The intranet has evolved to a more advanced digital workplace solution. As technologies develop, and with the rise of social media, the modern-day intranet now sports a set of features vital for enterprise communications. Traditionally, companies build their intranet due to varying needs. It is vital to weigh some pros and cons. However, with the rise of the Intranet-in-a-box option, IT departments have less reasons to opt for a build-your-own intranet solution. A ready-to-go Intranet seems to be the logical answer.

This blog post will help you to further understand the concept behind the intranet-in-a-box and its benefits.

What is an Intranet-in-a-box?

The intranet-in-a-box, also known as ready-to-go intranet or intranet as a service, is a collection of templates and solutions that organizations can rapidly deploy. It boasts sophisticated features commonly used in company intranets. These features each have a specific use to help companies boost employee productivity, collaboration and overall efficiency.

Why buy an Intranet-in-a-box solution?

Why do companies choose to buy an Intranet-in-a-box solution instead of building their own customised solution? That’s easy. Read on!

The solution is already preconfigured as a set of features. A ready-to-go intranet takes the job of putting all functionalities together. Moreover, the intranet provider will shoulder the support maintenance and system upgrades of the tool. This makes it less of a problem for any company. Less burden on the IT department.

This purpose alone serves as enough criteria for a corporation to go for an Intranet-in-a-box solution. While it’s not a complete cure for many business challenges, it does a great job of providing support for those who need to pivot their operations in a snap.

Here are a few reasons why you should consider a ready-to-go intranet.

Costs

If your business operates on a tight budget, you may not be able to afford the cost and risk associated with building a traditional intranet. Ready-to-go intranet removes that worry and helps you out of the many complexities surrounding funds. Some of the solutions on the market seem to be expensive, but in the long run it’s a cheaper option than building one from scratch. Think about development costs. How much effort does it take to develop a custom intranet. Developers, testers, Project Managers, hardware, software, the list is long. This results in a huge expense.

Development time

How long does it take a build a custom in house Intranet? This is a huge undertaking. It could easily take a year to develop an Intranet from scratch. By the time it’s ready for production, the requirements have probably changed by then and you are probably thinking of the next release. Enhancements, bug-fixing, new software versions etc. could make the development process never-ending. This brings us back to the cost.

Rapid Deployment

One of the benefits of the Intranet-in-a-box is its rapid deployment. You could get your Intranet deployed within days opposed to waiting a whole year. Why wait so long? Get it deployed and start using your new communication tool almost immediately.

Updates and new features

Quite often intranets become “stale” or non-functional for various reasons. Lack of maintenance or a dedicated team to keep it alive is a common scenario. This results in the intranet becoming out of date. Now, with the Intranet-in-a-box, there is a constant evolution of features. Updates are frequent. Now you’d still need a team to keep it going, but at least features are up to date. Maintenance is often taken care of by the Intranet-in-a-box provider.

Makes life easier

Ever thought of the amount of effort it takes to build and implement an Intranet from scratch? I only mentioned build and implement, there are lots more to consider for the software development life cycle. Think of all the stress, especially when working with limited resources. Let’s face it, life is easier with a ready-to-go Intranet solution.

Cloud based

Most Intranet-in-a-box solutions are cloud based. Take advantage of modern, current, advanced and secure technologies. Servers, databases, storage, software etc. are all in the cloud. These services are commonly included in your subscription, for example Microsoft 365 subscription. Check out Microsoft 365 / Office 365.

Amplify your culture

With a ready-to-go Intranet it is so easy to amplify your company culture in record time. Since your Intranet will be up and running in a short time, you can get started in no time.

Collaboration

Collaboration functionality is vital in any Intranet. Most, if not all of the Intranet-in-a-box solutions on the market offer collaboration capabilities. In addition, some have Microsoft 365 capabilities included. Do you need extensive collaboration functionality? No problem!

Dynamic Business

Many companies need to keep up with the tide. As such, they adopt an agile business model that may need to change its structure from time to time. Whatever direction your business has chosen, it can rely on the flexibility of an intranet-in-a-box. These solutions are constantly progressing and offers new and modern features to move along with the ever changing company’s needs.

Small Organizations and Limited Resources

If you have a small team, and you don’t have the bandwidth or time to maintain a self-developed intranet, a ready-to-go intranet is the perfect solution for your business needs. You get all the necessary features. Maintenance is taken care of for you. All you need to do is concern yourself with running your business.

Conclusion

The Intranet has come a long way and is now in a more advanced state for businesses to use. The Intranet-in-a-box or ready-to-go Intranet comes with complete functionalities to help enhance employee engagement, team productivity, and overall business management. They have core functionalities while having a clear grasp of the importance of user-experience and flexibility.

Whatever the situation in your company or maybe you just want to follow modern trends, an Intranet-in-a-box, is the perfect solution.

If you have any questions you can contact us here.