For almost any company today, and especially in the very near future, the intranet is going to be an indispensable resource. Given the large amount of data generated by business today, they are becoming a very popular way to organise company information. In fact, staff spend roughly 20% of their day searching for information. An intranet can solve these and other problems. It is a private network where you can store, share and organise the information. But more than a share tool, it is a productivity boost, providing everything you need to communicate important internal information or news about the company with your employees.

1. CENTRALISE DOCUMENTS

Instead of policies, procedures, forms, and other documents sitting in unorganised folders, an intranet provides a central hub for key business documents. Your templates, invoices, forms, procedures, photos or whatever you want or need can all be saved in the same location. Using an intranet also avoid problems with version control. No more emailing documents around and losing track of the latest version. Now, it’s automatic. Everyone can be sure they’re working with the latest version of the document.

2. STREAMLINE PROCESSES

An intranet is not just a place for document and processes, but it provides the actual tools employees need to automate workflows within a company. Employees have a single place for company communication and collaboration, and naturally productivity and efficiency will increase.

3. SAVE TIME AND MONEY

An intranet can save you time, and time is money. It is an effective way to post and update relevant and essential information for your staff. So they will not waste time trying to find data or the right information, but having all tools they need to perform their daily tasks, they can focus on the business.

Employees can upload and manage documents, information or reports in a single platform that is accessible to colleagues that work on the same projects at a different location. This is usually more secure and efficient than spending time sending emails or having face-to-face meetings when tasks and projects can be accomplished within a company intranet.

4. COLLABORATION

Successful business know that enhancing and promoting cooperation between members of an organisation plays an essential role, as it is shown that a good teamwork directly improves productivity and innovation. Using an intranet, organisations have the opportunity to encourage collaboration and new ideas. Employees can directly connect and share information in the same platform, so all members are updated and they are all on the same track.

5. SECURE INFORMATION

When it comes to value for a businesses, protecting data is one of the key aspects for succeeding. An intranet permits companies to use different types of encryption technology to protect information and internal communications against data loss. The reliability of such systems is usually very strong, as organisations have usually IT staff specialised to set up and manage these systems. File sharing and setting document permissions is also easy to manage in an intranet, giving business owners peace of mind and allowing them to focus on their business.

Building an infrastructure for a modern company intranet can be a big task. However, with tools available today, a business can get up and running in no time. Within Microsoft Office 365, the SharePoint platform has become an increasingly popular choice to setup an intranet. At Cloud Made Simple, we’ve created a business intranet template for use in SharePoint that can be branded for your company. Learn more about our ready-built SharePoint intranet for business.