Every organisation that has more than a handful of employees can benefit
from having an intranet. It offers a casual, multi user, easy to access,
up-to-date means of communication. Communication is key in any business,
therefore so is an intranet.
The big question for business decision makers is whether to buy ready-to-go
intranet software or build your own bespoke software. The correct answer
depends on your business needs, your combined technical ability and of course,
budget. Because there are so many great intranet 'Ready to use' products
available, it does seem wise to buy unless you have very specific requirements.
Products such as SharePoint or Confluence offer intranet, document management
and workflow systems with out-of-the-box functionality that you can quickly
deploy and set up. Other reputable systems include Huddle and Slack.
Key considerations when making your decision include hosting and
usability. Will you be hosting the intranet internally or on the cloud? Are you
geared up for remote access over a VPN type connection or is the cloud better.
The standard functionality of any intranet includes integration with
email and calendars, the ability to collaborate on documents and pages, company
communications, How-To articles, People search or 'Who-is directory'. It should
offer remote access, be secure and provide a user-friendly environment, even
for non-technical users.
Less frequently required features include blogs, company workflow and
integration with other in-house systems or programs. Some users might also
require remote access from mobile devices.
Before deciding which way forward, you should also establish who is
going to be maintaining the intranet. It should have a dedicated editor or
curator that can ensure accuracy and keep pages up-to-date and relevant with
easy-to-use page creation, widgets, notifications and comments. If users become
swamped with old, out-of-date information that cannot be relied on for accuracy,
your team will very quickly abandon the intranet and it will become useless. Before looking at any of the products available, the team should be
considered. Who will be editing, who will be contributing. How much technical
expertise do they have? Start with the
team, not the technology.
If
building a bespoke product is the only way you will get the full control
offunctionality and the integration that you require or meet any other specific
needs, you should still consider the team first, and then other key factors
like time scales and budget. Should you require bespoke intranet software,
Synetec can advise, build and integrate your intranet to ensure you end up meeting
all your business needs. Alternatively, you might simply require advice on
software selection and set-up which they will be happy to offer.
George Toursoulopoulos is a technology specialist and CEO of Synetec, one of the UK’s leading providers of bespoke software solutions.
