By Mike Hicks
Chief Marketing Officer, Beezy
While at one point intranets were only used for document filing and organization. Today, the modern intranet provides opportunities to improve employee connection, optimize efficiency and streamline processes.
Currently, 45% of Americans are working from home and this remote workforce needs seamless, intuitive tech platforms to do their jobs well. If you don’t give them the tools they need to do thatl, you risk hurting your bottom line.
If your legacy intranet isn't meeting your needs, it’s time to find a new one — and the process doesn’t have to be overwhelming. @FollowBeezy #Microsoft365 Click To TweetWhile updating company-wide platforms you rely on can be costly and challenging, it’s important to remember the value of usable, secure tech.
Here are four reasons you may want to rethink your legacy intranet provider.
1. You’re Losing Money and Efficiency with an Outdated Intranet
Upgrading your tech stack on a company-wide level is expensive. Many employers start thinking about upgrading their technology every few years. However, it often takes much longer to commit to the cost of switching platforms, migrating data and onboarding your team.
But the pandemic has accelerated technology’s evolution, and companies should take advantage of the upgraded platforms and streamlined processes today’s modern intranets offer, and the relative cost of executing a new contract versus the maintenance you pay for your current intranet.
And consider the full cost of ownership. A platform may have a low product cost, but it may also require a heavy service cost. Finding an intranet that fits within your budget and provides the services you need is essential to the success of your transition.
2. You Spend Too Much on Additional Platforms
You should rethink your legacy provider if your intranet doesn’t meet all of your needs so you’re left spending money on additional platforms.
For example, if your legacy intranet doesn’t have a messaging capability, you might find yourself paying for Slack, which means that your employees have to toggle between multiple applications. Not only is this a hassle, but it disrupts their productivity.
Forty-eight percent of tech execs across a number of industries say team productivity increased since the start of the pandemic. Don’t lose your employee productivity to inefficient tech platforms.
A streamlined, modern intranet reduces the number of platforms your organization uses, supports employee productivity, and saves you money.
3. Your Intranet Doesn’t Have the Functionality Your Team Needs
Legacy intranets are notorious for being buggy, slow to load and disorganized. The good news is modern intranets can be as simple and intuitive to use as social media.
- Instead of documents getting lost in an information vacuum, your intranet should have a myriad of organizational tools that support easy filing or push notifications to appropriate users.
- A good intranet should be able to target information to any specific group of users, whether that’s employees at one office location or a department across your entire company.
- Your intranet should support employee workflows in addition to offering collaboration opportunities.
According to a recent Gallup poll, 15% of American employees are actively disengaged in their work. Due to the increase of remote work, it’s even more challenging to improve teamwork or offer partnership opportunities.
Luckily, modern intranets have built-in collaboration features like commenting, rating and liking. This gives managers an easy way to give employees praise and employees a platform on which to connect with each other.
If information is hard to find or necessary capabilities don’t exist on your intranet, your employees are less likely to use it.
4. You Can’t Afford an Intranet That Doesn’t Meet Your Security Standards
Data security is an essential aspect of every company and a constant concern among business leaders. Relying on tech platforms that protect your data is an important part of your business.
Yet, 68% of U.S. companies fell victim to a ransomware attack and paid the ransom in 2020. Your legacy intranet may be increasing your vulnerability to data hacks.
Ensuring your intranet is secure and rated highly for data protection is essential. Research intranet providers who have experience in servicing your industry. Ask them about data storage and privacy certifications.
Without a trusted intranet provider, your data may be vulnerable to security breaches or hackers.
Don’t Let an Inefficient, Clunky Legacy Intranet Stunt Your Company’s Growth
If your legacy intranet is not meeting your company’s needs or can’t provide the capabilities your employees use to do their jobs well, it’s time to find a new one and the process doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
Fortunately, modern, streamlined intranets bring immense value to your company’s productivity. Relying on a single platform that meets your employees’ needs can help reduce staff turnover, combat workflow inefficiencies and improve your employee’s overall workplace happiness.
Mike Hicks is chief marketing officer at Beezy, a digital workplace for Microsoft365 and SharePoint. He has 20 years of experience leading enterprise software marketing and demand teams.
Image: Microsoft
