In the following article, the three most important criteria for selecting the right technology for an intranet– from the internal IT perspective– will be described.
The purpose of an intranet is:
- Increasing the identification of the employees with the company
- Shaping the company’s strategy and culture
- Simplifying the communication between employees and the company
- Documentation of knowledge and processes
- Finding information
- As a networking platform for employees, to strengthen togetherness
A modern intranet, as the first reliable contact point, connects knowledge and people and has to work fast, simple and location-independent on all devices.
Faster to success with regular and transparent communication
Experience shows that with current hype topics such as digital transformation, industry 4.0, network organization, etc., clear, transparent and regular communication provides security for employees and thus increases the chances of successful change and shortens the change process.
#1 Content is King
Employees visit an intranet for the information and not because of the technology or design, which means that news, stories, knowledge, processes, events etc., have to be up to date and relevant. The author’s focus should be on the quality of the content, without being distracted by complex functionality. In addition, he shouldn’t have to worry about the uniform presentation of content elements. As experience shows, a simple content editor reduces the obstacles for authors to create and maintain relevant content.
Choose a technology that is reduced to the essentials and supports authors in creating relevant content.
#2 Focusing on the essential increases usage
The faster a user finds his way on the intranet, regardless of the used device, the greater the benefit and probability of finding the relevant information. That’s where design, language and information architecture are playing a central role.
Mixing between intranet (information) and collaboration increases the complexity, especially for companies with a large number of employees who work little on documents.
Pay attention to the possibility of ensuring simplicity in design and information architecture for all employees when selecting technology.
#3 An intranet is never done
A user’s needs and behaviors change over time, especially due to privately used platforms. This means more or less required resources from the internal IT department, depending on the choice of technology.
The problem usually is that after an initial effort and the go live, the resources are withdrawn from the intranet. This means that important maintenance and improvement work is not carried out and the intranet quickly loses its original splendor. Here also applies, the easier the chosen technology is, the more can be done by the authors and the communication executives by themselves.
Make sure that valuable IT resources are not wasted on developing and configuring standard solutions like an intranet, but on optimizing business processes, which requires company-specific knowledge.
An intranet-as-a-service like ahead has already simplified some intranet editor’s life, thanks to the above mentioned facts, which are anchored in the DNA.
