6 signs your intranet is about to die

More and more organizations reap the benefits of using an intranet. Intranets help companies by increasing productivity and improving the accessibility and ease of information sharing. However, it’s not that one can implement an intranet and then just forget about it. Intranets need to be updated regularly, to ensure they meet their companies’ latest demands, are safe to use and work as they are supposed to.

If not, your users might abandon it, until it dies a quiet death. Here are six signs your intranet may be dying too.

People can’t find what they’re looking for

A major reason for companies to start using an intranet is to allow employees to find information and make use of available resources more easily. However, if people are not able to find what they need, then you’re in for some trouble. According to tech magazine CMSWire, many intranets are hopelessly outdated when it comes to delivering targeted information in a convenient and timely way.

An improved search function, a better content management system or tools to deliver personalized content to your employees will help them find what they need, when they need it. Personally, I believe a mix of these ‘push’ and ‘pull’ methods is the way to go today.

People find it difficult to add content

An intranet can only be alive when there are ways for two-way communication and users can bring value to it themselves. In an ideal world, users should be able to create a shared workplace or post messages in a matter of minutes. If not, if for example your users are forced to ask your IT department for help, then you know it’s time to upgrade your intranet. Focus on the ease of use and your intranet might florish again.

People stop using it

We often work with organisations where teams have developed their own work methods over time, by gathering some tools they like to use. From a business point of view, this is pure horror. Nobody exactly know where all the information is being stored, and sharing information company-wide is impossible.

So don’t forget to measure how often – and for how long – your employees make use of your intranet. If they don’t, this shows they don’t see the benefits of the solution you’ve put in place.

People stop working together

A company’s success is closely related to how well its employees manage to work together. A major benefit of an intranet is that it offers them tools to collaborate easier and faster. If, for some reason, your employees start to avoid using these tools, it’s a clear indication that your intranet is not as effective as you would like it to be. A great way to get to the bottom of this is by involving your employees directly. Ask them what they would like to see differently and which features they would like to see in order to work together more successfully.

Money is being spent on the wrong things

It’s difficult to give up on a tool when you’ve already spent countless hours to get it up and running. Even when it’s close to dying. I gues that’s the main reason why I see so many businesses invest more time and money in bug fixing an outdated portal. If you ‘re running such an outdated portal, your maintenance costs might run wild and make it impossible to budget your IT cost.

Even more money is being spent on the wrong things

Besides the costs associated with running outdated software, many companies still spend a lot of money hiring third-party consultants – only for them to help in maintaining their intranet. This may seem like a fast and easy solution in the short term. However, over time, the costs of using third-party consultants can far outweigh the benefits. Your company not only spends money on consulting services, but also becomes reliant on this third party – which can be a major liability. Adapting to an easy-to-use, and ready-to-implement intranet could not only reduce this reliance, but also cut the costs your company makes today.

By the way, if you are looking to update your intranet, my primary advice would be to go for a solution with no vendor lock in. This means you don’t have to rely on just one third party to maintain or improve your intranet. When we created Involv, this was one of our main focuses; we built the platform on top of SharePoint so our customers could ask their preferred SharePoint partner to work with them.

In the End

Do you already see some of these signs within your organization? If so, the time to renew your intranet solution might be now.

By upgrading to a modern, cloud-based intranet solution, your company can take a major step forward, towards forming a shared, digital workplace. A workplace where employees find what they need, when they need it and where they actually enjoy collaborating and sharing knowledge.