cases.

9 SharePoint Features for Improved Performance & Streamlined Workflows

Microsoft SharePoint goes beyond basic document storage, offering a robust suite of advanced features that can transform your digital workplace.

1. Custom Site Creation: SharePoint enables the development of tailored sites catering to specific departments, projects, or even external clients. Businesses can also leverage custom web parts, branding elements, and layouts to create a user-friendly and visually appealing experience.

2. Complex Workflows: Businesses can automate routine tasks and processes using SharePoint Designer or Power Automate. This involves the automation of approvals, document routing, data collection, and notifications, freeing up employee time for more strategic work.

3. High-Level Security Settings: Granular permission control enables businesses to restrict access to sensitive data at the site, list, library, folder, or even individual item level. Additionally, businesses can also configure user authentication methods and leverage features like Information Rights Management (IRM) for added protection.

4. Content Management and Version Control: SharePoint provides robust content management functionalities. Businesses can create document libraries with version control to track changes, revert to previous versions, and ensure teams always work on the latest iteration. Additionally, SharePoint’s features like metadata tagging, content types, and content approval workflows further streamline the content organization.

5. Business Connectivity Services (BCS): With its BCS feature, SharePoint can connect to external data sources like databases or CRM systems. This enables businesses to display and interact with external data directly within SharePoint, eliminating the need for manual data entry, and maintaining data consistency across platforms.

6. Search and Business Intelligence (BI): SharePoint’s advanced search capabilities go beyond basic keyword searches. Businesses can leverage faceted navigation, filters, and refiners to find specific information quickly. Furthermore, integration with Power BI enables them to create interactive dashboards and reports directly within SharePoint, providing valuable insights into their data.

7. Mobile Access and Integration: Businesses can access and manage their SharePoint environment on the go with mobile apps for various devices. This ensures seamless collaboration and information access, keeping the teams connected and productive even when outside the office.

8. Integration With Microsoft 365: SharePoint seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft 365 tools like Teams, OneDrive, and Planner, fostering a unified collaborative ecosystem. Information flows effortlessly between these applications, enhancing communication and project management.

9. Customization and Development: SharePoint provides extensive customization options through SharePoint Framework (SPFx) and Power Apps. Businesses can develop custom web parts, applications, and workflows to address specific business needs and further enhance the collaboration platform.

Related Read: Why SharePoint is the Perfect Platform for Intranet Development

Key Benefits of SharePoint Modern Intranet Development

SharePoint intranet solutions can transform your static information hub into a dynamic and collaborative workspace. It provides features like team sites for project discussions and document sharing, while promoting knowledge exchange with wikis and blogs. Its powerful search tools ensure everyone finds the information they need quickly.

With its news and announcements features, businesses can keep their teams informed, while social features like user profiles and activity feeds promote connections and a sense of community. Additionally, SharePoint modern intranet’s robust security enables granular access control, keeping sensitive data protected. With its mobile-friendly design and seamless integration with Microsoft 365 tools like Teams, the SharePoint intranet fosters a truly connected and productive work environment.

What Makes Sharepoint an Invaluable Tool for Modern Businesses

In the era of social engagement, enterprises are increasingly looking for ways to improve their internal processes and productivity. SharePoint modern intranet, used by more than 80% of Fortune companies[ii], provides solutions to many organizational challenges. Here are the top five enterprise challenges that SharePoint intranet can address:

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Challenge #1: SharePoint Intranet for Increased Productivity

One of the significant challenges in organizations is ensuring productive work hours. Often, employees spend a lot of time on trivial tasks such as checking files and communicating with peers. SharePoint modern intranet enhances productivity by providing better communication and content management tools. It also integrates apps like Teams, Skype for Business, etc., to streamline communication.

Challenge #2: Improving Work Collaboration

Employees can sometimes feel disconnected from the organization’s goals and objectives. To enhance employee performance, it’s essential to create a sense of community within the organization. SharePoint intranet provides social collaboration tools like activity fields, user profiles, social search, news & announcements, etc., that help employees feel more connected to the broader organization.

Challenge #3: Handling Multimedia Files

Sharing large multimedia files can be cumbersome using traditional email services, which can clutter inboxes and company servers. On the other hand, cloud services like Dropbox may raise data security concerns and lack control over storage space. SharePoint intranet combats these challenges by providing built-in enterprise storage solutions, making it easier and more secure to handle multimedia files.

Challenge #4: Better Analytics

Understanding employee behavior can lead to a more organized and efficient workplace. SharePoint intranet’s analytics capabilities enable organizations to track which tools employees use most, gaining insights into their needs & preferences. This information helps in engaging, motivating, and rewarding employees more effectively by understanding the social dynamics within the company.

Challenge #5: Content Management

Managing volumes of data and quickly retrieving the necessary files can be a daunting task for any organization. SharePoint modern intranet addresses this challenge with its robust content management tools and features, which streamline the organization, storage, and retrieval of documents and information. SharePoint’s content management capabilities include centralized storage, advanced search functionality, version control, permissions & security, and integration with other tools.

Related Read: Enhance Collaboration & Communication With SharePoint AI

8 Reasons to Use SharePoint Intranet for Building a Collaborative Workplace

1. World’s Most Popular Choice for Intranets

Various enterprises support SharePoint’s reputation as the leading base technology for intranets. SharePoint holds a 65% market share in the document collaboration sector, competing against 49 other tools in the same category. Its popularity is further endorsed by industry awards and its widespread use across various sectors, including retail and healthcare. This vast adoption underscores SharePoint intranet’s ability to deliver flexible, robust, and innovative intranet solutions.

2. Integration With Microsoft 365 and Other Microsoft Tools

One of SharePoint intranet’s major strengths is its seamless integration with other Microsoft tools such as Teams, OneDrive, Power Automate, and Power BI. This integration enhances collaboration, process automation, and advanced reporting. SharePoint’s ability to integrate intranet features with Microsoft tools without developer assistance further simplifies the user experience.

3. Comprehensive Content Management

SharePoint modern intranet excels in content management, providing sophisticated publishing and management tools to meet internal communication needs. Its features such as approval workflows, news templates, editorial calendars, and automated content reviews enhance content control. The modern editing canvas makes it easy for users to manage pages and documents, promoting efficient content distribution and management.

4. Integrated SharePoint Collaboration Tools

SharePoint, particularly SharePoint Online, provides a multitude of options for intranet development. Organizations can deliver an out-of-the-box intranet or leverage a mature market of intranet-in-a-box (third-party) products that work along SharePoint to provide capabilities like additional templates, page layouts, and stronger governance. SharePoint intranet’s integration with Microsoft Teams and Viva Engage further enhances collaborative capabilities. This integration ensures that collaboration remains at the core of the intranet experience, supporting team sites and enabling seamless communication & document sharing within the intranet environment.

5. SharePoint Intranet for Knowledge Management & Robust Document Sharing

SharePoint intranet’s document library capabilities are essential for document-centric organizations. These features facilitate document sharing, distribution, and knowledge management. The easy integration of SharePoint libraries into the intranet enhances information distribution and project output, making SharePoint intranet a valuable tool for managing organizational knowledge assets.

6. Personalization and Content Targeting

Modern intranets benefit from personalization capabilities that deliver targeted content to specific employee groups based on location, division, function, or seniority. SharePoint and SharePoint Online intranet effectively support this personalization by leveraging Active Directory profiles. This ensures that employees receive relevant content, enhancing the intranet’s effectiveness and engagement.

7. Modern User Experience

The delivery of SharePoint’s modern experiences has significantly improved intranet usability. Attractive designs, user-friendly publishing interfaces, better performance, and useful site templates have transformed SharePoint modern intranet, making it less reliant on IT functions. These improvements have made it easier for teams to implement and manage effective intranets, enhancing user satisfaction.

8. Microsoft’s Ongoing Investment in SharePoint

Microsoft’s continuous investment in SharePoint, including its integration with Microsoft Viva and AI & machine learning advancements, demonstrates its commitment to evolving the platform. These enhancements introduce smarter search functionalities, personalized content delivery, and seamless integration with Microsoft Teams, ensuring that the SharePoint intranet remains a cutting-edge collaboration solution. The potential integration of AI-driven tools like Copilot promises even greater efficiency and automation, reinforcing SharePoint’s position as a top-tier choice for intranets.

Industry Use Cases of SharePoint Intranet

– Global Manufacturing Company
A global manufacturing company can use the SharePoint intranet as a centralized hub for communication, knowledge sharing, and project management. Using it, their employees can easily access corporate announcements, safety protocols, and engineering manuals. Furthermore, SharePoint intranet’s dedicated project sites can streamline collaboration and task management across geographically dispersed teams.

– Healthcare Provider Network
A healthcare network can leverage the SharePoint intranet for secure document management and internal collaboration. Patient records and medical policies can be stored with controlled access. New staff can access onboarding and training resources smoothly, while teams can use SharePoint sites for project tracking and document sharing.

– Non-Profit Organizations
Non-profit organizations can use the SharePoint intranet to streamline volunteer recruitment and project management. SharePoint intranet will centralize their volunteer applications and internal communication, while project sites will support collaboration and document sharing for initiatives. SharePoint’s knowledge base functionality will enable staff to efficiently share best practices & resources, and its workflow automation ability can help manage grant applications & reporting.

The Need for a SharePoint Development Expert

You can plan a SharePoint modern intranet development by understanding your organizational goals and audience needs. Then, you should prioritize key initiatives and prototype a pilot solution, focusing on user engagement and governance. Next, review existing intranet content and collaborate with stakeholders to identify essential features. Choose suitable SharePoint components, involve IT and help desk teams, and drive adoption through executive sponsorship and user training. This will ensure that your intranet aligns with business objectives and enhances productivity.

Once the planning phase is complete, the need for a SharePoint partner becomes clear. Grazitti Interactive as a SharePoint development partner can assist you in customizing and optimizing your intranet to meet specific business requirements, ensuring seamless integration with existing systems. They also provide technical expertise, streamline the SharePoint migration process, and render ongoing support to enhance your platform functionality and user experience. Ultimately, they will help maximize the return on investment in your SharePoint intranet.

Ready to Supercharge Your Workplace Productivity & Collaboration With SharePoint Intranet? Let’s Talk!

References:

^[i] Microsoft
^[ii] Gitnux