What We Do

Intranet Portals: Everything You Need To Know

Unlock your organisation’s most powerful asset: employee productivity

There’s no denying that staff have access to more technology than ever before. In the Microsoft productivity stack alone, users can choose from apps like Teams, Yammer, SharePoint, Delve, OneDrive, Outlook and Skype for Business.

Additionally, there’s other SaaS applications, legacy on-premises systems and other corporate platforms to navigate. Is it any wonder there’s confusion about which tools to use, and when to use them? 

While all these technologies have a place, understanding how they fit into a broader technology ecosystem can be challenging.

The solution: a company-wide Intranet solution that ties your modern workplace together.

Benefits

The platform trusted by over 100 million users

SharePoint and Office 365 have over 100 million users for a reason. As one of the leading enterprise modern workplace platforms, SharePoint is proven to get results. We prefer SharePoint for intranet solutions because it:

  • Drives productivity

    SharePoint Integrates with many of the applications your employees use every day, saving time and making it easier to get work done.

  • Central platform for performing day-to-day tasks

    This helps prevent confusion about which tools are best for particular tasks. Almost everything employees need can be made available either within or from SharePoint.

  • Highly customisable

    We can design a SharePoint environment that matches your corporate colours, branding and personality.

  • Short learning curve

    Most users are familiar with at least one Microsoft product, making it easier to get started than other intranet platforms.

Custom Intranet Solution

Your intranet: a universal toolkit for empowering staff to work more productively

More than just a document repository, a well-designed and maintained intranet portal helps employees make sense of the countless tools they need to work effectively.

Microsoft SharePoint, for example, isn’t just a stand-alone application. It brings together the best of Office 365 and other Microsoft cloud-based technologies for all staff.

By integrating applications in a single view, it provides:

  • The right information
  • To the right people
  • At the right time

Why Antares?

We make intranet projects fast, hassle-free and easy. Our Microsoft certified consultants have years of experience handling all aspects of intranet portal requirements, design, implementation and maintenance.

We rescue failed SharePoint implementations, upgrade older deployments, enhance functionality and build high-performing intranet portals from scratch. Read more about our SharePoint work or contact us today.

At Antares, we leverage our #Space Intranet Solution to give organisations a “running start” when implementing a new corporate intranet. There is often no need to start from scratch. We deliver 100% functionality and 80% of your requirements at a 50% reduction in cost with #Space. Contact us to find out more today.

In addition to being a visual tool for greater business intelligence, Power BI is also the best way to keep your data secure, with sturdy end-to-end data protection. You can also use Power BI in tandem with Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Office to derive greater value from your data, and there is a library of more than 120 data connectors to ensure you always get a total picture of what your data is doing.

Frequently asked questions

  • What are intranet systems and solutions?

    Intranet systems and solutions are an internal private network designed to support the sharing of information and collaboration within an organisation. An intranet serves as a central platform for staff communication and encourages staff to share information, documents, and perform tasks in a streamlined manner.

  • Is intranet software?

    An Intranet is a solution that’s built on top of a platform. Intranet software is available and enables organisations to purchase pre-packaged intranet solutions that provide secured communication networks that are only accessible by internal staff. Intranet software makes it easy to share important updates across an organisation, align tasks and promote a healthy work culture.

  • Is SharePoint an Intranet?

    SharePoint is a platform with many building blocks that enables organisations to build an intranet on top of the platform. It is the most popular option for creating an intranet due to its accessibility (many organisations use O356), flexibility and integration capabilities with other Microsoft tools such as Microsoft Teams.

    SharePoint as an intranet allows staff across an organisation to create collaborative workspaces, manage their documents in a central location, and streamline communications through both customised and templatised approaches.

  • What is the best intranet platform?

    Each organisation’s needs and requirements are different and unique. However, SharePoint Online has continuously reigned as the most popular intranet platform for organisations worldwide. There are many great out-of-the-box SharePoint designs and apps that organisations can use to quickly rolled outa new intranet with the ability to also iterate over time and continually add new features easily.

    SharePoint Online offers a flexible and scalable framework that enables organisations to extend the capabilities of the intranet according to their needs. SharePoint has always been a strong collaboration platform, which is further enhanced with the ability to integrate with the Microsoft O365 suite, bringing knowledge sharing and social networking to new heights.

    Microsoft is also continuously investing in SharePoint, more recently introducing Modern Sites that includes many new features and capabilities. Modern sites are a game changer with innovative designs, apps and integration options for your intranet.

    Whilst SharePoint is continually ranked highly by the likes of Gartner because of the strength and capabilities for intranets, there are alternative platforms outside of the Microsoft ecosystem that also delivers a comprehensive intranet solution. It is important that you understand your business requirements and compare the various platforms to determine which platform best fits your needs.

  • What should be on an intranet?

    A long list of features and broad range of apps does not mean your intranet is meeting the needs of your people and acting as the company-wide “hub” for information that it should be. Below are the essential components you need to consider when building your company intranet:
    1. Search: Help your staff find information quickly
    2. Staff directory: Provide a one-stop-shop for staff to look up coworker contact details
    3. Document hub: Bring all information together in a way that’s accessible by all staff
    4. Staff recognition: Re-enforce organisation culture and increase staff motivation and satisfaction
    5. Mobile ready: Allow your staff to work on tasks on the go
    6. Training resources: Help your staff grow and be equipped with the information needed to get their job done

  • How do you protect and intranet?

    Intranets are valuable; they create a company-wide source of truth for news, alerts, events, documents and many other sources of information. Intranets unite an organisation and save staff significant time finding the information they need to do their job.

    However, intranets are susceptible to security risks and breaches. Below are several ways you can protect your company’s information on the intranet:
    Restricting user access: The vast majority of your staff won’t need access to every page or document on your intranet. A best practice approach to minimise the chances of exposing confidential information to unauthorised individuals is to restrict who can access certain types of information. By limiting accessibility, you’ll substantially reduce the possibility of both intentional and accidental data leakages.
    Data encryption: Encryption can protect your data by transforming it into an unrecognisable format to unauthorised individuals. With encryption, you can rest assured that your organisation’s data is protected when transferred and shared with other individuals across the business (as well as with external users).
    Company security policy: A company-wide policy can help establish rules for staff about how to use the intranet securely. Staff members should be educated on best practices to minimise the potential of data leakage, such as logging out of the system when not in use and not downloading copies of sensitive information. A well-set policy can reduce the chances of both external and internal threats exploiting weaknesses, both technical and with internal processes.
    Latest software updates: Both platform and Intranet software providers frequently issue new updates which can help combat emerging security risks and vulnerabilities. By keeping on top of these updates and habitually installing them as they are released (if not evergreen such as with SharePoint Online),organisations will be armed with the latest security protection.

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