Every organization reaches a point where informal information sharing stops working. The documents scattered across drives become unfindable. The “just ask someone” approach breaks down as the company grows. New employees take months to get up to speed because nothing is documented or discoverable.
A company intranet addresses this by creating a central place for internal communication, documentation, and tools. But implementing an intranet raises significant questions: Which platform? Build or buy? How much will it cost? What makes it successful?
This guide helps organizations navigate these decisions and implement intranet solutions that deliver lasting value.
Why Companies Need Intranets
The case for an intranet strengthens as organizations grow:
Information accessibility. Employees need to find policies, procedures, templates, and reference materials without emailing around or digging through drives. An intranet provides a searchable, organized repository.
Communication reach. Important messages need to reach everyone, not just those who read every email. An intranet provides a persistent channel that doesn’t compete with daily inbox volume.
Operational efficiency. Self-service capabilities reduce administrative overhead. Employees complete routine tasks themselves rather than generating tickets and emails.
Cultural cohesion. Distributed workforces need connection points. An intranet helps employees feel part of something larger than their immediate team.
Knowledge retention. Information documented on the intranet survives employee turnover. Institutional knowledge becomes organizational knowledge.
Onboarding acceleration. New employees find what they need without constant hand-holding. Time to productivity decreases.
The question isn’t whether your organization needs better internal information management—it almost certainly does. The question is what solution best addresses your specific needs.
Company Intranet vs. Public Website
Intranets differ fundamentally from public websites:
Audience. Public websites target external audiences—customers, prospects, the general public. Intranets serve internal employees only.
Access. Public websites are open to anyone. Intranets require authentication—only authorized employees get in.
Content. Public websites contain marketing, product information, and public-facing communications. Intranets contain internal documents, company policies, employee information, and operational tools.
Design priorities. Public websites prioritize brand impression and conversion. Intranets prioritize findability and task completion.
Maintenance. Public websites are typically owned by marketing. Intranets are often owned by HR, communications, or IT—or shared across groups.
Some functionality overlaps—news publishing, document sharing, search—but the design considerations and platform requirements differ substantially.
Build vs. Buy Decision
Organizations face a fundamental choice: build an intranet on a platform like SharePoint or purchase a dedicated intranet product.
Building on SharePoint makes sense when:
- You already have Microsoft 365 and want to maximize that investment
- Integration with Teams, Outlook, and Microsoft documents matters
- You have IT resources for configuration and ongoing management
- Customization to specific requirements is important
- Long-term cost containment is a priority
Buying a dedicated platform makes sense when:
- You want a polished experience with minimal configuration
- Internal IT resources are limited
- Employee experience features are a high priority
- You’re willing to pay ongoing subscription costs for simplicity
- You need capabilities SharePoint doesn’t offer natively
Many organizations could succeed with either approach. The decision often comes down to existing technology investments, available resources, and how much customization matters.
Platform Comparison
Common intranet platform options include:
Microsoft SharePoint. Part of Microsoft 365, SharePoint provides the foundation for most enterprise intranets. It offers document management, site building, search, and integration with the Microsoft ecosystem. SharePoint requires configuration effort but avoids additional vendor costs for Microsoft 365 customers.
Simpplr. A modern intranet platform emphasizing employee experience and ease of use. Known for clean design and AI-powered personalization. Higher cost but lower implementation complexity than SharePoint.
Staffbase. Focuses on employee communications, particularly reaching frontline workers without desk jobs. Strong mobile experience and communications features.
Unily. Enterprise intranet platform with robust personalization and integration capabilities. Targets larger organizations with complex requirements.
LumApps. Integrates with both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. Good option for organizations using Google’s ecosystem or with mixed environments.
Confluence. Atlassian’s wiki platform, popular in technical organizations. Stronger for knowledge management than traditional intranet use cases.
Notion. Modern workspace tool increasingly used for internal documentation. Works well for smaller organizations or specific team use cases.
Each platform has strengths and limitations. The right choice depends on your specific requirements, existing technology, budget, and resources.
Implementation Considerations
Implementing an intranet involves more than selecting software:
Stakeholder alignment. Who owns the intranet? Who has input? Getting stakeholders aligned on goals and approach before implementation prevents conflicts later.
Requirements gathering. What must the intranet accomplish? What features matter most? Requirements should reflect actual user needs, researched rather than assumed.
Information architecture. How will content be organized? What’s the navigation structure? This structural work precedes design and development.
Content migration. What existing content moves to the intranet? Content migration requires planning—what to migrate, what to archive, what to retire.
Governance planning. Who can publish content? What are the standards? How is the intranet maintained? Governance prevents the decay that kills intranets.
Change management. How will you drive adoption? Training, communication, and support help employees shift to the new platform.
Technical integration. What systems connect to the intranet? Single sign-on, HR system integration, application links—integrations affect both user experience and implementation complexity.
Organizations that shortcut planning typically face problems later—intranets that don’t meet needs, poor adoption, content chaos, or all three.
Total Cost of Ownership
Intranet costs extend beyond platform licensing:
Platform costs. Software licensing—either included in existing subscriptions (SharePoint with Microsoft 365) or separate subscription fees (dedicated intranet platforms). Dedicated platforms typically cost $3-12 per user per month.
Implementation costs. Design, configuration, customization, content migration, and integration. This may involve internal resources, consultants, or implementation partners. Costs vary dramatically based on scope and complexity.
Content development. Creating content for the intranet—writing, editing, design, media production. Often underestimated but significant for meaningful intranets.
Training costs. Training administrators, content contributors, and end users. May include training development, delivery time, and materials.
Ongoing maintenance. Content updates, technical maintenance, user support, and continuous improvement. This requires ongoing staff time or outsourced support.
Future development. Enhancements and new features as needs evolve. Intranets aren’t one-time projects; they require ongoing investment to remain relevant.
Total cost of ownership over three to five years provides a more accurate comparison than initial implementation costs alone.
Governance and Maintenance
Intranets without governance decay. Content becomes outdated. Structure becomes cluttered. Search becomes unreliable. Adoption fades.
Effective governance addresses:
Content ownership. Every content area needs an owner responsible for accuracy and currency. No orphaned content.
Publishing standards. Guidelines for content quality, formatting, accessibility, and metadata. Standards maintain consistency as multiple people contribute.
Review cycles. Regular reviews to identify and address outdated content. Annual reviews at minimum; more frequent for fast-changing content.
Site management. Processes for creating, managing, and retiring sites and spaces. Uncontrolled site proliferation creates chaos.
User access. Policies for granting and revoking access, managing permissions, and handling role changes.
Feedback handling. How employee feedback is collected, reviewed, and acted upon. This keeps the intranet responsive to needs.
Governance ownership. Someone must own governance itself—ensuring policies are followed, issues are addressed, and the intranet remains healthy.
Document governance decisions and revisit them periodically as the organization and intranet evolve.
Measuring Intranet Value
Justify intranet investment through measurable outcomes:
Adoption metrics. Active users, visit frequency, feature usage. Is the intranet being used?
Efficiency metrics. Help desk ticket volume, HR inquiry volume, administrative task time. Is the intranet reducing operational burden?
Communication metrics. News readership, campaign reach, employee awareness survey results. Is the intranet improving communication?
Search metrics. Search volume, success rates, common queries. Is the intranet helping people find information?
Employee feedback. Satisfaction surveys, NPS scores, qualitative feedback. Do employees find the intranet valuable?
Business impact. Onboarding time, time to productivity, knowledge retention during turnover. Is the intranet supporting business goals?
Establish baselines before launch and track trends over time. Use data to demonstrate value and prioritize improvements.
Making Your Intranet Successful
Beyond platform and implementation, intranet success requires:
Executive sponsorship. Visible leadership support signals organizational importance. Leaders should use the intranet and advocate for it.
User-centered design. Build for employee needs, not organizational convenience. Research, test, and iterate based on actual user experience.
Quality content. Useful, current, well-organized content makes the intranet worth using. Invest in content development and maintenance.
Ongoing improvement. Intranets that stop evolving become irrelevant. Continuously gather feedback and make improvements.
Patience. Behavior change takes time. Sustained effort over months and years produces lasting adoption.
Organizations willing to invest in these success factors get returns from their intranet investment. Those looking for quick wins often end up with expensive shelfware.
For SharePoint-based implementations, modern intranet best practices provide guidance on building intranets that deliver lasting value.
Ready to explore intranet solutions for your organization? Reach out to discuss your needs and options.