An intranet is a private network within an organization that uses internet technologies to securely share information, data, and resources among employees
Creating an intranet business case isn’t the easiest thing to do, as it’s not clear to identify what you don’t have if not familiar with the capabilities of an intranet. Rather than confusing operations over multiple platforms, an intranet stores all data in one place and provides a platform for internal communication.
Drafting The Intranet Business Case
The intranet business case for your organisation should break down the need for an intranet, and outline its benefits and costs. In it, you’ll identify:
- The problem or opportunity your intranet will solve.
- Your audience’s needs and goals.
- A detailed description of how the intranet can meet those goals.
Explaining The Benefits Of An Intranet
As with any business case, it's key to demonstrate the potential ROI of the project. While it may not be entirely accurate, a business can make estimates based on factors such as the below:
- Increased employee productivity by simplifying data locations.
- Centralised resources mean less duplication of effort.
- Reduced information overload - your intranet becomes the singular source of truth
- Improved communications - your intranet becomes a pillar of your communication strategy.
- Improved collaboration, making it easier for employees to work together and share ideas as a team.
Costs Of An Intranet
Typically one of the first questions. The cost will depend on the functionality required, the intended reach (one office or multi-national) and the amount of data, among other considerations. But overall, the cost of entry is actually quite low (Akita's intranet solutions start from £600). And with applications such as SharePoint is possible to deploy in a phased approach, meaning not all the costs are upfront.
Software
There’s a broad range of different intranet platforms available today that allow organisations to create online portals for users to work together more effectively. Microsoft SharePoint is one of the most reliable pieces of software on the market, and its intranet capabilities don’t fall short.
Features such as document management, content and news, project management and social networking tools allow a SharePoint intranet to be used as a multi-tool for which to handle a range of operations.
Integration capabilities are among the most useful applications of SharePoint, as it can merge with a wide variety of Microsoft 365 applications as well as Microsoft Teams to enhance collaboration and improve workflows.
Conclusion
In summary, creating an intranet business case is always simple to start, as improving communication and simplifying workflows will always be attractive improvements.
However, common issues when creating an intranet business case include the organisation not knowing its internal requirements, or not knowing the capabilities of an intranet platform; therefore not knowing what exactly it could improve.
Consultancy is a great way to get an expert’s advice on how your operations could be improved, as well as to understand the scope of the concerned intranet platform.
Akita develops intranet solutions in Microsft SharePoint. Find out more about our intranet services:
