#intranet platform

SharePoint is a robust platform for your intranet solution. 80% of Fortune 100 companies already use it and its adoption is growing exponentially. Companies of all sizes and industries use SharePoint and Microsoft is continuously enhancing its features to meet the needs of a broader base.

Although SharePoint comes loaded with a large selection of pre-built sites and templates to get you started, there are ready-to-go products that can be installed on top of SharePoint which convert it into a comprehensive workplace solution with unified tools and features that most companies need.

Here are 7 steps to select the right intranet platform:

Analyse your Business - Understand and document your current business environment and identify its needs, establish key requirements, list out your problems, pain points and features & functionality you need.

Define Budget - As you evaluate your needs you might also determine the budget, research your options and find an intranet product that is the right fit for you. Whether your budget is big or small, look for a solution that helps your company control IT investment and cost the in future too.

Assess your IT infrastructure – Deploying an on-premise intranet means you need to have high-end servers to support and manage data. If you are lucky and have a team of highly qualified SharePoint professionals to customize and integrate the intranet software with other business systems – go for it. Another alternative is an Office 365 intranet. It offers flexibility, anytime, anywhere availability (leading to increased productivity and efficiency), low costs, less dependency on IT, more data safety and low energy consumption.

Evaluate vendors - By this stage you must have compiled a long list of company intranet software vendors and looked through their offerings, features and price. It’s time to build a strategy behind successfully choosing an intranet software that’s going to serve your brand and support your business. And to do this you need to jump to the next step.

Have a closer look at the features offered - Evaluate how the features offered align with your business needs and how they fit well in your current ecosystem. Schedule one-on-one demos, ask for proof of concepts, conduct meetings and have all your questions addressed.

Check for possible Integrations - There still may be some external business applications you may want to use. Check if the intranet offers integrations with all those applications you need. You should be able to connect to your favourite apps from the intranet portal, while still maintaining the single sign on feature.