How SharePoint and intranet platforms can work seamlessly together

Thinking about using SharePoint as an intranet? While it’s a great tool for business collaboration, there are some hurdles when implementing it as your company’s intranet software. Let us show you exactly how you can have your SharePoint and intranet cake and eat it, with the help of Oak Engage.

What is SharePoint?

SharePoint is the backbone of many business operations thanks to its cloud based collaboration on documents, spreadsheets, slide decks and more. The central storage space, integrated with the Microsoft 365 suite, has strong security and permissions-based access to ensure the right people can access and work on the right things. 

We know that many businesses rely on SharePoint and understand that for some organisations, keeping it for day to day use is non-negotiable. In this blog, we will explain how Oak’s intranet and employee app can work seamlessly with SharePoint, rather than against it.

We have built our company intranet software with Microsoft Technologies. It is hosted on Microsoft Azure, one of the most trusted and established cloud platforms in the world with exceptional levels of data protection and site security.

Disadvantages of using SharePoint as an intranet

Extended development time and cost

We have seen first-hand the roadblocks that come with trying to build an intranet on SharePoint. It’s cumbersome, clunky and often takes a lot of development time.

The ROI on the development of bespoke features within a SharePoint intranet can be poor. Maintenance of unique and engaging, modern features that light up intranet functionality are a constant concern within the SharePoint platform.

Our customer, Severfield came to us after spending a year trying to develop an intranet on SharePoint which brought more challenges than success. Around half of their workforce is either remote, frontline or deskless and they needed an intranet that would enable them to connect instantly with everyone across the group, no matter their location, or whether or not they had a company device.

“We didn’t get along with SharePoint. We came across many challenges and it was really limited. We needed an intranet and a colleague app to cater to our dispersed workforce. We shortlisted Oak and one other provider, but once we had spoken to the team at Oak, we knew straight away they were the right partner to help us achieve our goals. We signed on the dotted line a week later.” 

- Charlie Joy, Creative Communications Manager at Severfield plc

Poor analytics

How do you measure when staff have read and understood important updates with SharePoint, especially those without Microsoft licences? It’s not easy.

By integrating your SharePoint and intranet platforms such as Oak, you can unlock a whole host of analytics and ensure that all relevant people have seen alerts, updates and company news that relates to their department and their day-to-day work. From policy updates to new processes, any of which are hosted in SharePoint, you can measure viewership with Oak’s intelligent analytics.

Complex search functionality

Searching for correct versions of documents when your organisation may have documents split across multiple storage platforms can quickly become a nightmare. 

A modern intranet that has intelligent search functionality enables colleagues to use a single tool that surfaces results across all relevant platforms, including SharePoint, in a visually appealing, easy to navigate display. This is applicable across devices.

Poor mobile experience

SharePoint has a limited mobile experience. Navigating search results within a mobile interface is not user-friendly. 

Our mobile-first employee app is a great example of overcoming the limitations of using Microsoft alone by offering all employees, wherever they are based, the ability to access their intranet, rotas, payslips, business news, updates, critical information and more from a single place. 

How to use SharePoint and your intranet for success

Oak is a modern, user-friendly intranet and employee app that integrates with SharePoint to provide quick ways to store, search and share files with colleagues for collaboration. The user experience goes beyond the administrative, offering opportunities to collaborate across teams, connect with others and enable all staff to work more efficiently. 

Using a mobile app can be a much more cost-effective option for organisations with a large deskless workforce. By integrating your intranet on SharePoint, there may be no need to purchase additional Microsoft licences. Your deskless workers can still easily access documents whilst on the move or out on a job, all through their mobile app. Read on to understand how we can make it work.

Oak’s seamless integration with SharePoint for intranet success

If you’re looking for a modern, user-friendly employee experience platform to address the limitations of SharePoint as an intranet, you don’t have to choose between SharePoint and other intranet offerings. You can use both platforms together. This way, you can benefit from all of the things you value from SharePoint, but can also gain a mobile employee app, tailor content to each employee using smart delivery and create a social community.

Oak Engage is designed to integrate effortlessly with the whole Microsoft 365 suite, leveraging the tools your organisation already uses. This integration ensures a cohesive digital workplace where employees can access everything they need from a single, user-friendly interface.

Your SharePoint users

Use your intranet search tool to access search results across your SharePoint and intranet platforms, bringing personalised results to the user based on their permissions. 

Your non-SharePoint users

For your frontline workers who don’t have a SharePoint licence, they can still access relevant documents in your intranet where they’ve been selectively moved to Oak. 

So there’s no need to worry about re-training your entire workforce on new document management platforms. You can keep the SharePoint you’re familiar with and simply integrate it with Oak to level up the employee experience.

Seamless SharePoint integration into Oak

Combine the functionalities of your SharePoint and intranet platforms to create a digital space your people will thrive in.

The integration is simple. It's managed by our expert team and all of the access permissions an employee has in SharePoint will still apply when connected with Oak. This will give you peace of mind as there is no risk of employees accessing confidential information that they shouldn’t. 

What’s more, we can even bring your intranet even closer to your people by integrating with Teams. This means no more switching between apps to stay informed. Oak for Teams brings your intranet to where work happens, making it simple for employees to access important updates, collaborate and stay aligned. 

We’d love to show you how well we have integrated SharePoint with our award-winning intranet platform for our customers. Reach out and let’s talk!