In today’s digital workplace, organizations with more than a handful of employees benefit significantly from a modern intranet. A well-designed intranet empowers staff to quickly find information, discover new knowledge, and connect, collaborate, and communicate effectively. An effective intranet creates value for both the organization and its employees.
Six Key Reasons to Invest in an Intranet
- Internal Communication & Knowledge Sharing
A modern intranet provides a central platform for organizational updates, announcements, and news. With dynamic features like photos and videos, important information stands out and is easy to find—unlike email, where messages can be overlooked or lost. New employees also benefit from immediate access to recent news and relevant updates. - Single Source of Truth
Critical organizational information—internal policies, benefits, directories, and more—needs to be accurate, current, and accessible. Housing this information within the intranet’s knowledge base ensures staff trust what they find. Keeping content up-to-date requires a clear process and dedicated ownership. - Sense of Community and Employee Engagement
Beyond information sharing, an intranet fosters community and connection—especially in organizations with remote teams or multiple locations. It serves as a “digital office,” providing virtual spaces for knowledge sharing events, forums, and suggestion boxes. This encourages input and engagement from staff, wherever they work. - Organizational Efficiency & Effectiveness
Leveraging platforms like Microsoft 365, your intranet can integrate or automate workflows, streamline approvals, and ensure consistent internal processes. Automations, such as onboarding new users or content review cycles, can save time and improve organizational effectiveness—especially when the intranet is fully utilized across teams. - Security
A modern intranet enhances security through technical measures such as multi-factor authentication and role-based access controls, protecting information while giving staff streamlined, secure access to the resources they need. When used as a hub for single sign-on, an intranet also simplifies daily access to organizational platforms and tools. - IT Infrastructure
Many organizations already have robust intranet capabilities within platforms like Microsoft 365. SharePoint Online, for example, can serve as a strong foundation for a secure, mission-aligned, scalable intranet. Major investments typically relate to preparing, organizing, and maintaining content—not the software platform itself—so it’s strategic to invest in people and processes that maximize the value of your existing technology.
This blog post is part of FireOak’s Building and Maintaining a Modern Intranet series.
